 Bunny Snow |
Studio Flash Units and Canon Elan I'm very confused. I own 3 White Lightning Ultra ZAP UZ800 self-contained studio flash units that produce "330 true watt seconds and 800 effective watt seconds of power, with 14,000 lumen seconds of output". See http://www.white-lightning.com/uz800.html. I would like to use them with my Canon Elan 7e. However, I understand that I need a sync cord adapter that fits in the hot shoe. Perhaps I'm missing something in the terminology here. Is the sync cord adapter the same as the ST-E2 Transmitter? Does the ST-E2 have a sync terminal onto which I can attach the sync cords from the White Lightnings? Also, I can measure the ratio of the White Lightning through my flash meter. But, how will I know if the Elan has the same reading? Would this need to be in manual mode? One afterthought: Are these small White Lightnings too powerful for the Canon Elan 7e? Thanking you in advance, and have a happy holiday. Bunny Snow
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BetterPhoto Member |
Bunny- You do need a sync cord adapter for your hot shoe to fire your WL strobes. The ST-E2 is intended as an Infra Red triggering device that fires, as far as I know, only three models of Canon Speedlights, but not your WLs. I have not used an ST-E2, so I do not know if it has a plug for inserting your WL PC cord to fire those strobes, but I doubt it does, because it is not intended for use that way. If it did have a PC sync socket, you would clearly see it. What you can get is a PC adapter for your hot shoe, such as Safe Sync, and Canon makes something also. Or you can move up to a Radio Slave like Quantum, Pocket Wizard, and others, and then you are not running a wire between camera and strobe. Your other question about measuring the strobes: the WL are not E-TTL like the Canon Speedlights are, so the Canon camera doesn't recognize anything. So everything becomes manual. You set your camera to manual, pick the appropriate shutter speed for the scene, measure the ratios between your strobes, and set the camera for the recommended f/stop.
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LightAnon.com - Steve Parrott Contact Steve Parrott Steve Parrott's Gallery |
I use a Canon 1Ds (digital), but I *thought the Elan 7e had a sync cord connecter like my camera. Mine is behind a flap on side of the camera. Look to see if you have one. But, I don't use mine anyway. I hate having to deal with the cord. Here is the setup I use to fire my studio strobes. I use the ST-E2 transmitter mounted on the hot shoe of the camera. I have one Canon 550 EX flash mounted on a tripod, and aimed at the ceiling. The camera wirelessly fires the flash, my strobes have slave sensors in them, so the flash unit in turn fires the strobes. The strobes provide my main light, but the Canon flash also gives a little extra fill light from the ceiling bounce. My strobes are only 300 watts, but I only have to set them at about 1/4 power. They are bounced off white umbrellas, about 10 feet from the subject, mounted at 45 degree angles. I set the camera to 1/60 at 5.6 at 100 ISO. Having digital makes experimenting much easier, but I would think about the same setup would get you in the ballpark with your Elan.
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David King |
Bunny, to add to Charlie's answer, he suggested as one alternative, to get a Safe Synch hotshoe adapter. This really ought to be your ONLY approach unless you are absolutely positive the WL strobes do not put more than 6 volts in the trigger circuit. If you are sure of that voltage then you can use a cheaper hot-shoe adapter, but if there is any doubt, get the safe-synch adapter (by Wein) to protect the Canon which can have its electronic heart fried by stronger trigger voltages. A student at one of the campuses I teach on got to buy a brand new Canon because she did not listen to that advice and plugged a Norman Powerpack directly into the PC socket on her camera. The 120 plus volts in that pack's trigger current actually fired once but the second flash resulted, literally, in a puff of smoke from her camera and it was 'done' in more ways than one. David
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Bunny Snow |
Thank you both, Charlie and David, for your replies. Is 6 volts the magic number that requires action to protect the Canon circuitry? According to the White Lightning web site, the X-Series X800 flash units, which I have, are less than 6 volts in sync voltage. See: Does this mean that I still need a sync adapter, but do not need to protect my camera from this flash system? Thank you both in advance for your help! Have a happy, healthy Christmas! Bunny
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Maria Melnyk |
I own two sync cord hot-shoe adapters that I use with my Canon Elans: one made by Hama and one made by Nikon. I don't think Canon makes one. MARIA
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Bunny Snow |
Steve, I looked and my Elan 7E does not have a sync cord connecter, nor does the manual say it has. On the side of the camera is a terminal for the remote, not a sync. But, thanks, anyway, for your response. Maria and Charlie, thank you for letting me know of the many options that are available and that work for you. I wonder if the sync cords the same length? While, it would be great to buy something that does not have a cord, there are other ways I'd rather use that money. Thank you all for your help. I'm much clearer now. Bunny
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Bunny Snow |
Thanks, again, David. It's better to be safe than sorry. I'll order the Safe Synch hotshoe adapter. As long as it fits properly, and can be removed easily enough, it appears to be the way to go! Again, thank you all for your input. This is one wonderful chat room!! Thanks BetterPhoto.com !
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David King |
The safe synch adapter is always a safe bet. The WLs sound like they are OK but you may decide to change ro add something and then the question arises again. This slips onto the hot shoe and has a PC connector for the synch cord to the master flash unit so the camera does not need a dedicated PC connector. If the camera body and functioning is such that it must open an onboard flash unit before the hotshoe is active then you can modify the plastic housing of the adapter to let that happen if it doesn't fit properly. On one of my bodies I simply turned it around; on another I needed to file away some of the plastic at the base in order to have it fit into the hotshoe. Why there was a difference I'll never know... David
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