Flash for Macro - What to buy?

Well to return to the ethics and methods of insect, and other wildlife photos, this debate on a wildlife forum which I use, may prove 'illuminating'.

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/fo...claration.html

A lot of good sense, but they do 'go on a bit'.

Yay!

I got my 580EX II in the mail today. And then a few hours later, I won an eBay auction for a Siegelite 10-18" flash bracket.

Now I just need to figure out what diffuser I want to get and whether I want to go with a wired or wireless setup.

Getting closer!

- Bill

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Originally Posted by ktuli

Yay!

I got my 580EX II in the mail today. And then a few hours later, I won an eBay auction for a Siegelite 10-18" flash bracket.

Now I just need to figure out what diffuser I want to get and whether I want to go with a wired or wireless setup.

Getting closer!

- Bill

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Bill congratulations. I expect some even more serious macro shots. I just got my synd cord and waiting on my wireless setup. No excuse from hereon. Well done.

Nasseem

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Originally Posted by maloufn

Bill congratulations. I expect some even more serious macro shots. I just got my synd cord and waiting on my wireless setup. No excuse from hereon. Well done.

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Nasseem,

What wireless setup did you buy? I debated that for a while, but figured my budget would be happier with a wired setup for now and buying the wireless down the road.

I should have all my pieces by Friday, which is good because I'm supposed to head out for a photo outing with a local club next Saturday! So hopefully I'll bring back some good shots from that. I have some on the memory card already that I need to download and share.

- Bill

Alright! Toys came early! So today the softbox and the ettl cable came.

I think at this point, the ettl cable might be a bit redundant as I've been using the 7D's functionality as a wireless master flash and been fairly well pleased with it. Does anyone know if the ST-E2 also uses pulses of flash to control the other flashes? Or is it a different technology? If it is pulses of flash, I actually am glad I didn't order it as it would be absolutely redundant with the 7D's capabilities.

Also - Richard and Jim - do your Lumiquest Softbox Mini's require you to attach velcro tabs to your flash? I thought (foolishly) that the name brand version wouldn't want me to put sticky stuff on my nice new expensive flash. Luckily, I have these velcro straps at home, and was able to wrap two of them tightly around the flash head and attach the softbox to them.

But I really appreciate your help in steering me towards what to purchase, and I've been getting some really nice macro flower shots with the setup, and am looking forward to starting to get some good bug shots once it warms up a little more consistently and there are more of them.

Thanks again!

- Bill

Bill,
Congrats on the new equipment.The ST-E2 is IR,no flash.
I use a velcro strap on my flashes also.

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Originally Posted by Jim B.

The ST-E2 is IR,no flash.

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Hi Jim,

Um, no - It still works in the visible light spectrum, and it still has a flash tube (albeit a small one), although the red filter in front of the tube does bias the light heavily towards the IR end of the spectrum. The two LEDs lights that people often mistake for being IR are just the AF assist leds.

Quite easy to see if one hits the test button whilst looking at the filter in a slightly dark room.

So is the final answer that with owning the 7D that the ST-E2 is of no added value to me?

- Bill

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ktuli

Does anyone know if the ST-E2 also uses pulses of flash to control the other flashes? Or is it a different technology? If it is pulses of flash, I actually am glad I didn't order it as it would be absolutely redundant with the 7D's capabilities.

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Hi Bill,

Yes it still uses visible pulses of light, but additional versatility comes from being able to put it on an off-camera shoe cord and get it pointing towards the strobes (which may well be behind you).

In reality the ST-E2 works well enough inside where the signal can bounce off the walls etc -- but outside it's very much "hit and miss" when things like umbrellas are concerned (as is the 7D I might add) (especially when they're not near the line of sight). To be honest, I gave up on mine years ago; PocketWizard Plus IIs are bulletproof when it comes to triggering manually (you can trigger hundreds of meters away), and the newer TT1 / TT5 whilst not having quite the same range (only out to about 50 meters), also fully support ETTL (in additions to a whole lot of other goodies :)).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ktuli

So is the final answer that with owning the 7D that the ST-E2 is of no added value to me?

- Bill

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See my answer above. Bottom line is if you want the Rolls Royce of triggering, PocketWizard TT1 / TT5s are the only choice (unless you enjoy manual configuration).

Thanks Colin

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ktuli

Nasseem,

What wireless setup did you buy? I debated that for a while, but figured my budget would be happier with a wired setup for now and buying the wireless down the road.

