Canon ST-E2

[poker]

I was using the Canon ST-E2 outdoors on Monday and it failed on me 30% of the time. I've already been warned that it doesn't do that well in daylight. I'm starting to feel that I want a Pocket Wizard setup sometime this year.


Question: I might shoot a basketball game on Sunday. Will the ST-E2 work out in a typical high school gym? What will my range be?

[brmill26]

From reading, not personal experience, I've heard the ST-E2's range is only about 20, maybe 30ft at most, even indoors. Without tight walls to bounce off (as you'd find in typical rooms), I imagine the gym will not be much better than ~20ft.

If you have the money to spend on pocket wizards, go for it. I certainly don't, so I got the D-8P triggers from China on eBay. I have to say, for me they've been 100% reliable to about 30ft, without putting a fresh transmitter battery in it yet. And if you lengthen the antenna, you're supposed to be able to get about 300ft out of it. I haven't done that yet b/c I haven't needed to. Here's how to do it.

But there are a lot of other options in b/t the cheapo China triggers and PWs. One very good option may be the new Radio Poppers, which will still transfer the infrared signals from your ST-E2, but will do it over radio, extending your range well into the ludicrous PW range (over 1,000ft).

[poker]

Thanks for the info. I don't mind trying out the the alternatives to pocket wizard.

For this Sunday, I'll see if the ST-E2 works but if it doesn't I'll just shoot with my 85 1.8 and high ISO. It'll be my first time at basketball photos so I have other things to learn before using a flash like tracking focus and composition in a fast moving environment.

Thanks.

[draymorton]

I've had similar problems with the ST-E2.

The eBay triggers I have totally suck, as well. They fail to work when they're supposed to and vice versa - far too often to be worth sticking with. I've heard great things about the CyberSyncs and they're substantially cheaper than PWs, so I might be checking those out pretty soon.

http://www.alienbees.com/cybersync.html

[Loupey]

As you have found out, the ST-E2 can be iffy.

On the one hand, I've used them to trigger strobes which were down a hall and around a corner.

But on the other hand, I've used them outside and couldn't trigger strobes which were only 20' away and to my 10-o'clock and 2-o'clock.

In an open gym, you might be lucky to get 20'~25' if your strobes have a direct line-of-sight to the transmitter (meaning that you have to have the body of the strobes facing directly at you while the strobe head can be directed elsewhere).

I believe that the 580EXII has the same transmitter that is in the ST-E2 so there probably won't be any difference in performance. I'd use the ST-E2 so you don't flash the people directly.

[Photo-John]

I've got two 550 EX flashes so I sometimes trigger on with the other. Sometimes it can be very frustrating - especially outdoors. They can be very sensitive to direction and sometimes you need to mess with them a bunch to get them to work. Whe they do work, it's nice to have E-TTL metering. But I've got Pocket Wizards, too. And I'd much rather use them. They're foolproof. You just have to manually set your flash exposure. That's the only downside. Well, that and the price.

[poker]

Thanks John. I was thinking about my alternative. I have a 580 and a 430. If I set the 580 to master on camera and put the 430 in the stands....what effect will I get? Is the signal from a 580 stronger than the ST-E2? Is the 430 strong enough to work 15-25ft from the court?

Hmmmmm.....

I've got two 550 EX flashes so I sometimes trigger on with the other. Sometimes it can be very frustrating - especially outdoors. They can be very sensitive to direction and sometimes you need to mess with them a bunch to get them to work. Whe they do work, it's nice to have E-TTL metering. But I've got Pocket Wizards, too. And I'd much rather use them. They're foolproof. You just have to manually set your flash exposure. That's the only downside. Well, that and the price.

[poker]

I've been looking into Elinchrom triggers. I may consider this if I want to do sports more often. It's less expensive that PW and I haven't read complaints.

For this Sunday, I plan to bring both flashes and set them up as planned. If the ST-E2 works in the gym then good. If not I'll try to just use one flash and point the ST-E2 towards the flash with a Canon off the shoe cord. If that doesn't work then I'll just shoot at high ISO with my 85mm f1.8.

I hope I come back with something to share. Thanks everyone.

[poker]

I just found out about Radio Poppers. These devices will transmit the ST-E2 signal via radio which include the ETTL info. Painfully expensive though IMO.