Alien Bee Help!!

[wamguy89]

I'm connecting an Alien Bee light to my Canon Rebel, and it's really not working... I know that it's because the flash on my camera fires before the shutter, causing the Alien Bee to fire, causing it to be finished firing before the picture is actually taken.

I just wanted to ask what you all thought the best way to sync the camera to the light is (radio trigger, hotshoe to PC cord, etc). I have the sync cable that came with the Alien Bee, but it is not directly compatible with the camera, so I'll need a hotshoe adapter. This means that I would not be able to have another flash on at the same time... Would this be a problem? Does it make more sense to get the radio trigger or the hotshoe adapter? Could you all help me by sending a link to what you think I need to get on Amazon or Adorama or something? This is driving me crazy!! Thanks!

 

[Garbz]

You have a few options:

- Radio trigger for hotshoe and both flashes which gives you the advantage of having multiple wireless flashes.

- Use a hotshoe sync chord that splits two ways and goes back to the shoe flash which you could mount on a bracket, just like the option above but with wires.

- Fire the flash in manual. In manual there is no TTL preflashing, thus there should be no syncing issues.

- Get an remote optical trigger like the Nikon SU-4 which ignores the TTL preflash and syncs with the main flash only.

Basically the way I understand it is you have a manual and a TTL flash in the same environment, either you need some hardware to get them to play nice, or you need to set them both not to preflash.

 

[wamguy89]

The only relevant flash options I have on the camera are under TTL, and they are called "evaluative" or "average." Do you know if average will work? I read that you should not use evaluative because that will cause a pre-flash, but I also read that the other way causes a pre-flash, so I think I'll have to go with either the sync cable or the radio trigger... I was just wondering what the best option is... What do you think?

 

[Garbz]

This isn't what you are after. This changes the metering mode of the camera itself. What you are after is how the flash fires. Are you talking about your onboard flash or an actual hotshoe speedlight? If talking about the speedlight, then the speedlight itself needs to be set to manual. If talking about the onboard flash then you may need to dig through your camera manual.
Not sure about Canon but Nikon bury these options down under Custom Setting e3 (nearly the end of the menu), called "built-in flash mode" with the options of TTL, manual, repeat, or commander on the D200.

I would imagine that Canons have a similar menu located in an equally stupid place.

 

[wamguy89]

Well, I've read elsewhere that you cannot use the Alien Bee with the on-camera flash with Canons because you can't change the settings to manual, so I think I need this...

Amazon.com: Adorama Hot Shoe to PC Adapter, Single Outlet without Connecting Cord.: Camera & Photo

Right?

 

[Don Kondra]

Why don't you just go wireless?

Gadget Infinity :: Digital Camera :: Flash Trigger

Works for me

Cheers, Don

 

[wamguy89]

Oh wow! Thanks a lot! Those are far more reasonably priced than the other ones I have seen.

 

[Garbz]

Just a word of warning though, those cactus wireless triggers are not "studio reliable". I would not recommend their use for serious professional work. They have tendencies to missfire, not fire at all, and don't get anywhere near the range they should. There are guides to modify them so they do get some decent range though.
Your mileage may vary, but otherwise they are fantastic for hobby use where a missed shot is an inconvenience rather than a paycut.

 

[fast1]

Why don't you just go wireless?

Gadget Infinity*::*Digital Camera*::*Flash Trigger

Works for me

Cheers, Don

wow this looks great

 

[table1349]

These work very well with the Alien Bees:
AlienBees: Remote Controls, Wired and Wireless Remotes for your Flash Units

 

[wamguy89]

Yeah, those are definitely the best option... They're just pretty expensive... I think I may get that little adapter for $10 now and then move up to the wireless systems later if I start doing more artificial light photography... I really would need the portable power thing, too, and that's really expensive...