Flash guns...

InvaderGIR

InvaderGIR

InvaderGIR

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After my chat with my dad I had when I was out in the garden earlier (see this thread) he found me a couple of spare flash guns he doesn't use. One being the type you mount on the tripod mount on the camera and have a wiggly cable to attach it to the camera (of which the D40X has no socket for) and the other being a 'normal' top mounting one.

The top mounting one can be set as Nikon, Canon, Pentax and a couple other brands. I set it to Nikon, but when I put the shutter button to focus it still pops up the built in flash (well, tries to), I'm guessing I do have to use a proper one designed for DSLRs and not a 10 year old one?

InvG
 
try it on manual mode, for the flash to pop up on its own, you are on one of the automatic modes. so the flash you have put on will never work because it wont have I-ttl mode on
 
Jotun said:
Edit: Ignore me, a look on Google says I'm wrong :p
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Awww I missed what you posted...:(

Set the camera to a real mode, instead of auto...works perfectly...no need for me to spend £200 on a flashgun just yet. :D

It's a Miranda 500CD and it's very bright...I will get a proper one when I can though, would rather a modern one that's designed for DLSRs. :)

A shot with the flash...

75d18c21.jpg



InvG
 
I am sure you dont need to be told, but, set a higher F number to compensate for brightness of the flash (i have a metz and usually find around f18 is about right)

To take away a bit of the harshness from the flash, I made a very simple "softbox" with cardboard and some mauslin type material, it spreads the light over a bigger area and softens it a touch.
 
I was fiddling with some settings, and made it better, also made it worse with more fiddling. :D

All C&C / Info is good though, I'll remember the F needing to be higher and may look at diffusing the flash a bit, as it is very strong (as pointing at the ceiling in that shot, and in many others and it whited out a couple times).

For the fact it's a 10 year old (roughly) unit I'm impressed with all it's many settings and ability to swivel. :)

InvG
 
jesta said:
How much do flashguns cost for dslr?Saw one for £45 which I'm assuming isn't very good?:confused:
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my speedlite 430EX was £150 + del from a very nice man who goes by the name kerso.

jesta said:
What kind of flashgun would you need if you wanted to take photos of cars at night.(For future reference)
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is the car in a garage or something (is there a roof over it!) or is it in the open?

if its covered then a flashgun which has an upwards-tilting head is what would give you the best results. if not, then the same flashgun would work, but you could save money because you'd need to use direct flash, which would give quite a different effect.
 
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Well I'm just thinking for the future as I only just got a DSLR but I think it would most likely be outdoor night shots, so whats the price range for a flashgun for such photography?(sorry invadergir for the off topicness)
 
well, you might as well get a good flash which can swivel/bounce if you're going to use it for anything else.

do you have a Canon or Nikon?
 
Im glad you got it working all ok. But one word of warning to other people; Check the triggering voltage of the flash and your camera before trying out random flash guns. Some older flashes use much higher triggering voltage then your DSLR and can actually cook your camera electronics.
 
This was one thing I was kind of weary about, and one of the reason I doubt I will actually use the flash gun much if at all. I don't want to cook the camera and the flash gun being ~10 years old means it most likely does run on different settings/voltages to more modern ones, the only reason I did test it was because it can be set for use on Nikon cameras...otherwise I'd have just not bothered. :)

At the moment though the built in flash is fine for my needs, but in a couple months time I hope to get something like the SB500. :)

InvG
 
one way to get arount the voltage risk is get a IR flash hotshoe. you can get them for less than £10 on the usual online auction site.

they work by :- you use the on camera pop up flash (or another flashgun) and have the other flash set up somewhere else in the room on the slave unit, and the slave units sensor detects the change in light from your pop up firing, and fires the big flash.

there are a few benifits of this system, for 1 it means you can set up the flash coming from angles that you would have difficulty using on camera flash gun and bouncers etc.

makes it easier to experiment with different qualites of light with bouncing and covering the flash gun with differnet colours material and things.

Also, (might get shouted out here) makes for a simple portrait set up, I am not very good with understanding lighting for portraits, but im told that the main light source should be at a 45degree angle to the camera, so you stick the flash gun on the slave unit on a tripod, and use either a lower power flash gun on your camera, or the pop up flash, and there you have a very rudimentary flash lighting set up
 
i use wireless flash trigger and receivers on 2x hanimex old school flash guns. they have a range of about 10m and not infra red so no need for line of sight. Again useful for portrait work (with some diffusers) or when using my light box.
 
33L said:
i use wireless flash trigger and receivers on 2x hanimex old school flash guns. they have a range of about 10m and not infra red so no need for line of sight. Again useful for portrait work (with some diffusers) or when using my light box.
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Same here, I've recently bought a couple of hanimex flashes and wireless hot shoe adapters. Cost about £25 for the lot in total off ebay, I have spent quite a lot of time messing round with it but haven't quite got the knack of what I am doing, can do macros fine but everything else is beyond me currently :(
 
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