430ex with optical trigger

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Dirty Harry - 28 Nov 2006 04:24 GMT

Has anyone tried this? I can't seem to get it to work, would taping off
some of the pins on the flash help? THe 430 has manual power settings and
I'd really like to be able to use it as an optical slave. Thanks.

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Aad - 28 Nov 2006 08:05 GMT

> Has anyone tried this? I can't seem to get it to work, would taping off
> some of the pins on the flash help? THe 430 has manual power settings and
> I'd really like to be able to use it as an optical slave. Thanks.

It wont work. Only way is ST-E2. Sorry!
kr
Aad

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Wolfgang Weisselberg - 29 Nov 2006 21:02 GMT

> "Dirty Harry" <nothin@nowhere.com> schreef in bericht

>> Has anyone tried this? I can't seem to get it to work, would taping off
>> some of the pins on the flash help? THe 430 has manual power settings and
>> I'd really like to be able to use it as an optical slave. Thanks.

> It wont work. Only way is ST-E2. Sorry!

That turns out not to be the case. There are 4 more ways,
and all have pros and cons:

The ST-E2 cannot control group C flashes. It is the only one
using IR flash as a signal, as an IR filter has already been
attached to the flash. The others use visible light (but
could carry an IR filter at a range penalty.)

The 550EX or 580EX work, and think of themselves as group A.
They have longer range than the ST-E2.

The MR-14EX and MT-24EX macro flashes also work, but their 2
internal tubes think themselves to belong to group A and B,
respectively.

So firing a Group A will fire the 550/580EX (unless told not to
fire at all), and one tube of the macro flashes (unless told not
to fire at all, I think).

-Wolfgang

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Aad - 30 Nov 2006 09:39 GMT

>> "Dirty Harry" <nothin@nowhere.com> schreef in bericht
>
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
>
> -Wolfgang

I think that was'nt the question.
OP likes to fire the 430 with an optical trigger. That's impossible.
And yes, one can use other flashes to trigger a 430EX.
kr
Aad

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The Maverick - 30 Nov 2006 11:35 GMT

> So firing a Group A will fire the 550/580EX (unless told not to
> fire at all), and one tube of the macro flashes (unless told not
> to fire at all, I think).

A couple more things to keep in mind ...

1. If you're using a 580EX in Master mode (ie as a controller) - but
tell it not to fire - it still fires the pre-flash (which it uses to
communicate with the slaves) - this in turn triggers optical slaves at
the wrong time.

2. Many flashes (Canon included) don't work with optical slave triggers
- the SCR used in the optical trigger doesn't reset until the circuit
is completely broken after a firing - and many Canon flashes don't do
this - so the net result is that the flash fires once, and then you
have to cycle the power to the unit.

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Dirty Harry - 01 Dec 2006 04:08 GMT

> 2. Many flashes (Canon included) don't work with optical slave triggers
> - the SCR used in the optical trigger doesn't reset until the circuit
> is completely broken after a firing - and many Canon flashes don't do
> this - so the net result is that the flash fires once, and then you
> have to cycle the power to the unit.

Yea this is my problem. Anything cheaper then a 580ex or a ST-2? What if I
hack up my off camera shoe cord and add about 20 feet? I'll be shooting at
1/200th so the extra distance shouldn't matter.

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Wolfgang Weisselberg - 01 Dec 2006 14:48 GMT

>> 2. Many flashes (Canon included) don't work with optical slave triggers
>> - the SCR used in the optical trigger doesn't reset until the circuit
>> is completely broken after a firing - and many Canon flashes don't do
>> this - so the net result is that the flash fires once, and then you
>> have to cycle the power to the unit.

> Yea this is my problem. Anything cheaper then a 580ex or a ST-2?

Used 550ex?

> What if I hack up my off camera shoe cord and add about 20
> feet?

Depends on your skill of adding the right cables. And luck.

> I'll be shooting at
> 1/200th so the extra distance shouldn't matter.

Speed of light ... shouldn't matter if you don't do double
digit kilometer distances.

-Wolfgang

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Jan Böhme - 01 Dec 2006 16:01 GMT

Dirty Harry skrev:

> > 2. Many flashes (Canon included) don't work with optical slave triggers
> > - the SCR used in the optical trigger doesn't reset until the circuit
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> Yea this is my problem. Anything cheaper then a 580ex or a ST-2?

You can go all manual with the master flash, of course. Then there is
only one light flash, and the slave function works well. In a studio
setting, when one has time and possiblilty to set up lighting
beforehand, this is actually a viable possibility.

But there actually seems to be a flash that can be used as an optical
slave with the master flash in E-TTL mode, and that is Sigma's 500
EF-500 D Super. I'm ashamed to say I haven't tested it although I own
one, but it is said to work with an E-TTL flash, (such as for instance
the small on-camera flash, which has no other mode tha E-TTL on any
Canon that I know of) as long as it's on manual, and with an output of
1/8 or less. At such low output, the Sigma flash actually is capable of
responding both to the pre-flash and to the real deal.

This mean that the master flash meters from both flashes, since they
both pre-flash, but assumes that it is the only one, and adjusts its
output accordingly. What effects this will have on the exposure isn't
entirely intuitive. I'll have to test this one of these days.

Jan B?hme

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Dirty Harry - 01 Dec 2006 17:00 GMT

Dirty Harry skrev:

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Jan Böhme - 01 Dec 2006 17:39 GMT

Dirty Harry skrev:

> >You can go all manual with the master flash, of course. Then there is
> >only one light flash, and the slave function works well. In a studio
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> The flash will be set in full manual which is why its too bad it won't work
> with an optical trigger.

OK. I foolishly thought every modern flash worked with a separate
optical trigger, and that it was the TTL capacity you were after. If a
nice flash that can go manual is what you look for, I'd recommend
buying a used Nikon SB-24. I have one for my Panny FZ-20. Nice flash,
built lika a tank, and beside manual mode, it's got a
thyristor-controlled camera-independent auto mode that might come handy
for a slave flash. Because it isn't TTL-compatible with the current set
of Nikon bodies, it can be had used relatively cheap - goes on Ebay for
like USD 80 or so, which is extremely good value for money for such a
flash.

Jan Böhme

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Aad - 01 Dec 2006 20:09 GMT

Dirty Harry skrev:

> >You can go all manual with the master flash, of course. Then there is
> >only one light flash, and the slave function works well. In a studio
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> work
> with an optical trigger.

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Jan Böhme - 01 Dec 2006 22:17 GMT

Aad skrev:

> If a
> nice flash that can go manual is what you look for, I'd recommend
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> like USD 80 or so, which is extremely good value for money for such a
> flash.

> Nice to know, but what does this have to do with Canon's 430EX?

It is an answer to the OP, who in his second posting in the thread,
asked the following:

>Anything cheaper then a 580ex or a ST-2?

As it transpired in his third posting, the one I answered, that he
actually only was after ability of the flash to be fired by an optical
trigger in manual mode, this was a logical answer to the question

If one wants to be a threadcop, it doesn't hurt actually reading all
the massages in the thread first. Sometimes reading just the subject
line just isn't quite enough.

Jan Böhme

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