I have a XTI and a 580 EX II. I am looking to do some off camera flash and have a couple of questions that I hope someone can guide me on.
I think that I could either get another 580 and use it as master/slave, diffusing the hot shoe flash. Or I could get the st-e2 to trigger the flash. I am starting to think that the $ difference would be 100-150 and I would be better off getting the second 580 - that it would allow me more varied usage.
Does anyone have any expirience with either or both? Thoughts?
Never owned the ST-E2 but I know full well what it does. For the money, getting a 580 is a better bang for your buck. Not only does it act quite nicely as an on-axis fill but you can later get PWs/Cactus triggers to use them both off your camera. The only reason I'd consider an ST-E2 is for the AF-assist in low light when no flash is allowed and you don't want a huge flash on top just for the assist light.
Kudos to you for putting more into your lighting than your camera, though. You'll definitely notice a bigger difference than if you'd get a 40D instead.
I personally prefer using the ST-E2 as I like to use the camera with no flash on it. With
the weight of a lens like the 24-70 I like to keep any extra weight off the camera. Thats why I dont like to use a braket either.
A single flash off camera will create modeling, but the shadows with be dark and distracting due to the lack of fill.
A two flash scenario, with the on-camera flash over the lens on a camera-flip bracket and off camera light on a stand allows precise control of both light placement and lighting ratio. Softness, perceptually, is influenced most by how dark the shadows are, not how fuzzy the shadow edges are. With two lights a huge modifier is not required to get "soft" light, its just a matter of controlling fill and using a low highlight:shadow ratio. I get very nice results with a pair of 580ex and these diffusers:
Since you already have 580exII to use as master in a multi-flash set-up a 430ex would be a better choice than the ST-E2 the cost of another 580exII is a factor. See http://super.nova.org/DPR/Canon/MultiCanon/ for a tutorial on using 2-3 Canon flashes.
