A fast flash for action?

[Muddy Beast]

Hey,
So as you guys probly know by now I'm an amateur mountain bike photographer. Well, I was taking pictures yesterday with my tamron lens (since the canon 1.8 doesnt work at 1.8 with M mode...canons working on helping me though) and most pictures turned out pretty good in the DK area, since all the trees are cleared out and allow alot of light in. But a few shots turned out dark such as these.





Point being, what flash can you recommend that would save these for my Canon XTi? I take pictures right after one another super fast (3fps if I can usually) So are there any flashes that can recharge that for for atleast 5-8pictures in a row at 3fps? I dont need anything super fancy, just a decent flash that wont kill pictures with light but will add some light to the photos when taking fast shots.

Thanks.

[Jimmy B]

Why doesn't your fifty 1.8 work in Manual? Check your focus switch A= auto focus
M = manual focus.
JS can answer flash ?
Jimmy B

[livin4lax09]

you can't shoot with any flashes full power on burst. you have to dial down the power quite a bit to shoot 3 flashes per second. Most flashes recharge to full in about 1 second.

[Muddy Beast]

haha thanks Jimmy, but what I mean by it doesnt work in "M" mode is it doesnt shoot at 1.8 ap it shoots at 2.8 max. It a problem with the camera or the lens, not sure what yet...I'm going to take it to a shop sometime soon. Thats why I desided I'd use my zoom lens since it would make more since cause their the same apature in "M" mode.

as for flashes not being at full, thats fine...I just need something to help the pictures. As you can tell, it wouldnt need much to solve them.

what flashes would you guys recommend for me? I probly wouldnt fiddle with it to much, just set it at something and keep it there unless it looks like complete crap. So I dont need a whole lot of features.

[livin4lax09]

just go to your local shop and pick up a cheap flash with manual power then. anything by vivitar should be fine, or maybe sunpak. Trying to save you some money, as I see you're in the same boat I used to be in.

[JSPhoto]

As I pointed out in another thread the Sunpack 433D with a Canon mount will work just fine, you have to use it in Manual mode anyway and dialing it down will allow it to recycle faster. It's better on batteries than the Canon 400 series flash, but not as good as the 580EX. But for $50 you can't beat the Sunpack 433D compared to $300+ for the 580EX.
Just make sure it has the Canon mount and it will have a sticker that says "Canon" on it.

JS

[Muddy Beast]

As I pointed out in another thread the Sunpack 433D with a Canon mount will work just fine, you have to use it in Manual mode anyway and dialing it down will allow it to recycle faster. It's better on batteries than the Canon 400 series flash, but not as good as the 580EX. But for $50 you can't beat the Sunpack 433D compared to $300+ for the 580EX.
Just make sure it has the Canon mount and it will have a sticker that says "Canon" on it.

JS

Ahh yes...I remember looking for these but forgot to mention I couldnt find any. I looked on ebay, and they all looked super old or werent Canon mount.

Any chance you could hook me up with a link to this "$50 flash"?

Edit: How about something like the Sunpak power zoom 4000-AF? I can get one for around $50 on ebay.

[SmartWombat]

But for $50 you can't beat the Sunpack 433D compared to $300+ for the 580EX.

Wow, I wish I could get a 580 EX for $300 or £150.
I broke down and bought the 580EXII and it was more than twice that

[dhyravy]

Just get a Sunpak 383 Super. It's a non-dedicated manual/auto flash with a GN of 120 at 35mm. I use them a lot for sports although usually off-camera with RF triggers. They work great, are well built, and at 1/4 power or lower will fire 3 or 4 times before a recycle. If you need more than that, you'll be looking at using some type of external battery pack and they aren't nearly as reasonable as a flash.

[JSPhoto]

Ahh yes...I remember looking for these but forgot to mention I couldnt find any. I looked on ebay, and they all looked super old or werent Canon mount.

Any chance you could hook me up with a link to this "$50 flash"?

Edit: How about something like the Sunpak power zoom 4000-AF? I can get one for around $50 on ebay.

I don't know abnout the other Sunpak flashes, just the 433D because I own one. I quickly found it didn't eat batteries as bad as the Canon 430EX did so I wasn't too disapointed when the 430 exploded (litterally).
I'd do some research and seee what the battery life is. I could do a burst with the old 1D of 8fps and get all 8 with the flash if it was a good set of batteries.

JS

[livin4lax09]

check out the vivitar 283. everyone i know who has used it has fallen in love with it. Strobist.com is basically dedicated to that and sb-800s.

[Muddy Beast]

Well it looks like I'll be selling my drumset since I quit my 5 years of lessons weekly and my bandclasses to do a photography class next year. So I'll probly get about a grand from that which I'll spend on a flash. Is the 430EX a good one? There cheaper then the 5 and seem good. Otherwise what would I get the most bang for my buck? I wana get a tripod, flash, and maybe a telefoto zoom lens for my trip. Otherwise Im spending the rest on my bike, cuz alot is broke.

[JSPhoto]

As mentioned earlier the 430EX is a good flash, it doesn't recycle as fast as the 580EX, and it goes through batteries quicker (fewer shots per set), but it is cheaper than the 580. The 580 also has a much farther reach, I think the 430 has a guide 90 and the 580 is 105. I am guessing at the 430 as I can't remember for certian, it may be less. With a fully charged set of batteries the recycle time is .1 second to 6 seconds depending on settings and so on.
Again, it depends on how deep you want to get into this.

JS

[highdet]

hi JS,

I have an old Sunpak 433D for Canon (from my old AE-1) and understand I can use it on a new Rebel SL1 in the manual mode without damaging the camera, True? Any setting suggestions? Side note- what do you think of the Sunpak PZ58X flash for this camera?
Thanks-- a newbie