skasol wrote:
Thanks. I was, I know the 600's have rf and wil fire wireless with adapter.
If you are setting the 600’s manually, rather than ETTL, then the easiest way would be to set the studio flash units as optical slaves. They will fire when the 600’s fire. It is difficult to beat the speed of light.
If you are using the 600’s in ETTL mode, the metering flash would trigger any optical slaves before the shutter opens. In ETTL mode you would need a separate way of triggering the studio lights. That could be RF, or as simple as a sync cord.
(Strobe or flash, they mean the same thing. You can call them studio strobes and shoe mount strobes, or studio flashes and shoe mount flashes. If anything shoe mount flashes are more stroboscopic than studio lights. I can’t think, offhand, of many studio flash units that do strobe, whereas almost all shoe mount flashes are capable of strobing in high speed sync mode and often as a source for pseudo modeling. My 550exs and 580exs actually have a stroboscopic mode (Multi flash) where you can set the frequency of the strobing.)
hugowolf wrote:
If you are setting the 600’s manually, rather than ETTL, then the easiest way would be to set the studio flash units as optical slaves. They will fire when the 600’s fire. It is difficult to beat the speed of light.
If you are using the 600’s in ETTL mode, the metering flash would trigger any optical slaves before the shutter opens. In ETTL mode you would need a separate way of triggering the studio lights. That could be RF, or as simple as a sync cord.
(Strobe or flash, they mean the same thing. You can call them studio strobes and shoe mount strobes, or studio flashes and shoe mount flashes. If anything shoe mount flashes are more stroboscopic than studio lights. I can’t think, offhand, of many studio flash units that do strobe, whereas almost all shoe mount flashes are capable of strobing in high speed sync mode and often as a source for pseudo modeling. My 550exs and 580exs actually have a stroboscopic mode (Multi flash) where you can set the frequency of the strobing.)
At this point I think I am better off learning with the flashes I already got (two 600EX) than buying strobes. I guess once I feel the limitations of the flashes I should go to the strobes.
skasol wrote:
At this point I think I am better off learning with the flashes I already got (two 600EX) than buying strobes. I guess once I feel the limitations of the flashes I should go to the strobes.
Thank you all for your help.
If working in a small-ish environment shooting small subjects (or 1 or 2 people) you may not see much limitations with what you have.
When will you see limitations:
- If in very bright sunlight outdoors your camera shoe flashes are very limited. Overcast days will be okay.
- No modeling light. This can help greatly in your learning process (mainly useful indoors).
- You spent a whole lot of money compared to the other available options....if ETTL isn't needed in what you do.
The benefits:
- ETTL when needed
- portability (with sacrifices)
- can be controlled from recent Canon cameras....actual functions depending on the camera you use.
As Chuck previously mentioned, having both is beneficial. I think it would have been best to start with studio strobes like AlienBees or comparable and a less expensive set of hotshoe flashes IF you must have ETTL (580EXII, 580EXI, 550EX, 430EXII, or even an all manual set).
If ETTL is not an important criteria I think you spent a lot of money for no reason.
cordellwillis wrote:
If working in a small-ish environment shooting small subjects (or 1 or 2 people) you may not see much limitations with what you have.
When will you see limitations:
- If in very bright sunlight outdoors your camera shoe flashes are very limited. Overcast days will be okay.
- No modeling light. This can help greatly in your learning process (mainly useful indoors).
- You spent a whole lot of money compared to the other available options....if ETTL isn't needed in what you do.
The benefits:
- ETTL when needed
- portability (with sacrifices)
- can be controlled from recent Canon cameras....actual functions depending on the camera you use.
As Chuck previously mentioned, having both is beneficial. I think it would have been best to start with studio strobes like AlienBees or comparable and a less expensive set of hotshoe flashes IF you must have ETTL (580EXII, 580EXI, 550EX, 430EXII, or even an all manual set).
If ETTL is not an important criteria I think you spent a lot of money for no reason....Show more →
Thank you. I didn't pay more than $800 for both. The reason I has asked was n
Because I could resell the flashes as they still sealed in box and buy the studio lights. I want to start learning. My main object would be 1-2 people as I learn and practice. I am still not too late to go the other way (studio lights).
I always thought it was good to have a flash unit for those indoor shots etc.
Ehh. You got 2 of the new, just out Canon 600EX-RT's that sell for almost $600 everywhere... for only $400 each? Keep them or sell them for $525 and get a few alien bees, stands and softboxes.
The Speedlites are great for work on location, on the street but the lack of modeling lights make them pretty useless for serious work in the studio. They work for occasional work but use them more than that and you will crave real studio flashes for many reasons:
-modeling lights
-faster recycling times
-more power
-ability to use a wide range of modifiers
-more mounting options and greater stability
skasol wrote:
At this point I think I am better off learning with the flashes I already got (two 600EX) than buying strobes. I guess once I feel the limitations of the flashes I should go to the strobes.
Thank you. I didn't pay more than $800 for both. The reason I has asked was n
Because I could resell the flashes as they still sealed in box and buy the studio lights. I want to start learning. My main object would be 1-2 people as I learn and practice. I am still not too late to go the other way (studio lights).
I always thought it was good to have a flash unit for those indoor shots etc. ...Show more →
Except for ETTL and portability, the advantages are all on the side of studio lights, especially for learning – the modeling lights make a huge difference. You could get two Einsteins with the Cyber Commander for the selling price of the two 600s.
hugowolf wrote:
Except for ETTL and portability, the advantages are all on the side of studio lights, especially for learning – the modeling lights make a huge difference. You could get two Einsteins with the Cyber Commander for the selling price of the two 600s.
Brian A
Thanks. It seems I was better off with the modeling lights. I could keep one of the flash units. Sell the other one and get me some studio lights. It seems that I would be needing a flash unit either way.
