Help me do some Christmas shopping for my hobby-photographer wife?

John27 · Nov 23, 2012

Hey All!

So I haven't been on this forum for a while but a couple years ago, I got my wife a Canon T1i and she has been loving it, really getting into photography as a hobby.

This Christmas I'm getting her a Canon Speedlite 480 EX II, and an EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens. She has been doing some portraits for family members and I figure maybe we could start better equipping her, I think it's a start. The speedlite is something that will be really versatile in the future too I think.

So here is my question, what are some other good things I could consider for her for branching into more portrait style photography? It definitely needs to be portable, something she can take to a family members house to help them make their Christmas cards, stuff like that. She's not a professional photog nor is she trying to be, but she definitely enjoys this hobby and the family loves having a free photographer all the time! I don't have an enormous budget left after getting the 480 EX II and 50 f/1.8 II lens, but I am curious as to what you all thought would be some good tools for her in the future? I was considering a portable background or green screen, something she can throw in the backsteat of her car. And possibly a stand and umbrella for her speedlite? (Would that even matter with having just one speedlite?) I'm also interested in what you all think might be good literature to go with all of this to help us (mostly her but I enjoy learning it along with her, and doing some shooting myself) learn about all of this stuff?

Again, not looking to build a studio, but maybe some better lighting supplies that can be thrown in the trunk and carried to a relatives house is the ideal setup here. Any ideas?

We have Lightroom 4, Photoshop CS6 (Got a GREAT deal through a photoshop class she took at the local community college), a T1i and as I said, she'll be getting a 480 EX II and 50mm f/1.8 II (but SHH! Don't tell her!), she also has the kit lens (18-55 IS) and a 75-300 f/4-5.6 III

Thanks all!

ChrisedwardsHT · Nov 23, 2012

Buy a reflector, light stand, triggers, flash adapter and umbrella. You can get them all fairly cheap on BHphoto and amazon.

manicmike · Nov 23, 2012

These are good for an amateur.

Amazon.com: ePhoto Double Speedlite Flash Kit Photo Studio Flash Mount Umbrellas Kit with Case by ePhotoInc HUB4: Camera & Photo

Amazon.com: CowboyStudio NPT-04 4 Channel Wireless Trigger for External Speelights with 1 Trigger and 2 Receivers (NPT-04+extra receiver): Camera & Photo

John27 · Nov 23, 2012

Cool suggestions so far!

Here's a quick dumb question. What is the level of difference in quality between a 480 EX II and a knock-off cheap-o flash? If I got the setup linked above, and later on added a second cheap speedlite, would the difference between the two flashes make them 'incompatible'?

Also, any literature suggestions? I'd love to have a reference book or something to read to learn a little bit more about shooting with flash and umbrellas and all this stuff.

John27 · Nov 23, 2012

Oh, also, that should be a 430 EXII, not 480.

TCampbell · Nov 23, 2012

John27 said:
Cool suggestions so far!

Here's a quick dumb question. What is the level of difference in quality between a 480 EX II and a knock-off cheap-o flash? If I got the setup linked above, and later on added a second cheap speedlite, would the difference between the two flashes make them 'incompatible'?

Also, any literature suggestions? I'd love to have a reference book or something to read to learn a little bit more about shooting with flash and umbrellas and all this stuff.

A dedicated speedlight flash does a lot of different things:

1) It supports Canon's E-TTL & E-TTL II flash system.

Flashes can be used in two modes... in one mode it's just a manual flash. Often you can control the power output of the flash (you can with the 430EX II).

Over the years there have been several attempts to create an exposure system for a flash which automatically controls the power level of the flash. E-TTL II is Canon's most-evolved system yet. In this mode the flash fires a "pre-flash" before the camera even opens the shutter. The camera's evaluative metering system looks for areas where the light level didn't really change (meaning a light source in the image) as well as areas that changed a LOT (usually caused by a highly reflective surface.) The camera also evaluates the focused distance on the lens (if available) and uses all of this information to determine how much power should get pumped into the flash when the camera opens the shutter to take the shot.

This happens VERY quickly. So quickly that most people have no idea that the flash is actually firing twice.

2) The 430EX II has wireless IR communication built-in and can function as a remote flash. Note that the camera does NOT have a built-in IR commander. You either need Canon's accessory for this (the ST-E2) or you need a flash that can function as an IR commander (such as the Speedlite 580EX II). You can also use 3rd party devices. For example, PocketWizard makes the FlexTT5 and MiniTT1 (they make a "Canon" version as well as a "Nikon" version). You can also just use a pair of FlexTT5's. These use radio instead of IR.

3) The 430EX II also has a focus-assist beam. This causes the flash to project a red beam which the camera's focus sensors can see and use to focus the lens when there's otherwise not enough light for the camera to focus.

4) It supports high-speed sync. Normally you can't use a flash if the shutter speed is higher than 1/200th. This is because anything faster than that speed and the camera has to start closing the "2nd curtain" on the shutter before the first curtain has fully-opened. That means that at no time is the entire sensor actually exposed... it's a slit. The width of the slit depends on the shutter speed. In "high-speed sync" mode the flash will fire rapidly as the shutter travels across the sensor so that all areas get even exposure.

5) It supports "2nd curtain" flash mode. Normally a flash fires as soon as the 1st curtain on the shutter finishes opening. But in longer exposures with moving subjects you can get a strange blur when this happens. In 2nd curtain mode, the flash delays firing until just before the 2nd curtain closes. This causes any blur to be "behind" a subject if there was any movement. You'll get a motion blur that looks like they are leaving a trail behind them (vs. 1st curtain mode which has the trail in-front of them.)