I should have all my pieces by Friday, which is good because I'm supposed to head out for a photo outing with a local club next Saturday! So hopefully I'll bring back some good shots from that. I have some on the memory card already that I need to download and share.

- Bill

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Bill you seem to be ready to go. For macro you dont need a wireless setup if you have the ETTL sync cord or the 7D and the 580EX2. I use a 50D. I
bought a chinese brand wireless setup (Ebay $50-60 from what I can remember) which for the little
investment is great. I really have not put it to the test yet but I have read up on it. Colin suggests
the Pocket Wizard of course is the best on the market but is also hundreds of dollars for each of the
transmitter and receiver. For your purposes ie macro you are already ready to go with your 580EX2, sync
cord/7D and off camera bracket. Looking forward to seeing some of your Macro shots. Your little critters must be awakening while mine have
gone into hybernation and furthermore our gardener has cut down the only plant that used to attract them
so am trying to do something different. Good luck.

Nasseem

Nasseem,

Thanks! I've also been using the 7D's wireless capabilities, so I've been able to get even more creative with my lighting. I've been out almost every evening this week - whenever the spring rains get me a chance! If you swing by my blog, I have been posting some of the recent fruits of my labors there. So far they have mostly been flower shots, but there is also a bee shot that ended up in that thread.

There will definitely be more to come!

- Bill

Quote:

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Originally Posted by maloufn

I bought a chinese brand wireless setup (Ebay $50-60 from what I can remember) which for the little investment is great. I really have not put it to the test yet but I have read up on it. Colin suggests the Pocket Wizard of course is the best on the market but is also hundreds of dollars for each of the transmitter and receiver.

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Last I checked, these still required manual flash power adjustment, whereas the new pocket wizards are full ETTL II compatible (and a lot more); so possibly an over-kill for just macro, but if Bill ever branches out into other forms of photography needing flash, then the limitations of no ETTL / no ratio control can start to bite pretty quickly - at which point many end up buying the more expensive trancievers anyway.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Colin Southern

Last I checked, these still required manual flash power adjustment, whereas the new pocket wizards are full ETTL II compatible (and a lot more); so possibly an over-kill for just macro, but if Bill ever branches out into other forms of photography needing flash, then the limitations of no ETTL / no ratio control can start to bite pretty quickly - at which point many end up buying the more expensive trancievers anyway.

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Thank you Colin. I am sure these limitaions will becoame more apparent when and if I ever start doing
some serious photography requiring wireless flash. I have always avoided flash where possible partly out
of ignorance I guess. I thought I would just play around with these cheapies while I
learn more on how to get the best out of good flash photography. Do you have any good references/books
that come to mind?

Nasseem

Quote:

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Originally Posted by maloufn

Do you have any good references/books that come to mind?

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Hi Nasseem,

Sorta / Kinda - From a technical / overview perspective, N K Guy has written a "bible" of Canon EOS flash photography, so it's a good place to start, from a more "look what can be done" with a flash, one of the very best is Joe McNally's Hot Shoe Diaries, although be aware that it's using Nikon equipment (same principles as Canon, just relatively minor operational differences).

For a more "holistic" approach, there are many videos on Kelby Training (including several from Joe McNally) - this is by far far far the best value ($24.95 per month) (Just try it for a month!).

From a out-and-out technical perspective there's also some guy named Colin Southern over at CiC! (Seriously, there's not much I don't know about the technical side of them).

Naseem,

In case you missed these in the Spiders thread... Here are a couple shots of a jumping spider I found at work.

http://backup.cambridgeincolour.com/...serialNumber=2

http://backup.cambridgeincolour.com/...serialNumber=2

- Bill

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Colin Southern

Hi Nasseem,

Sorta / Kinda - From a technical / overview perspective, N K Guy has written a "bible" of Canon EOS flash photography, so it's a good place to start, from a more "look what can be done" with a flash, one of the very best is Joe McNally's Hot Shoe Diaries, although be aware that it's using Nikon equipment (same principles as Canon, just relatively minor operational differences).

For a more "holistic" approach, there are many videos on Kelby Training (including several from Joe McNally) - this is by far far far the best value ($24.95 per month) (Just try it for a month!).

From a out-and-out technical perspective there's also some guy named Colin Southern over at CiC! (Seriously, there's not much I don't know about the technical side of them).

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Thank you Collin. Ive been working on Flash photography over the last 2 weeks. Have been doing nothing else. I am a convert and I think a thread on Flash/ Artificial photography is something that would help many of us new photographers.

I might start one.

Nasseem