The Common "What flash equipment should I use?"

[KevinisXavier]

Okay so I am new to lighting equipment,
But I own a Canon 500D aka T1i and I was wondering what is a generic flash for a beginner?
I was thinking about possibly a 430EX speed light?
Anything that isn't super advanced just so I can get the hang of using a flash
Also I am thinking about doing off camera lighting as well, so what other equipment would be recommended for this type of photography (transmitters, receivers, cables, stands etc.)
I am not really able to spend so much money but anything that is not too cheap but not too expensive is acceptable.

Help would be really appreciated!

 

[KmH]

The hot set-up for OCF is to use a radio trigger system. There are several inexpensive brands available on eBay. I have used the iShoot gear before with acceptable results. They come with a transmitter that mounts on the hot shoe of your camera and a receiver attached to your speedlight.

You can check out Cactus trigers at www.gadgetinfinity.com

The cream of the crop in radio triggers is Pocket Wizards and they are transceivers, not separate transmitters and receivers . www.pocketwizard.com

A generic speedlight won't TTL on your T1i, you'll have to learn how to set one up manually. I favor Vivitar 285HV's (about $90) for use as generic speedlights.

The 430EX is not too powerful and has fairly limited features. If you want to do OCF you should consider the more powerful a feature rich 530EX and explore the Canon built-in system for remotely triggering OCF.

 

[RyanLilly]

The 430ex is still a nice flash, For on camera lighting it does well without breaking the bank. But for about the cast of a 430ex you can get two vivitar 285HV's and radio triggers. This gives you a versatile off camera flash setup, and you can still use a 285 on camera, you just need to learn to control the flash manually, Which is actually pretty easy to get the hang of, there is even a guide for settings on the side of the flash.

Anyway, the Vivitar will give nice results, but do require some experimentation, time and learning. If you really just want a flash that is going to "just work" and not have to worry about it, then the TTL metering with the 430ex or 580ex might be what you are looking for.

 

[bhphotography]

If your just getting into flash I would go with the 430ex, or any other Canon flash that does ttl. They are a bit more expensive but take the thinking out of it.

I personally use Vivitar 285hv's for off camera with the cactus transmitters. I do however use a light meter to set them up and have been doing off camera flash for over 5 years.