Strobes and Speedlite 580 ex II

[GMAN]

I own a Canon XSi, have the USM 85mm f1.8 lens and I'm wanting to try taking portriats...I'm extremely intersted in purchasing some strobes, and I've also been looking into the Speedlite 580 ex II. The built in flash on my canon is just what it is, built in and limits my capablities....I'd like to expand my creativity and learn some studio photography, using flash and softboxes.

I purchase a Sekonic L-358 light meter for the purpose of doing studio photography!

.I'm considered purchasing the Speedlite 580 ex II as a portable flash, for use in low lighting conditions!....I found a DVD on the Speedlite 580 series and I'm considering purchasing it?.....

Basically, I'm concerned about spending the money on this Speedlite and not being able to operate it properly, due to my inexperience with off camera flash units...Can anyone provide me with some insight or direction as a novice, who is eager to learn

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by GMAN

Basically, I'm concerned about spending the money on this Speedlite and not being able to operate it properly, due to my inexperience with off camera flash units...Can anyone provide me with some insight or direction as a novice, who is eager to learn

You won't know until you try. It all might be overwhelming at first but it isn't rocket science. OK, maybe a bit of math, but you won't need a slide rule. Seriously, like anything it will take practice and patience...
The nice thing is you can always use it mounted on your camera. The electronics are smart enough to give you the proper exposure for direct and bounce lighting that will handle the majority of your pedestrian flash needs. Then bit by bit you can work with it off camera and gain confidence.

[GMAN]

I appriciate your advice!...I really want to get the Speedlite 580 ex II, but the price on ebay is quite a bit!....But like you said, bit by bit I can try to learn more and more of the features!....Thanks again!

[archersdad]

Off-camera lighting 101
On-camera lighting
Benji's studio lighting and posing guide

[inkista]

The 580EXII is a terrific flash for on-camera work and bouncing. But if you plan on using it exclusively for off-camera work, it might be overkill, depending on how you plan to trigger it.

Given that cost is probably your limiting factor, and you're interested in studio portrait photography, you may want to consider either going with monolights, like AlienBees, vs. speedlight shooting (monolights are lights you plug into an outlet and put on stands. speedlights are battery-powered hot-shoe flashes).

A 580EXII carries a large price tag, and for that same price you could purchase an AlienBee or possibly two. The AB will give you more power/light and coverage, but less portability and no automatic features.

Or, if you're a starving student , you may want to consider a manual-only flash. They're much cheaper than fancy bells'n'whistles flashes like the 580EXII; and since most lower-cost radio triggering systems force you to only use the manual capabilities of your flash, you won't be spending money on features you can't use off-camera. The LumoPro LP120, Vivitar 285HV/Cactus K-36, or any of a bunch of Yongnuo offerings fall under this category. The pricetag on them is typically from $100-$150.

When you use most radio triggers, strobist-style, the features you typically lose are eTTL (automatic power-adjustment of the flash, based on metering), high-speed sync (the ability to use a shutter speed higher than your X-sync speed--this is a physical limitation of the camera body you use), and remote power-level commanding (i.e., being able to set the power on the flash from the camera back, rather than walking over to the flash and dialing it in; this may not seem like a big deal until the first time you decide to set up a light far far away or someplace hard to reach, like say overhead in a gym).

E-TTL is analogous to an auto mode on the camera, like Av/TV/P. The camera tells the flash to send out a pre-flash burst of a known brightness, it's metered, and the camera sets the power level on the flash automatically. It may not be exactly what you wanted, and it will shift as the scene shifts, so you lose some control, but it's fast, and in a run'n'gun situation like event shooting/weddings etc, you don't have to worry about completely blowing it. As with Av/Tv/P when you ride the exposure compensation, with eTTL, you'll have to learn to ride FEC (flash exposure compensation).

Also, at some point, whether you're forced to by triggering systems or not, you're going to want to learn how to shoot with the flash in Manual mode for the same reasons you learn to shoot with the camera in Manual mode: precise control and consistency.