You can buy 3rd party flashes as well... but if you check the features, by the time you find a 3rd party flash that puts out an equivalent amount of power, supports the Canon E-TTL system, and other features that come on the 430EX II you'll find that the 3rd party flashes cost nearly (but not quite) as much as the Canon. The 430EX II is a work-horse. It's a VERY reliable flash.

For books... you might consider picking up a good book on flash photography.

John27 · Nov 23, 2012

Wow Thanks for an excellent post Tim!

I need to clarify my question. I already have purchased the 430 EX II, but many of these 'kits' have two stands, two umbrellas, etc. There are lots of inexpensive, $50~$75 flashes that are within my budget to put under the tree this year (Two 430EXII's are not). I really appreciate the understanding of differences, but what about inter-compatibility? Assuming I use a third party trigger system that will fire the flashes, and assuming the cheap slave unit is used only as an off-camera flash, is it something that is worth it? In other words, if I had two umbrellas, one with a 430 EX II and one with a cheap flash, would that work? This would create a 100% portable and 100% battery powered portrait setup that would give us two light sources to work with. So my question is, can this be done with a 430 EX II and a cheap flash, or must it be two flash units of similar quality? Will a cheap flash, used in conjuction with a good flash unit, augment the image and improve our options, or will it simply be a waste of money?

-John

manicmike · Nov 23, 2012

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but if you have wireless triggers and set up all the flashes in manual, you can set up your Canon and cheapo to work together since you're not using the TTL. I love my YN560s. They work great and I don't really need the TTL.

John27 · Nov 24, 2012

Manicmike, that's what I'm assuming I can do. But will the image quality be good with both flashes, or will a cheap flash make the image poorer than one good flash?

It sounds like people are doing it so maybe I'm just over thinking it. I guess I'm kind of thinking about it like my computer in my home office. I bought a fairly color accurate and calibrated monitor (not a very high dollar monitor, but better than your typical best buy off the shelf unit, and one that got good reviews for photoshop work). I ALSO have a cheap LCD monitor that came with a computer some years ago setup as a second monitor. The difference in the color of images in both monitors is INCREDIBLE. When I use lightroom (I do most of the post, she does most of the shooting!) I use the dual monitor feature which puts all of my images on the left (cheap) monitor, and the one I'm working with on the good monitor. So I guess my noobie question is, when I look at the image, am I going to be able to look at it and say "That source of light came from the cheap flash"? Maybe I'm just really over thinking this.

As far as 'not using TTL', can I not use TTL off camera, or when shooting off of an umbrella? (Or when using two flashes)? It doesn't sound like a big deal as a portrait shot like these seem like a very sterile or controlled environment, but I do think the E-TTL II will be a great feature for doing landscape, wildlife, and basically everything else we do with the camera. (Remember the portrait thing is just a new foray and challenge)

manicmike · Nov 24, 2012

You can't tell the light came from a cheaper flash or two different flashes. There are several reasons they are cheaper. One being no TTL metering. The TTL basically means you don't have to mess with settings on the flash for a correct exposure. If you pick up some wireless triggers you can still shoot off camera, just put all the flashes in manual mode and adjust the power on each one individually. As far as I know, you can still us TTL metering off camera with the Canon flash and no additional equipment. TTL is overhyped in my opinion though. I like having control over my power output.

John27 · Nov 24, 2012

Thanks Mike

I'll have to form my own opinions about TTL as I have no experience, but I have a feeling I might be able to take advantage of it. Someone with experience might be able to do better with manual mode, but TTL seems like a nice feature for us newbies.

From what I read, it seems like it might be kin to the auto/program modes on the camera. In my opinion, those modes require as much know-how to use properly as the manual modes. When my wife and I started this hobby, we used full manual mode exclusively, armed with a couple of books, in order to force us to better understand and comprehend how the camera worked. Now, we still use M quite a bit, but I know I like to flip over to aperture or shutter priority, or even in some situations, full auto, as the Camera can do a fine job in many situations (but not all!). My grandpa was a semi-professional photographer (he worked in marketing and did a lot of commercial photography and marketing photo shoots in the midst of it all) before he retired, working with film SLR cameras. We got him a DSLR for Christmas last year and while he still takes photos I can only dream about shooting, he tells me he loves full auto mode, it usually sets up the shot the same way he would! He can look through the lens though and immediately say 'no that's not right' and switch to a manual mode if full auto doesn't spit out the numbers he wants. Of course, he comes from a time when you didn't find out how it turned out until much later, so he has honed the ability to look at a subject and just know how it should be setup!

So anyway... I'd like to spend under $150 here, so it looks like my shopping list is;

A cheap second flash unit to compliment the 480 EX II;
Two umbrella stands (Is that the correct term?);
A trigger setup capable of running both flash units;
Some sort of a portable background (though that may come later)

Here's a quick off-topic-ish question. What is everyones opinion of a 'green screen'. The idea seems attractive as it allows us to have a lot of options without investing in a lot of backgrounds. I've read a few tutorials on dealing with that in post, and my wife had a couple of projects in her Photoshop class dealing with green screens. Didn't seem too bad to work with. I don't mean going crazy with fake-as-a-joke-shop-mustache tropical scenes with a pale model dressed in wisconsin winter clothes, but rather using the green screen to add mild colors and textures behind the subjects for portraits. (Essentially recreating what a collection of backgrounds could give me). I recently had to have my picture taken for a directory for work, and we got to choose the background for our image (so it'd match my tie I guess, LOL!). It was from a selection of textures and colors but the photog was using a green screen, thought it was pretty cool!