External flash advice

[zelek]

My wife thinks she needs an external flash for her Digital Rebel XT. She's primarily into shooting portraits. Can anyone give me some ideas as to which one to consider?? She loves taking pictures but is pretty inexperienced and neither one of us really has the time to research it much right now.

She's been using the Canon EF-S 17-85mm lens most of the time. Thanks for that recommendation stfcatfish!!

[IFallsRon]

Look at the Speedlite 430EX. It is on the recommend list for your camera. They are designed to work with the camera to determine the correct amount of flash you need for best exposure. For portraits, you may want to pick up a small softbox/bracket/hotshoe setup.

[polarsusd81]

I have the Speedlite 550EX and I love it. It really does a nice job. If she shoots a canon camera, I would recomend sticking with a canon flash. They are designed to work together. I shoot a digital rebel and have used the flash for a lot of different situations, from sports to weddings, and everything in between. Like the previous post said, the 430EX or even stepping up to the big boy 580EX would be a good flash. If she ever plans to upgrade the camera I would get the 580EX right off the bat.

Tom

[Steve Foss]

Any of the speedlite series, from the 380 on up, will work really well with that camera. And with the most recent models, you can set exposure compensation on the flash. You can do that with the camera, to some degree, too, but I'm not sure how much the XT allows. If you plop the jing for the 550 or 580, they offer a whole lot of options the smaller/older ones don't, not to mention the additional power and shorter recharging times.

Strictly speaking, with the 17-85 being a fairly close-up portrait lens, you can get a lot of really good work done with the on-camera popup flash. I agree with her, though. If you're serious about portraiture, the supplemental flash is crucial. And the extension cord that plugs into the hot shoe and the flash is a biggie, as well, because you eliminated a lot of redeye and can do other things as well with a flash that's at a different angle to the subject than the camera's lens.

Also, if I remember correctly the 580 will work as a primary flash and will run slave flash units (small, cheap portable flash units) you can place in other locations to acheive back and side lighting.

[zelek]

I knew I could count on you guys! Thanks!

[zelek]

I am definitely a novice.... can you explain the small softbox/bracket/hotshoe set up for me? Would this be something that works with the on-camera pop up flash for fairly close portraits?

Thanks-

[Steve Foss]

Zelek, it's a very good setup for portraiture, but this does not work with the pop-up flash. Your wife needs a separate flash as well as the bracket, the off-camera flash cord and the softbox. The bracket allows the flash to be mounted off to the side and higher, so it hits the eye at more of an angle than the on-camera flash, reducing/eliminating red-eye. The softbox diffuses and gentles the harsher light of the flash. She can also buy a snap-on plastic flash diffuser, but the softbox fastens with Velcro, so should work on a number of different flashes. When she gets it set up, she can experiment with various levels of exposure compensation (flash and camera manuals will explain this) until she's satisfied with the affect.

I have used a friend's softbox a couple of times and will be ordering my own at some point, as soon as I also order the bracket. Since most of my portraiture is out-of-studio and informal, I like the off-camera flash cord to change that flash angle, but I don't like the whole big flash bracket setup very much. When I use the cord, I'm always shooting wider-angle, which means a light lens, so I can hold the camera with one hand and hold the flash off to the side with the other. In a more formal setting, like on a tripod ina studio, I'd definitely get the bracket.

At some point down the road, she may want to take a look at a couple more powerful supplementary softbox lights on stands, which provide nice affects with side and backlighting and aren't that expensive.

[zelek]

Thanks for the information. If her primary concern right now is harsh shadows when using the pop up flash (indoor shots at fairly close range), would the set up you described be recommended or would the more powerful supplementary softbox lights on stands do the trick? What brand/size would you recommend if the softbox lights?

[Steve Foss]

The bracket/flash/softbox described would probably suit her best in the situations you specified. It's always better to start small when just getting into something. Supplemental lighting can come later, as a person gets into what they are doing. It usually takes awhile for a photographer to catch up to the limitations of whatever gear they buy. And, depending on the needs of her photography, she may never require more than the initial setup I mentioned. If she eventually does, there are many sources for supplemental lights on stands with soft/diffusion boxes, but I would not worry about those just yet.

[IFallsRon]

There's a lot of how-to lessons at olympusdigitalschool.