550 EX Flash

[murphy]

Im going to a wedding this next weekend. (Cousins in Kentucky)

Anyhow. Im going to be shooting it with a D60 and 28-70 2.8L.

I was wondering, if I purchase the 550Ex flash unit, how much of an improvement am I going to get in my pictures?

Also, How much distance away from the camera is the flash good for?

And how many flashes will I get out of a set of batteries?

thanks
Murphy

 

[Jason Hutchinson]

At full tele and ISO 1000 you'd have flash range of about 203 feet. Of course, you wouldn't want to actually use this setup in this way unless absolutely needed.

Jason

Im going to a wedding this next weekend. (Cousins in Kentucky)

Anyhow. Im going to be shooting it with a D60 and 28-70 2.8L.

I was wondering, if I purchase the 550Ex flash unit, how much of an
improvement am I going to get in my pictures?

Also, How much distance away from the camera is the flash good for?

And how many flashes will I get out of a set of batteries?

thanks
Murphy

 

[Guillaume in Paris]

look at this:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneosd60/page13.asp

you might not find tremendous differences between built-in and external flash, but others here could tell you a lot more good things about the 550EX... one thing i remember they said is "learn and test it before the wedding!"

 

[Martin Hofmann]

I hear someone screaming STO-FEN!!!!

(get a sto-fen diffuser for it.. just cuz)

look at this:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneosd60/page13.asp
you might not find tremendous differences between built-in and
external flash, but others here could tell you a lot more good
things about the 550EX... one thing i remember they said is "learn
and test it before the wedding!"

--

• Martin Hofmann

 

[Adam Minu]

Since you are using the 28-70L, which is BIG and LONG, your built in flash is not going to be useable at 28mm. A shadow will appear in your picture.

You must get an external flash unit.

Adam

(get a sto-fen diffuser for it.. just cuz)

look at this:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneosd60/page13.asp
you might not find tremendous differences between built-in and
external flash, but others here could tell you a lot more good
things about the 550EX... one thing i remember they said is "learn
and test it before the wedding!"

--

• Martin Hofmann

 

[Critter1 #80734]

The 550EX manual says the following:

At 28mm, the guide number is 30 meters
At 70mm, the guide number is 46.
Nicads will give between 40 to 300 flashes depending upon power used.
Alkaline will give 100 to 700 flashes.

The on-board flash has a guide number of 12 meters

Im going to a wedding this next weekend. (Cousins in Kentucky)

Anyhow. Im going to be shooting it with a D60 and 28-70 2.8L.

I was wondering, if I purchase the 550Ex flash unit, how much of an
improvement am I going to get in my pictures?

Also, How much distance away from the camera is the flash good for?

And how many flashes will I get out of a set of batteries?

thanks
Murphy

 

[Guillaume in Paris]

Murphy, Martin has mentionned something interesting: a 550 is nice but a diffuser could give you beautiful images (it softens the light, and Stofens come in different colors to give a different tone to the pics).

Another tool you should consider buying: the Lumiquest Pocket Bouncer. I've got one and it's terrific, it's like having a big(ger) flash head and this provides better illumination as it's less direct, less harsh. It softens the edges of the shadows because the light source is taller, and hides imperfections/wrinkles on a face, which would have shown more with direct flash. It's a bouncer, so it gives you the possibility to bounce light off your flash (head tilted upwards) as if you had a low ceiling (when you haven't!).

The Stofen diffuser is generally used with flash head pointed ahead. Different effect!

 

[PaulS95190]

I just want to re-iterate what was said before:

The built-in flash WILL NOT WORK with your 28-80L lens. I ruined two rolls of film using that same lens before I figured that one out. For $20 you can't go wrong with a Sto-fen diffuser as mentioned before.

Good luck.

Murphy, Martin has mentionned something interesting: a 550 is nice
but a diffuser could give you beautiful images (it softens the
light, and Stofens come in different colors to give a different
tone to the pics).
Another tool you should consider buying: the Lumiquest Pocket
Bouncer. I've got one and it's terrific, it's like having a
big(ger) flash head and this provides better illumination as it's
less direct, less harsh. It softens the edges of the shadows
because the light source is taller, and hides
imperfections/wrinkles on a face, which would have shown more with
direct flash. It's a bouncer, so it gives you the possibility to
bounce light off your flash (head tilted upwards) as if you had a
low ceiling (when you haven't!).

The Stofen diffuser is generally used with flash head pointed
ahead. Different effect!

 

[Max Olser]

I have been using the 550EX for a month now, with and without the Stofen.