There are triggering systems that allow you to use the full feature set of the 580EXII off-camera, but these are either light-based (Canon's own proprietary system) or relatively expensive add-ons to the light-based system (say around $400-$500 for a Tx/Rx set or transceiver pair).

[bhursey]

If doing full off camera stuff only I would say buy old nikon flashes or Lumopro. However if you are ever going to do event or any portraits where you cant set up your flashes. So with the 580 ex you can do both. The Canon 580 EX II is the best out their. The only way to learn is to read the manual and play. I love mine. I waited years to get one but it was totally worth it.

[Benji]

Since you have a meter (YOU are a smart man) you most likely will not need a $500.00 speedlight. This is of course depending on whether you do weddings or not. If you do lots of weddings I would buy one, otherwise for the occasional snapshot that you need a flash at camera level you can use the pop up flash nearly as effectively as the 580 and it's free!

A/C powered studio flash units are the only way to go in a camera room where you have easy availability to A/C power. The advantages are myriad, such as; fast recycling time, no need to buy batteries by the case, no guesswork on exactly where to position the flash units because you have a modeling light to tell you precisely what you will get BEFORE the flash fires, and the modeling lights will close those pupils down for great eye color. You can easily get two powerful A/C units for the same price as one 580 and if you check out ebay you may be able to buy three or four!

Benji

[GMAN]

I totally appriciate all your responses to my inquiry!....I have gained a wealth of knowledge from simply reading the threads on the site itself!....I have purchase some strobes from ebay, and just recently had the opportunity to try them out....Only after finding out that I needed a hot shoe adaptor just to operate them....I found that purchasing the Sekonic L-358 light meter to be my best purchase, thanks for the comment Benji!...Without that meter, I'd still be struggling with the exposure!......As I mentioned earlier, I'm working on studio portraits...The backdrops they sent are made of some foreign material not known to man, in other words "CHEAP"!.....I've want to purchase some Muslin backdrops and have notice a company from China, claims to sell backdrops for $50.00 a piece...I want a few basic backdrops and maybe one with a contemporay scene panted on it....Do you veteran photographers think or know of the quality of these "SO CALLED GENUINE MUSLIN BACKDROPS"?.......ALSO, any suggestions such as books that provide the basic portrait poses, i.e. Rembrandt, Butterfly, etc, etc.?.....Do any of you own the Sekonic L-358, I have some technical questions that I have regarding some of the numbers displayed on the LED.....

[bhursey]

I borrowed one for a wedding and actual never used it during the wedding no time. I don't remember how to use it any more... I have actually found trial and error in learning off camera flash. I learned as much as I could about photography theory and I use what I learned to get my exposure what I want on site. I unfortunately don't have time to have the model hold my light meter and pop my flashes.

I guess I am sorta not traditional in my ways. As for the flash. The amount of power output and the ability for TTL in fast changing situations is a must.. I know I shoot a wedding with a flash in full manual. Lets just say it was absolutely crazy even with what I knew photography.

The 580EX II is very powerful. That alone is worth allot. I own 4 speed lights total.. and the 580EX is by far the best.


Canon 580 EX II at 100iso
14mm GN=15
24mm GN=28
28mm GN=30
50mm GN=42
70mm GN=50
80mm GN=53
105mm GN=58

Thats in meters not feet.

However like you said you are doing studio work. I actually do both, and I use the speed lights in both. Iif you get an ac strobe your limited to using that in a inside studio. In the future if you are asked "Hey I love your portraits can you shoot my wedding?" then you would have to go out and buy a new flash. I know because it happened to me. You can buy off brand external battery packs for like sb-28's and Canon 580EX II's this will allow faster recycle. 70% of my shoots are with my studio and I still use them.

The ~ $80-100 used SB-24 has a large guide number also, and actually you can shoot on camera in auto thyroister mode. I did that for a year.

Nikon sb-24 at 100iso
24mm GN=30
28mm GN=32
35mm GN=36
50mm GN=42
70mm GN=47
85mm GN=50

So it all comes to do you want to do studio only or do you want to have the flexibility to do on location shoots and studio shoots.

[zona5101]

on your muslin question...you can find some muslin or other neat fabrics at a fabric store and create a DIY backdrop....