Good cheap strobe setup to start out with?

[dakkon76]

So far all i've got is my built in flash on my canon XSi, which doesn't get much use given I mainly do outdoor shots. I don't really want to spend the money on a speedlight if I don't have to yet. We've got 2 kids I'd like to turn into my lab rats and try and get some good indoor portraits. I've seen some cheap ($70) strobes on Amazon, which aren't TTL (but I'd use it off-camera anyway). I'm wondering if something like that would be ok to start with, or if I'm going to be left wanting...?

Lenses I'd be using are a 50mm f1.8 and 85mm f1.8

Thanks!

 

[Edsport]

Try Ebay and search for Yongnuo. The YN460II is cheap but no Ettl. The YN468 is also pretty cheap and has Ettl. The RF-602 transmitters and receivers is also pretty cheap and works well...

 

[dakkon76]

The 460 is actually the one I was looking at. $66 on Amazon I think, I'll have to check ebay. Would a couple of those also work if I wanted to use them on some interiors for real estate photography? Something I'm considering looking into as I know a couple of realtors. From what I've read online, 2 or 3 strobes are key to good exposure of an entire room.

Thanks again.

 

[Edsport]

I just did an ebay seach for the YN 460 II. The first one is $43.80 with free shipping. As i said this is the first one in the seach, scroll down and you may see them cheaper. Here's a link to the first one. YONGNUO Speedlite YN460 II slave flash unit for Camera | eBay I'm not sure how they'll work for what you want but they are cheap flashes. Do a seach for the YN468, those are great flashes and have ETTL...

 

[tirediron]

If you're going to be using them for off-camera portraiture, than you'll be shooting in manual, and TTL/E-TTL is irrelevant. What I'd suggest is looking on e-Bay/Craig's List for used Sunpak, Metz, Vivitar etc 'hammerhead' style flashes. These will likely be better made, have higher guide numbers and typically have a nice, simple interface (mechanical slider from FP to 1/64).

 

[Robin Usagani]

You want ETTL. It is such a wonderful technology why not have it?

 

[tirediron]

You want ETTL. It is such a wonderful technology why not have it?

What benefit does it provide for off-camera portraiture lighting?

 

[Robin Usagani]

So far all i've got is my built in flash on my canon XSi, which doesn't get much use given I mainly do outdoor shots. I don't really want to spend the money on a speedlight if I don't have to yet. We've got 2 kids I'd like to turn into my lab rats and try and get some good indoor portraits. I've seen some cheap ($70) strobes on Amazon, which aren't TTL (but I'd use it off-camera anyway). I'm wondering if something like that would be ok to start with, or if I'm going to be left wanting...?

Lenses I'd be using are a 50mm f1.8 and 85mm f1.8

Thanks!

You want ETTL. It is such a wonderful technology why not have it?

What benefit does it provide for off-camera portraiture lighting?

There . It will be kinda stupid IMO if you dont have one flash that can do ETTL when you put it on camera. On camera flash is a wonderful thing.

 

[tirediron]

...It will be kinda stupid IMO if you dont have one flash that can do ETTL when you put it on camera. On camera flash is a wonderful thing.

Fair enough, but really on-camera flash exposure is bone simple once you've done it a few times (and I'll debate that whole "wonderful" comment wit'cha any time Schwetty ).

 

[KmH]

Good cheap strobe setup.....?

An oxymoron.

You can get good. You can get cheap. You can't get both.

 

[Robin Usagani]

Oh come on, you know it is almost impossible to do bounced flash at events with manual flash . ETTL is a must I think.

...It will be kinda stupid IMO if you dont have one flash that can do ETTL when you put it on camera. On camera flash is a wonderful thing.

Fair enough, but really on-camera flash exposure is bone simple once you've done it a few times (and I'll debate that whole "wonderful" comment wit'cha any time Schwetty ).

 

[tirediron]

Oh come on, you know it is almost impossible to do bounced flash at events with manual flash .

You're showing your age there Schwetty! Time was, and not all that long ago, there was only manual flash... you got real good at memorizing your distance vs. aperture tables and remembering to halve things for bounce situations.

Oh, and I don't disagree, TTL in whatever flavour is a nice to have, but it's not a necessity!

 

[Robin Usagani]

True, true.

But do you at least agree with me that people really starting bouncing the flash all over the place when they have TTL technology? I think it is super hard to judge how much power you need when you bounce it of ceiling that does not have constant height, walls next to you, wall behind you, combination of all. I am talking about strictly event photos. Not taking the same similar shot over and over.

Back to the OP, I think you should master ON camera flash first before thinking about OFF camera flash. While OFF camera flash is nice, it is not practical a lot of times.

 

[ghache]

Oh come on, you know it is almost impossible to do bounced flash at events with manual flash .

You're showing your age there Schwetty! Time was, and not all that long ago, there was only manual flash... you got real good at memorizing your distance vs. aperture tables and remembering to halve things for bounce situations.

Oh, and I don't disagree, TTL in whatever flavour is a nice to have, but it's not a necessity!

its not a necessity but you can get some pretty decend 3rd party flash that does ttl for pretty cheap. anyone who buys thier first flash should buy a ttl flash. A camera mounted flash that does ttl will give you A LOT more flexibility with your photography, even if you only have a slow kit lens. a ttll flash will make it useable indoor, its a MUSTTTTTT :thumbup:

have you ever heard about the crotch bounce technique?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fjgphoto/4108258408/

 

[honoryourlife]

I would take into consideration what Schwetty has to say.