Newbie Question Re: Flashes, sync cables, etc

[kornphlake]

I've got a new to me Canon D30 and I'd really like to be able to light up shadows in sunlit conditions and freeze action. Unfortunately the little pop up isn't really capable of either. I've got a Pentax AF220T flash I used on my ZX-50 with great success until I smashed the camera. The flash however is in good condition and gives a warm lighting that I really like, I'd be okay with using it however I understand the TTL metering most likely wouldn't work.

So my first question is can I just stick the flash on the hot shoe and fire away or will this damage the camera body, I've read something about the sync voltage and thyristors or something to that affect that can be bad news if you do things the wrong way. If using the flash on the hot shoe is impossible or otherwise not reccomended can I use a PC to hot shoe adaptor and use the PC socket to fire the flash or is this where I run into problems with the voltage. If it's possible to use the Pentax flash by any means will I still be able to select first or second curtain flash? What will be the fastest shutter speed I'll be able to use?

Second, how important is TTL flash metering? Will I still be able to get reasonable exposures without it?

I've got the means to purchase a used Canon EX 420 flash, which I plan on doing at some point for the sole purpose of the high speed sync capability. At this point there are a few other items that I'd also like to have like a couple of spare batteries and an extra compact flash card and I can't afford everything right away. If push comes to shove I'd take a flash over the other items but I've never heared that it's worth it to buy more flash than you think you'll need like is always reccomended with lenses. Can I get by with a cheap flash and if necessary some type of cable rigging for the immediate future as long as I plan on taking my time to manually expose the shots or will I save myself a lot of headache in the long run by investing in a good flash now? If I should decide to buy a new flash unit are there other models worth considering besides the EX 420, the EX 430 is out and seems to be the bees knees but I'm not sure my body will support all the features of the flash, what about third party flashes, are there any that are worth looking at?

Finally how much power do I really need? I know that's a pretty general question but assuming I'd use the flash for indoor portraits, outdoors at distances from 10-20 feet for filling in shadows and for freezing action in sports both in daylight and in shadows out to 30 feet is there any kind of guideline I should follow? Can I get too much flash?

[Asylum Steve]

I'd guess that most, if not all newer flashes are safe for digital cameras (voltage-wise), but to be sure I'd consider getting a Wein Safe-Sync:

http://www.weinproducts.com/safesyncs.htm

[JSPhoto]

For flash you can use any of the Canon flash units that are sold now. You can find them used at decent prises as well. You can also use third party flash as long as it has a Canon hotshoe.
You can find used Metz flashes at resonable prices as well as Sunpak flashes with Canon Hotshoes at very reasonable prices.
I bought a used Sunpak 433D w/Canon hotshoe for $55 from: http://www.robertsimaging.com/index.jsp
Look up their used gear.

Canon was very smart as they made their Cameras to work with their older flash units, and newer flash are also backwards compatable. The Sunpak 433D will give you all the power you would ever need. I use it on manual mode, even when using it for fill flash or for sports and it gives excellent results. You need to experiment and see what works best though setting wise for your subject. I find I use 1/8 - 1/4 most of the time. I use this with the 1D and the 580EX for the 1D MKII N.
I have used the Sunpak 433D for everything from on track race acton to basketball, football, individual player shots and team shots, indoors and outdoors.

The Sunpak 433D will give more shots per set of batteries than the 430 or 420EX or EZ.
You could also use the EZ series of Canon flash which can be had pretty cheap. Again, use them in manual mode for best results.

JS

[kornphlake]

Thanks for the informative replys guys.

I mesured the voltage from the center pin to the hot shoe on my Pentax flash and it was 9 volts, I don't know if I fully trust my multimeter though as it said my alkaline AA batteries were 1.7 volts. At any rate, because of costs involved, would it be safe to use a PC to hot shoe adaptor like this:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

without using the safe sync that Steve mentions?

If I can use any canon flash I might just go and find a used flash that has manual controls, either a canon or something like the sunpak 433D and use that for the time being. Who knows maybe I'll decide I don't really need TTL flash metering, they didn't have it in the old days of manual film cameras and nobody didn't missed it.

[JSPhoto]

Do not use the Pentax flash. The pins do NOT match the Canon pins (ie: signals being for the same function(s). Also, because your meter shows one thing, that doesn't mean it's the same when the flash fires, it may be 9 volts or 250volts when it fires. I have heard of people damaging their cameras using Pentax or other flashes.

JS

[kornphlake]

I wouldn't put my Pentax flash directly on the camera's hot shoe, I'd at the very minimum use an adaptor to isolate the center pin and keep the other pins from contacting the camera. The more I think about it the more I'm leaning toward either selling off the Pentax flash and just getting a canon compatible flash or maybe keep the Pentax flash around and use it with an optical slave trigger. There's not much sense in spending $50 in adaptors and such to accomplish what a $30 flash could do.

Then there's the other half of me that really wants one of the new models with the high speed sync and TTL metering, not because I really need it that much but because it's so cool.

[JSPhoto]

LOL, yeah, it's nice to have the "cool" stuff, but that is one of the problems with us Americans, we always have to keep up or stay one step ahead of the Jones's.
I take you got the new D30 right? Is it able to use the high speed sync? If it is a "type B" camera it will not be compatible with high speed sync. Only type A cameras can use high speed sync.
When I bought the 1D MKII N I also bought the 580EX as the camera was designed to work with the 580EX and gives the correct WB so when using the flash I don't have to worry about the WB...and it has high speed sync.

JS

[kornphlake]

Actually I have the old D30, not the new 30D. Cannon's naming convention is going to be a little confusing at this point with the old and new 30's and there's likely to be a 60D at some point so we'll have a D60 and a 60D. I'm tempted to put up my D30 on ebay but call it a 30D in the auction title but describe it in every other way as a D30 with only 3.x megapixels, I'd never do it though because I'd feel cheated if I bid on something with an inaccurate title and didn't read the description carefully enough, my concience wouldn't let me do it.

The D30 is high speed sync compatible (I've got no idea about the 30D,) I've got a friend that has the same camera with a 420 EX flash, it was his pictures of a cieling fan at 1/4000th with the flash that sold me on the Canon system. It's the only way to get tack sharp pictures in difficult lighting conditions, as far as I'm aware nobody else offers high speed flash sync.

I stopped by a Ritz Camera and ended up buying an optical slave unit. It took me a while to figure out that I have to use the FEL so that the metering flash doesn't trigger the slave but as you can see from the before and after shots the Pentax just might suit my needs for the time being. (Sorry for not cropping or otherwise adjusting the images, they are intended for reference only not for critique.) I used a small piece of copy paper and a rubber band to cover the flash so that the popup flash would not glare off the tank glass but still trigger the slave. Even with a dedicated Canon flash I don't think I could have gotten this shot without mounting the flash somewhere off the camera.

[JSPhoto]

Yeah, with that Camera you could use any of the older Canon or Canon hotshoe flash units and have very good results. My boss has one of those, and MY 433D flash which I think he's confiscated permanently now He used it on my 1D (the old one) when I had surgery and I got the camera back, but not the flash! I'd have thought it would be the other way around....Oh well.
Anyway, you don't need to get something like the 580EX which would save a bunch of $$ for that camera.

Off to the State Championships in basketball....4 games today. Loooooonnnnggg day!

JS