BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: Flash Photography

Dennis C. Janda		Studio Lighting and Canon Equipment I am thinking of acquiring some portable studio lighting for group shots and am wondering just how I would sync up to my main lighting as the Canon Elan 7 and the Digital Rebel have no ports for a sync cord? I use the Canon 550EX flash on my camera now. Do I simply have to make sure I buy portable lighting that will act in slave mode to the 550EX? To love this question, log in above July 02, 2004

Andy		You have two choices. With the 550EX on your camera as master, you can get extra 550EX or 420EX as slaves. Your 550EX can control up to 3 groups of slaves. Get a Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2 on your camera as master. You can get extra 550EX or 420EX as slaves, as needed. But the ST-E2 can only control two groups of slaves. Both the Elan 7 and Digital Rebel can use one of the set-ups mentioned above. Hope this helps. To love this comment, log in above July 02, 2004

Dennis C. Janda		Will either the 550EX or the ST-E2 control anything other than other Speedlites? I'm really wanting to use with some stand mounted strobes ... To love this comment, log in above July 02, 2004

- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery		Many self-contained strobes have built-in slaves that set the strobe off by the light from another flash. To love this comment, log in above July 02, 2004

Jon Close		If you use non-Canon strobes triggered by optical slaves, you must set the 550EX to manual output. If you use it in E-TTL the low-power preflash will trigger the slaves before the shutter opens. They will not cycle fast enough to fire again with the 550EX's open-shutter main flash. You will not have auto TTL exposure, so you should invest in a good flash meter when you buy the other strobes. To love this comment, log in above July 03, 2004

John A. Lind		Another option: Buy hot-shoe PC adapters (single trigger contact in center and PC socket on side). These are pretty inexpensive. Hama and Kaiser make the best ones I've seen, and cost isn't much more than the "generic" ones. I prefer the Hama over the Kaiser if I can find them. Connect the sync cord from one light to the hot shoe PC adapter. Put the other light in slave mode (nearly all monolights come with built-in optical slaves). If the sync cord isn't long enough, get an extension cord for it. Paramount makes them, and they're not that expensive either. If it's a 1/4-inch phone plug, AKA monoplug, you can get an extension cord at Radio Shack ... monaural microphone extension cord with a 1/4-inch phone plug on one end and jack on the other. Also inexpensive. Put the camera in manual exposure mode. Set shutter speed to X-sync. Meter the lighting using the flash meter Jon suggests you buy, and set lens aperture manually from meter reading. BTW, I prefer using incident flash meter readings versus reflected. I've found them more accurate. Reason I make this suggestion: I've had to trigger monolights using a flash (usually aimed straight up) when a sync cord didn't work right (cockpit error; wasn't plugged in correctly; found the problem later on). Works well in the smaller spaces of a studio that bounces light off the ceiling and walls. Doesn't work very well in large spaces with tall ceilings and the only wall nearby being the one behind everyone. The light from the flash can dissipate too much to trigger the monolights, especially if ambient lighting is medium or brighter. It's unreliable; works sometimes in some on-location spaces but not in others. OTOH, if you fire one monolight, it WILL put out enough light to trigger the other one. Since I frequently have to put up with people shooting "over my shoulder" (weddings), I now use radio slaves, the backup for which is a PC cord to both lights with a "Y" splitter (single 10-foot PC cord from camera to splitter, and two 20' cords from splitter to the two lights). Got tired of Uncle Harry and Aunt Harriet occasionally triggering my lights, them benefiting from my lighting in their photos, and having to wait for the lights to recycle. To love this comment, log in above July 04, 2004

Lorraine Jones		Hi, this is a question for Andy. Andy, I am thinking of using one of the lighting set-ups you mentioned in this discussion. I like the idea of a wireless, portable, and not-too-bulky lighting system. My question is: can I use just any lighting stands for the flashes? I now have 3 lighting stands available that I could use if these works with the flashes. Thanks. To love this comment, log in above December 24, 2004

Andy		Ena, you can use the existing light stands for the flashes. However, you need a bracket to put on the stand and hold the flash. I use the photoflex Shoe Mount Multiclamp for my flashes on the light stand. Here's the link to the clamp: http://www.photoflex.com/photoflex/index.html?products/default.php?product=starlite&1 Hope this helps. To love this comment, log in above December 24, 2004

Lorraine Jones		Thanks, Andy. I discovered that I could use tripods for the flashes, but after checking out the clamps, decided that the tripod won't give me the flexibility that the clamps can provide--so I decided to purchase the clamps (and they're much cheaper than buying tripods). Thanks again! To love this comment, log in above December 25, 2004

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