Using my flash off-camera?

johnwilliams · Apr 10, 2009

I'm getting a bit bored with my camera mounted speedlight 430ex and want to set it up so i can use it off camera. I'm just wondering what my options are for this or what price range i'd be looking at for a wireless remote?

Village Idiot · Apr 10, 2009

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html

Youll probably want a stand and umbrella too.

Stand - $30
Umbrella adapter - $15
Westcott 43 white shoot through umbrella - $20

Remote options are huge. Whats your budget? You could spend anywhere from $400 to a very reliable remote and trigger thats pro grade and the industry standard to $30 for a remote and trigger thats really hit or miss on QA and could work for what you want or could be really frustrating. Or you could spend $100 on a middle of the road trigger thats very reliable and will do everything you want.

Cactus V2S
Alien Bee Cyber Sync
Elinchrom Skyports
Radio Poppers RP1 (?)
Pocket Wizard PIIs

Just a sampling of options going from cheapest up top, to most expensive down below.

The 430EX doesnt have a pc port, so what ever you get will have to have a hot shoe mount or youll have to buy a hot shoe that you can pug a cable into. Those are fairly cheap and can be found at www.flashzebra.com . www.bhphotovideo.com is a good place to get most of the other stuff.

Big Mike · Apr 10, 2009

There are several options and this has been talked about on the forum quite a bit. Try a search, you will come up with plenty to read.

In a nutshell;
If you want to retain E-TTL metering, like you have when the flash is mounted on the camera...then there are a couple options. One would be to get a Canon 'master' unit. It could be a 580EX flash or the ST-E2.
Another option would be the new Pocketwizards.

The other popular way of using the flash off-camera, is to use a radio or optical trigger. This just fires the flash, so you have to figure out and set the power manually.

You could also use a cord....but that's no fun