retail therapy

sineadw · 12-01-2008 6:58pm #1

Oh dear. I will begin this with the disclaimer that its all Julie's fault.

I went into town today to price some flashes and have a poke about in the bargain bins in Conns (got a starfractor filter and graduated purpley sort of one - feck it, for a fiver each I don't care). I had a chat in a few shops with a few guys about the whole gig scenario thing and they were all pointing me in the direction of the Sigma 530 super at 300 quid. When I was in Conns I asked their price and was promptly led to a second-hand Canon 550 EX for the same price. Ah the joys of impulse buying! So my bank account is severely depleted, my 350D looks sillier than ever and my children will be living on beans on toast for the rest of the month (kidding!) but I now have a flash. My first really decent piece of kit. Of course I have absolutely NO idea how to use it. Strobist is my next port of call. Any other suggestions? Was 300 a decent price?* (bear in mind a physical shop and 6 months warranty and its sitting beside me now all shiny and lovely).

Also, could we maybe arrange a meet for a bit of a tutorial on flash photography? Al???? Pretty Please??????? Sugar on top????

*If its too much, I don't actually want to know..

Fajitas! · 12-01-2008 7:00pm

I could make you feel very bad about the price of that flash...

I'll show you how to use it though!

elven · 12-01-2008 7:21pm

Hmm, I forgot about that bit where you were going to blame me... :rolleyes:

We do need a flash session though.

(I will not be responsible for bad taste jokes about the previous sentence)

Fajitas! · 12-01-2008 7:34pm

I flash. Julie flashes. Sinead flashes. It'll all be in good taste.

(Actually, Sinead, I just looked at my phone there and saw messages and missed calls from yourself and Julie... Sorry

)

challengemaster · 12-01-2008 7:36pm

Fajitas! wrote: »

Julie flashes. Sinead flashes.... good taste.

fnarr!:D:o

sineadw · 12-01-2008 8:11pm

Fajitas! wrote: »

(Actually, Sinead, I just looked at my phone there and saw messages and missed calls from yourself and Julie... Sorry )

Its all Al's fault!!! Free lessons as recompense..

5uspect · 12-01-2008 8:13pm

I got a 580ex from ebay recently for a similar price (tho I'm still waiting for the rebate).
Tho as you say considering you got it in a bricks and mortar and on a day when you need the therapy thats not at all bad. The 550 is a very capable flash, you'll love it.
I'm still getting to grips with mine but I'm already starting to appreciate it.

First things first get yourself a set of (hybrid if possible) NiMH batteries for it.

One of the first things to I've found with such a powerful flash is that you'll be mainly shooting in Tv mode at first. Set the exposure to around 1/200 and the E-TTTL will do the rest. Use the high speed sync option go faster than 1/200.

Shooting in Av mode with E-TTL the camera will calculate the correct flash output for near field objects and adjust the exposure for the rest of the scene beyond this. This can often result in longish exposures when the camera tries to balance both equations.

By shooting in Tv or M you work primarily with the exposure length (highly important for your hand held gig shots!) and expose the subject accordingly and let the background be damned.

The flash has a whole host of options such as stroboscopic bursts and rear curtain sync that'll get the creativity going. In fact second curtain sync is probably the best way to get the most out of a dark situation cos you'll can use that to get cool light trails!

bovril · 13-01-2008 1:40pm

elven wrote: »

Hmm, I forgot about that bit where you were going to blame me... :rolleyes:

We do need a flash session though.

(I will not be responsible for bad taste jokes about the previous sentence)

Can I come, pretty please?

sineadw · 13-01-2008 2:16pm

5uspect wrote: »

First things first get yourself a set of (hybrid if possible) NiMH batteries for it.

Ah not more stuff to buy! Would rechargeables not do?

Thanks for the tips though on using it. All duly noted and will be tried out. I haven't shot fully manual since I got the DSLR. Gonna have to try to remember how..

Al I'm going to corner you for a date soon. I have a definite gig in March. I want to at least have some idea what I'm doing, and be somewhat sure I'm not going to permanently blind the band.

5uspect · 13-01-2008 2:29pm

sineadw wrote: »

Ah not more stuff to buy! Would rechargeables not do?

They are rechargeable and very very good ones. I picked up a set of 4 2700 mAh with a charger for €15 in Maplin. They were all out of Hybrids.

The problem with NiMH batteries is that they constantly trickle discharge even when not in use. The new hybrid ones discharge a lot slower (up to a year compared to a few weeks for standard ones). They also come fully charged as a result. They should save you money in the long run!

sineadw · 13-01-2008 2:33pm

Ah ok I get you

I thought this was some other must-have for the flash that was gonna cost me. Bloody diffuser is 30 quid.. grumble mumble...

challengemaster · 13-01-2008 2:39pm

bovril wrote: »

Can I come, pretty please?

Ask a doctor?

Borderfox · 13-01-2008 4:20pm

I was looking for this link for techniques for ambient flash photography and found it on an older computer so here it is..I had a good read of it and it looks and reads great

http://planetneil.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/

5uspect · 13-01-2008 4:40pm

sineadw wrote: »

Ah ok I get you I thought this was some other must-have for the flash that was gonna cost me. Bloody diffuser is 30 quid.. grumble mumble...

Plastic milk bottle ftw!
http://home.comcast.net/~dougsmit/bounceflashtoys.html

Fajitas! · 13-01-2008 5:26pm

challengemaster wrote: »

Ask a doctor?

:rolleyes:

kensutz · 13-01-2008 7:19pm

Fajitas! wrote: »

:rolleyes:

Agreed

sineadw · 13-01-2008 9:01pm

I was hoping we could collectively ignore that one :rolleyes:

Oooo I'm having fun reading all about the bubble wrap etc! Thanks for all the links! I was kind of regretting my impulse buy a little but now I'm thinking of my beautiful antique typewriter and the fact that I could never get enough natural light into its innards to do its engineering justice.. never mind the gigs - This is gonna be fun on so many levels

I'm wondering though - on TTL at manual does the flash know if you've bounced off the ceiling? Does it compensate on output for indirect lighting - ie does it have a sensor for the direction of the bulb unit? Obviously it doesn't have a milk-carton sensor - how do you adjust for stuff like that - practice?

So much to learn... again...

5uspect · 13-01-2008 10:05pm

I'm not sure about the directional awareness of the flash. My manual doesn't say either way.
I'd imagine that E-TTL would be relatively accurate if bounced from a fairly close surface.

retail therapy

Comments