1. Having the 550EX is like night and day, compared to the built in flash. It covers from 28mm to 105mm (lenses)

2. The 550EX is powerful enough indoors that I don't think a Stofen will be needed.

3. You are not supposed to point the flash with Stofen directly at the scene. If needed, the 550EX has a wide panel built in for coverage of up to 17mm lens so you really don't need the Stofen.
4. Individual controls on 550EX will give a lot of flexibilities.
5. Use AA batteries.

Im going to a wedding this next weekend. (Cousins in Kentucky)

Anyhow. Im going to be shooting it with a D60 and 28-70 2.8L.

I was wondering, if I purchase the 550Ex flash unit, how much of an
improvement am I going to get in my pictures?

Also, How much distance away from the camera is the flash good for?

And how many flashes will I get out of a set of batteries?

thanks
Murphy

--
Life is full of pictures, only different media of storage.

 

[GMD]

and get a extension cord2 to get the flash of the camera
a bracket is nice too.. but more important is to get
the flash off the camera.. The wedding is only once ...
you can use the flash after that ))

regards
gmd

You must get an external flash unit.

Adam

(get a sto-fen diffuser for it.. just cuz)

look at this:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneosd60/page13.asp
you might not find tremendous differences between built-in and
external flash, but others here could tell you a lot more good
things about the 550EX... one thing i remember they said is "learn
and test it before the wedding!"

--

• Martin Hofmann

 

[GjB]

1) Built in flash on camera is worse than useless with that lens. The lens will obscure the lower section of the flash coverage area. DO NOT USE BUILT-IN flash with that lens.

2) The built-in flash is pretty worthless at weddings anyway. Weddings are generall in large (dark) buildings and there is no bounce/reflection of the light back to the subject. Even with 50mm 1.8 you would need to be close to the subject to get effective indoor illumination with built-in. I had one really disappointing wedding using the built-in flash with lots of underexposed or 'milky' images.

3) 550EX has worked well for me at a number of parties in large halls with 24-70 and subject distance of 10-30 feet. It is always best to get as close as reasonable/practical to the subject. I certainly took 170+ photos with flash on my last set of batteries. Use AAs and keep a spare set handy.

GB

Im going to a wedding this next weekend. (Cousins in Kentucky)

Anyhow. Im going to be shooting it with a D60 and 28-70 2.8L.

I was wondering, if I purchase the 550Ex flash unit, how much of an
improvement am I going to get in my pictures?

Also, How much distance away from the camera is the flash good for?

And how many flashes will I get out of a set of batteries?

thanks
Murphy

 

[Chris Clark]

Im going to a wedding this next weekend. (Cousins in Kentucky)

Anyhow. Im going to be shooting it with a D60 and 28-70 2.8L.

I was wondering, if I purchase the 550Ex flash unit, how much of an
improvement am I going to get in my pictures?

Also, How much distance away from the camera is the flash good for?

And how many flashes will I get out of a set of batteries?

thanks
Murphy

I shoot weddings all the time for a living, and bought the 550EX for my D30. I have to say that the exposures are all over the place. I have gone back to using my Metz thyristor unit, which gives much greater consistency.

You can press the preflash button on the 550EX, and make sure that the focussing point is over the most important part of ther scene, but this is impractical when shooting fast candid shots. If I were you I wouldn't bother with ETTL. Just shoot with a normal auto flash plugged into one of the synch safe units that fits on to the hotshoe of the camera.
--
Chris Clark

 

[Samir Kharusi]

I shoot weddings all the time for a living, and bought the 550EX
for my D30. I have to say that the exposures are all over the
place. I have gone back to using my Metz thyristor unit, which
gives much greater consistency.
You can press the preflash button on the 550EX, and make sure that
the focussing point is over the most important part of ther scene,
but this is impractical when shooting fast candid shots. If I were
you I wouldn't bother with ETTL. Just shoot with a normal auto
flash plugged into one of the synch safe units that fits on to the
hotshoe of the camera.

Heed the above warning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are many people who seem to be happy with their 550ex. I am not one of them. It's technology gone overboard, launched without adequate debugging. A good old thyristor flash is well behaved and predictable, at least to those who know how to use them. I find that often I am trying to second guess the 550ex. The amount of light it gives seems to depend very strongly (but not always very predictably) on the clothes it sees on the focus point. If the subject is wearing white, watch out for underexposure (that poor bride!). You can try the FEL nonsense, but frankly, I find it irritating and the world (and the wedding party) does not wait for you. It's also not that great either. If you are already familiar with a thyristor flash and have one, stick with it. If not, get the 550ex and use it a LOT before the wedding. The only thing it does very well is as a fill light. For this I find it irreproachable. In a dark environment (wedding halls and similar) you have to set the camera to Manual, etc. Rather than FEL, I find it more practical to use the histogram display all the time, and immediately correct for exposure if required. Learn how to do this well ahead of time. You can't read the manuals at the wedding. Far too often, IMHO. It does however cover the field of view of a 14mm lens on a D30/60 and the 1.6 crop factor, if that's of any interest to you. Lousy soft/firmware, over ambitious, not properly tested in the real world. OK, I now await all the flames from the lovers of the 550ex ;-)

