Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Nobody ever seems to mention these on here... Back in the day, I had an assortment of flashguns which were all fired using cheap optical slaves. Now everyone talks about these wireless things which are much more expensive.

Amazon does sell optical slaves, mostly priced between $10 and $20. So, why does nobody use them?

I understand that there is some kind of voltage difference between modern flashes and those older models, but I don't see that this would make a difference in firing with a slave...

I have a Newwer 'Triopo', which will fire using the 7D's built-in wireless, but will not work in the hot shoe of either the 7D or the 4Ti. It just doesn't flash. I also have a Canon 430EXII, which fires from the hot shoe, but will not fire remotely. I would like to be able to use both these off-camera, preferably fired by the on-camera flash of either camera. I have very limited financial resources, and cannot even contemplate paying hundreds for the wireless triggers I have seen, but I could easily afford a couple of the optical slaves. If they work...

I throw this on the wisdom of the group...

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

I have a box of these that I used to use on location shoots. Plug them into the Potato Masher and have the assistant position the light. I tried triggering my old strobes using both my popup and my other Nikon strobes. They wouldn't work. Let us know if you find a solution.

Photocraig

Whadddaayya Meannn Nobody uses them? I've used Optical Slaves for years and they're a budget saver!
A couple of tricks I've picked up along the way:

Use the pop up, if you have one tot rigger toe flash(es). If you don't want this on camera shadow casting red-eye inducing source, tape a little black card to the roof of the pop up covering the flash tube. The flash that does leak past it is usually enough to trigger the rest.

For my old Canon 540 EX, I can only trigger it with an Optical hot shoe
Thpe sensor connected tot he dedicated off camera flash cord. the cord doesn't have to be connected to the camera (but could be) but the little Optical hot shoe replaces the camera hot shoe and triggers the flash at almost any distance. I use this because it has a high Guide number and is manually adjustable--so it works with a Rogue or Lumiquest modifier.

It is easy to roll up a Rogue To make a snoot for hair lights and hiding almost any old flash with an Optical Slave under a posing stool or clamped to the Hair Light stand make a simple Background Light for portraits.

I did an informal out door family wedding set of group photos with my tow "big" flashes the two most powerful Flashes the 540 Ez and the Vivitar 285--both manually adjustable set at 1/2 power to fill in the shaded faces.

Be SURE to get a Wien Safe Sync (about $50) if you ever want to mount these old flashes in the hot shoe OR plug in an X-Sync cord.

I have a flash meter to check exposure, but using a dedicated flash like your EX will approximate a good balance because it will sense the auxiliary flashes and control the Light it is casting. It helps if it is the Main light source to get the best balance. But you will have to fire it off the long dedicated cord attached either to the camera shoe or to an Optical driven hot shoe. Try this at the store because the cable is expensive.

Experimenting with manually adjustable and distance adjusted (google the rule of inverse squares) from the flash to the subject. Example: Moving the light 2x (double like from 3 ft to 6 ft) the distance away from the subject will deliver 1/4th the light on the subject. (2x2 (squared)=4)

This is a fun way to get great results without breaking the budget. Experimenting pays off and it is the retired guy's revenge of trading time and remembering arithmetic for budget.

Rick36203 Loc: Northeast Alabama

Why?... Why would I buy a single $12 optical slave when I can buy 2 yongnuo rf-603 radio transceivers for $30? I think I can manage the extra $3 each for increased range and dependability.

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

What I meant to say was that nobody *talks* about them! There are posts all the time about using the wireless triggers, but I have never seen one about optical slaves.

Thanks for the info!

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Ok, most of the stuff I have seen about the wireless stuff, they have been more expensive than that. It doesn't say in the blurb on Amazon whether one transmitter can fire multiple receivers or not. With the optical units, it should be easy to fire as many as wanted, only buying one receiver per flash.

Also, I have bought several flashes which are *supposed* to be canon-compatible, only to find that they don't fire, or at best, don't *always* fire. The Triopo doesn't fire from the hotshoe, and I also have a ring-light which normally doesn't. I say normally, because on one day, it did. Before that, or since, nope.

Thanks for the info, though. More to think about...

