Assuming they do work, does anyone know if one is better than the other. I am leaning towards the Vivitar simply as I know the brand.
I have e-mail'd B&H twice now with the question, over the last 3 weeks, and they haven't responded at all (which is very unusual, normally they are very prompt indeed).
I can't buy it locally so need to ensure it is going to work correctly when it gets here.
Yup, I absolutely love e-ttl, it is a great system.
Just disappointed in this one case as I can't afford an e-ttl ringflash, and that $99 ttl one I had hoped could be used :(
I too have been looking longingly at, specifically, the Canon MT24EX flash. I've decided, however, that my homegrown setup will do just fine, even if it isn't as sophisticated.
Actually the results I think are as good.
What I did was mount my ol' trusty (15+ years old) Sunpak 544, angle the bracket forward about 20 degrees, tilt the flash stalk downward about 15 degrees, then rotate the head up & install a Lumiquest bouncer. I get great light output, and very soft shadows. I can tilt & rotate the head to adjust illumination for different subject distances.This is an example of a very close shot (100/2.8 plus 2.0x converter plus 12mm extension tube) using this flash setup for illumination.
Yes, I have to manually control flash exposure, but I'm used to that, since I've never had anything like TTL, much less E-TTL.
If I were to get a non e-ttl ring flash (see start of this thread) can it therefore work anyway, just without ttl? The article Gordon posted says not, but I wonder if you can manually.
If so ..... how hard is it to do manually, real messy, or something you can pick up fairly easily?
If I were to get a non e-ttl ring flash (see start of this thread) can it therefore work anyway, just without ttl? The article Gordon posted says not, but I wonder if you can manually.
If so ..... how hard is it to do manually, real messy, or something you can pick up fairly easily?
I use the dirt simple connection - X synch - Located right next to (forward of) your remote control port. My flash fires in one of two modes:
1.) Auto (reads from in-flash sensor, not too useful for macro work, and not useful at all when bounced.
2.) Manual, flash power is set using a dial on the flash, from full down to 1/32. I'm normallly using between full and 1/8 power.
For macro work I always use manual mode, flash power determined by my aperture and magnification, and the amount of ambient light (and whether or not I intend to rely on ambient light at all!) Pure "shoot from the hip", takes a bit of getting used to. Shutter speed I usually try to keep at 1/200 if I'm relying on the flash, down to 1/100 if I'm balancing flash with ambient light. Almost never slower than 1/100 unless on tripod & shooting static subject.