 

[DonCohen]

Hi Samir,

As you point out the 550EX/ETTL system is very sensitive to what is under the focus point in use. If it's over a black tuxedo, and flash EV comp is set at zero, your picutre will be overexposed. Conversely, if it's over a white wedding gown, and Flash EV comp is zero, your picture will be underexposed.

There are two options to get around this:

Adjust Flash EV according to what is under the focus point. If it's white, add perhaps +1 to +1.5, if it's black, adjust it -1 to -1.5. This is not always practical, as it takes time, and if the action is moving fast, you just can't keep up.

The other solution is FEL. Just hold the focus point over a face, for example, have Flash EV up perhaps +1/3, hit FEL, and that will lock in a perfect exposure (in my experience). With the D30/D60, that setting will stay set until you take your finger completely off the shutter, and it will 'expire' 2 seconds after that. The 1D has a Personal Function where you can extend this setting to up to an hour, which can really come in handy.

If the action is moving fast, subjects are moving very quickly, this is obviously more difficult, but for static or slowly moving scenes, works quite well. The FEL can quickly be re-hit and re-set as conditions change.

So I'm not suggesting that 550EX/ETTL is the only way to go, but if you understand how it works, and how to work with it, results will be perfectly predictable.

Whether or not it's practical to do this will depend on the nature of what's being shot, the photographer's personal style and preferences, etc. I believe there are many who use this at weddings, while others do opt for an "automatic" non-ETTL type system.

Just offered to clarify how this all works, rather than suggesting one or the other way is "better."

Don
http://www.dlcphotography.net

 

[Nill Toulme]

Just a clarification here that I've been wondering about ... you only have to hit FEL, not hold it down? You hit it once and it holds until shutter release or you hit it again? Or only while you have the shutter halfway down? Same for AE lock without flash? I'm a little confused about the sequence of button pushes.

Thanks,

Nill

The other solution is FEL. Just hold the focus point over a face,
for example, have Flash EV up perhaps +1/3, hit FEL, and that will
lock in a perfect exposure (in my experience). With the D30/D60,
that setting will stay set until you take your finger completely
off the shutter, and it will 'expire' 2 seconds after that. The 1D
has a Personal Function where you can extend this setting to up to
an hour, which can really come in handy.

If the action is moving fast, subjects are moving very quickly,
this is obviously more difficult, but for static or slowly moving
scenes, works quite well. The FEL can quickly be re-hit and re-set
as conditions change.

 

[Michael Thomas Mitchell]

Murphy,

I've waited to hear other responses, and they seem to dwell on the pros and cons of ETTL vs thyristor. Does ETTL work? Yes. Is it idiot-proof? No. But it's not random, either. You have to learn to use it, just as you do thyristor technology.

I'll offer a different perspective for you to think about. The 550 EX isn't the only ETTL unit in town. Just one of the most expensive. Alot of that cost involves other capabilities, not the least of which is its ability to operate as a master unit, able to control multiple ETTL units in wireless mode. This is a very powerful feature. In fact, the 550 is MORE capable in this regard than the ST-E2 wireless controller, which, without a flash head of its own, costs $200 and is dedicated to this purpose. In addition, the 550 supports stroboscopic functions. If you don't know what that is, then it would probably be a wasted feature for you. (A recent post on the subject proved that it's unused by virtually everyone.) And, it offers full manual flash function. Again, something few actually use.

If you take away those added functions, you essentially have the same features (but slightly less output) as the considerably less expensive (~$175) Canon 420EX. Actually, the 420 can still function as a slave, so it you ever decided to explore multiple wireless flash photography, it would continue to serve you. In the meantime, you can invest less and see if ETTL flash photography is for you.

Best of luck

M

Im going to a wedding this next weekend. (Cousins in Kentucky)

Anyhow. Im going to be shooting it with a D60 and 28-70 2.8L.

I was wondering, if I purchase the 550Ex flash unit, how much of an
improvement am I going to get in my pictures?

Also, How much distance away from the camera is the flash good for?

And how many flashes will I get out of a set of batteries?

thanks
Murphy

 

[Anthony]

I've been using the D30/D60 with the 550ex for 1.5 years.