Rick36203 Loc: Northeast Alabama

You are welcome. Although all my flash units have built-in optical slaves, I still use radio most of the time. I seldom use the 603s any longer, preferring the 622 series instead. But a single 603 in the hot shoe will signal all receivers on the same channel to fire at the same time. You can even use them in radio and optical combinations, triggering a distant flash by radio, and having nearby optical slaves fire with the radio controlled unit. You don't have to break the bank to go radio wireless.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

My Bowens studio lights have slaves built-in.
I've use the plug-in models for years...years ago.
For speedlights, I like to control them from the camera so I use the Phottix Odin or Nikon's SU-800.
Sometimes I just use the built-in slave.

jim quist Loc: Missouri

I use them. some of my strobes I need a cord to plug from the unit to the sensor because it wont work with just the flash on the hotshot mount

Used them all the time at weddings when we shot with Hasselblads and Vivitar 283's.

They may not trigger if using them outdoors in sunlight, so thats where pocketwizrds come in.

n3eg Loc: West coast USA

Cheap optical slave and long arms - that's how I do it.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

A number of comments. Your 430 EX II should function as a slave using the T4i pop up flash. I don't think the 430 EX II functions as a master, but you should be able to configure it as a slave. Not sure about the 7D.

I have a T3i, and 580 EX / EX II flashes, but the camera can control the others with full E-TTL control. It may be just a set up issue...., try the custom functions....

I also have some old flash guns, and I got some relatively inexpensive Yongnuo wireless triggers. http://www.amazon.com/RF-603-Wireless-Transceiver-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B0099SGFZI These do not use E-TTL, and are now discontinued, but will work to fire old flash guns. It is worth checking the voltage of your old flash guns. Mine are below 6v mostly, at least under 9v, and work very well, you just need to use them as manual flashes. If your old guns have a high voltage then they could fry the Yongnuo devices, and would definitely not put them directly on the cameras.

The ETTL compatible triggers cost a little more: http://www.amazon.com/Yongnuo-Wireless-Receiver-Transmitter-Transceiver/dp/B0090BSSZO

Good luck....

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

I just checked again, and the 430 doesn't fire with either camera. If there is a way of configuring it, I don't know what it is. The only modes are ETTL and Manual. If anyone knows the trick to this, I would be very grateful to hear about it... I know that the 7D has a built-in wireless transmitter, but I don't know about the T4i. The one on the 7D doesn't work with this flash either, though.

JPL

I have been using those as I have chosen to spend my money carefully. If you are shooting in studio conditions or somewhere alone it is no problem to use those. For me they work fine with both old flashes and newer flashes. But if you are in a crowd where many people are taking pics with flash those are not ideal, as other people taking pics will fire them off. They will not figure out when you are triggering them or when someone else is. And that is also the reason most people are not using them today. But they work fine. The only thing I would do if I were you is to look for them at Ebay. Those Amazon prizes are double or triple what I payed on Ebay last year.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

This is a read the manuals and experiment thing. Here's the quick quide for the 430 EX II: http://learn.usa.canon.com/app/pdfs/quickguides/CDLC_Speedlite430EXII_QuickGuide.pdf If you don't have the manuals, download the pdf versions from Canon's support site....

It states that the 430 EX II can be used as a slave with the 7D and T3i, so the T4i should also work. You need to check the manuals for the 7D and T4i for the flash set up, and also how to set the 430 EX II as a slave flash. It may not be obvious or intuitive, but if I can fire multiple 580 EX flashes (once they are set to slave mode etc.) from a T3i, you should also be able to do so once you have cracked the code.

Also, try Mr. Google for help....

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Thank you for the info, but it doesn't do a lot for me. I downloaded the manual. There are 2 things to set,
communication channel and slave ID. To set the first, you press (but do not hold) the zoom/wireless button until CH is displayed... To set the other, you press (but again do not hold) the zoom/wireless button until SLAVE is displayed.

When I press the zoom/wireless button, the zoom display either starts or stops flashing. That's it. Nothing else is ever displayed... If you look at the picture in the manual, none of the stuff below zoom is ever visible, no matter what I do with the buttons.

It also says that it will act as a slave unit controlled by a master flash unit such as the 580EXII or the ST-E2 speedlight transmitter. I don't have either of these, so maybe the flash needs to detect them before setting up the channel stuff? Not very logical, but possible. Either that, or else there is something esoteric which the book doesn't list. Or else the unit is broken, of course. I bought it used from someone on here, actually.

OK, scratch all of that...

Just watched a youtube video on this, and contrary to what the book specifically says, you *do* have to hold down the zoom/wireless button. Both sections are careful to say that you do not hold it down...

Still, the limit here is that I don't have a 580 or an ST-E2...

I can't help but feel that they have made this much more complicated than it needs to be! The 7D has a wireless transmitter, but I have no idea if it is compatible with the ST-E2. I checked the menu, and there is nowhere to set the channel or id to match up with the flashgun...