[Rufus]

Firstly, a belated happy Christmas to all, and a slightly advanced "happy new year."
I'm not around much at the moment, as you may have noticed...... :|

ANYWAY,
The point of this post is a quick report on two gifts recieved from NN which are creating some interesting possibilities.
Yes, photo-mates, it's an ETTL two gun set-up!

The gifts are, a Canon STE2 transmitter, and a Canon 420ex speedlight to work in conjunction with my 550ex.

So, you have ettl, but also ratio control 1:8 and all the way to 8:1, plus the simple ability to never need to use a camera mounted flash!! (Joy, joy, joy! ).
Here's the first semi-successful shot.

[adam]

haaaa! very cool!

Happy Christmas!
NN buys you nice nice presents!

[Toad]

Nice pet-rait - Ruf.

This will be a big advantage for your next model shoot. I got a D200 last week that allows me the same flash-off-camera-wirelessly capability - I am looking forward to it.

[Rufus]

Thanks Mr T!

The possibilities are endless!
I say, do you have a stash of D200 images somewhere on the net??

[shuttertalk]

Yay! More toys!

Potential for creative lighting sounds awesome...

[Toad]

Not yet, Ruf. Just learning the ins and uts of the beast - rather than focusing on taking photos of quality - the Christmas season and completing my kitchen reno have not allowed me as much time as I would like. Oh and did I mention that it has been pouring rain every day since I got it except for the one where I did the photos in my D200 test thread?

[slejhamer]

Great lighting there Ruf. The ST-E2 really opens up a lot of possibilities.

The only real problem is using it outdoors, where the range is diminished and you must have the flashes in direct sight of the transmitter. An RF-type trigger would be better in those situations. Indoors the STE2's IR signal will bounce off walls, so positioning isn't as critical (I've triggered flashes behind me with it!)

[Rufus]

True Slej.

Mind ewe, where do you get a portable, outdoor, RF triggered system for a low price?

[slejhamer]

Ebay "radio slave flash." $40 w/ shipping for a Chinese-made RF transmitter/receiver combo. You'll need two for multi-flash, so that's $80. Add a couple of hot-shoe adapters, $10. Then buy a couple of used Vivitar 283 flashes for $25 each. Of course you'll give up ETTL, so you'll need a meter; a used Minolta IIIF will add another $50. Complete setup for about the cost of the STE2 - and the RF kit and meter will also work with studio strobes, unlike the STE2.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the STE2 because ETTL metering and ratio control are great conveniences. There's also a quality concern with these cheap RF gadgets, but I know a pro who uses them and says they're fine if you handle them gently.

So for someone looking for an all-manual system compatible with strobes, I'd look into the above. But I'm not selling my STE2 anytime soon!

[Rufus]

Hmmm, interesting.
Until the STE2, I was using two Vivitar 285's and the 550ex on manual with optical slave units. So, the transition to these RF units would, theoretically, be cheap and easy.
Hmmmm, (X2).