Off Camera Flash Help!

[tsmith7101]

So this if my first post and I am still very new at DSLR Photography

Me and my wife purchased a Canon T3 and love it! We have jumped in head first and are learning as much as we can.
We also have a 1.8 50 mm lens, and 75-300mm Telephoto lens along with the 18-55 that came with the camera.

We have 5 in 1 reflector and are now ready to get a FLASH! (off camera setup)

We thinking about getting the 430EX but also want to get a secondary flash but cannot afford another 430 EX.
We are thinking get about a Vivitar 285 as the secondary (since we more than liklely will be adjusting the light manually without using TTL )

We want to use wireless triggers so we can fire both of these flashes simultaneously. Is this possibly without needing to buy 2 CANON 430 EX's ?

 

[jwbryson1]

Yes, you just need a wireless radio slave. There are zillions of them on the market.

Might I suggest that before you jump head first into off camera flash that you first get really good with your camera and learn the fundamentals, particularly the exposure triangle (ISO, shutter speed, aperture). OCF is an advanced "course" (if you will) and will be much easier to do once you get past the "leveling" courses.

 

[bigtwinky]

Wireless triggers such as PocketWizards, RadioPoppers, Cactus,... will trigger any flash. You can have a Canon, a Nikon, a Vivitar, a Lumopro.. all working together being triggered with the...euh...triggers.

One thing to remember is that different flashes sometimes have different colour temperatures. Sticking with the same brand is usually best, but you might not see a difference.

One flash I have and love (well, have 3 of them) is the LumoPro 160. A bit more expensive than a Vivitar, its a powerful flash, simple, can be triggers many ways.

 

[shortpants]

If you're going to use a wireless trigger you don't need a fancy flash, as you said you'll be adjusting it manually anyway. I use a vivitar 285 and I just bought a 430 EX. As far as I know the canon is a slave unit so it won't work wirelessly without a master. I might be wrong about that though.

Edit: I mean it will work wirelessly with a receiver but you won't get have TTL

 

[jwbryson1]

I also use a Yongnuo 560 that I trigger with Cowboy radio slaves which are dirt cheap.

 

[Robin Usagani]

Trust me on this one.. Practice with on camera flash first. Learn how to bounce the flash indoor. Once you master that then start thinking about off camera flash.