At first, I was very disappointed in the results. I'd get underexposure/ overexposure when I least expected it.

I've owned three cameras, and on three occassions, I've had the camera flash calibrated by Canon. This calibration is more than just an increase in flash exposure, it's an overall adjustment in accuracy. I've gotten nice results since then.

Finally:

Keep in mind....That perfect flash picture that you're used to seeing from your film camera, may have been adjusted during processing*

What you saw from your film may not have been what you got.

Whereas digital.....WYSIWYG....It's your job to go from there!

 

[Tony Cortizas Jr]

For those of us unfamiliar with these Canon systems, but shopping...what is "FEL"?

Thanks,

Nill

The other solution is FEL. Just hold the focus point over a face,
for example, have Flash EV up perhaps +1/3, hit FEL, and that will
lock in a perfect exposure (in my experience). With the D30/D60,
that setting will stay set until you take your finger completely
off the shutter, and it will 'expire' 2 seconds after that. The 1D
has a Personal Function where you can extend this setting to up to
an hour, which can really come in handy.

If the action is moving fast, subjects are moving very quickly,
this is obviously more difficult, but for static or slowly moving
scenes, works quite well. The FEL can quickly be re-hit and re-set
as conditions change.

 

[Bill Branham]

Hi Samir,

As you point out the 550EX/ETTL system is very sensitive to what is
under the focus point in use. If it's over a black tuxedo, and
flash EV comp is set at zero, your picutre will be overexposed.
Conversely, if it's over a white wedding gown, and Flash EV comp is
zero, your picture will be underexposed.

There are two options to get around this:

Adjust Flash EV according to what is under the focus point. If
it's white, add perhaps +1 to +1.5, if it's black, adjust it -1 to
-1.5. This is not always practical, as it takes time, and if the
action is moving fast, you just can't keep up.

When shooting a wedding cake with the 420EX, I always get a gray (18% gray I presume) cake. I tried adding more exposure by adjusting 1 stop..... 2 stops.... nothing changes the image. In the Program mode, why can increase the exposure??

The other solution is FEL. Just hold the focus point over a face,
for example, have Flash EV up perhaps +1/3, hit FEL, and that will
lock in a perfect exposure (in my experience). With the D30/D60,
that setting will stay set until you take your finger completely
off the shutter, and it will 'expire' 2 seconds after that. The 1D
has a Personal Function where you can extend this setting to up to
an hour, which can really come in handy.

If the action is moving fast, subjects are moving very quickly,
this is obviously more difficult, but for static or slowly moving
scenes, works quite well. The FEL can quickly be re-hit and re-set
as conditions change.

So I'm not suggesting that 550EX/ETTL is the only way to go, but if
you understand how it works, and how to work with it, results will
be perfectly predictable.

Whether or not it's practical to do this will depend on the nature
of what's being shot, the photographer's personal style and
preferences, etc. I believe there are many who use this at
weddings, while others do opt for an "automatic" non-ETTL type
system.

Just offered to clarify how this all works, rather than suggesting
one or the other way is "better."

Don
http://www.dlcphotography.net

--
Bill Branham
http://members.aol.com/Wsbranham/Page1.html

 

[Mike Sullivan]

I have used the 550ex with a 75-300 zoom to fill pictures of a wedding with heavy backlighting. The pictures were taken from the back of the chapel with a 75-300 zoom. Worked great, but at that output it takes a few seconds to recharge.

I have also used the built in wide angle as a diffuser. Unless I'm within a couple metrers of the subject it worked fine.

The 550ex is alot to carry, but gives you alot of flexibility. And the batteries last suprisingly long, although I'd have a spare set for a wedding. The only drawback is that you can't shoot as fast as with an external power pack.

1. Having the 550EX is like night and day, compared to the built in
flash. It covers from 28mm to 105mm (lenses)
2. The 550EX is powerful enough indoors that I don't think a Stofen
will be needed.
3. You are not supposed to point the flash with Stofen directly at
the scene. If needed, the 550EX has a wide panel built in for
coverage of up to 17mm lens so you really don't need the Stofen.
4. Individual controls on 550EX will give a lot of flexibilities.
5. Use AA batteries.

Im going to a wedding this next weekend. (Cousins in Kentucky)

Anyhow. Im going to be shooting it with a D60 and 28-70 2.8L.

I was wondering, if I purchase the 550Ex flash unit, how much of an
improvement am I going to get in my pictures?

Also, How much distance away from the camera is the flash good for?

And how many flashes will I get out of a set of batteries?

thanks
Murphy

--
Life is full of pictures, only different media of storage.