Camera Labs

Hi all,

Hope you are well. Is it possible to use a Speedlight 430EX II to manually light up a subject during macro photography? Basically I would like to use my speedlight off shoe, like a torch to light up a subject.

Thanks in advance

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Canon 7D | Canon 10-22 USM | Canon 17-55 USM | Canon 50 MkII | Canon 70-200L F4 IS USM | Canon 100mm Macro | Speedlight 430EX II | Powershot G12

My Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/b4beezer/

As the 7D has wireless flash control, yes you can. Read it up in the manual. Cheers

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5D Mark II
Canon 50mm 1.2 L
Canon 24-70 2.8 L
Canon Speedlight 430 EXII
Manfrotto 055 XPROB BLACK
Crumpler 750

My Flickr

Thanks. As far as I can read the wireless will only trigger the flash. Can you say, hold down the Pilot button to keept the flash on? I thought I had seen someone do this before. Could be mistaken though.

Later

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Canon 7D | Canon 10-22 USM | Canon 17-55 USM | Canon 50 MkII | Canon 70-200L F4 IS USM | Canon 100mm Macro | Speedlight 430EX II | Powershot G12

My Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/b4beezer/

That would be the Depth of Field button. You can't see much through the viewfinder if you use that at, say, F/22, so the flash starts to burst to further illuminate the scene.

I have it turned off, it drives me crazy (I keep confusing the DOF button with the flash-off button on my D2H, so you can imagine my frustration when the flash starts strobing

^^This is for Nikon, but I imagine Canon works the same. Look for it in the menu

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

It's a custom function of the speedlite to make it a modeling light using the DOF preview button. The flash has to be on and in the hotshoe then press the button and it strobes. I imagine it's the same with Nikon and has nothing to do with small apertures or dark view finders. To my knowledge this can only be done on the hotshoe. You could probably do it off camera with an ETTL cable, but you could not do it while the shutter is open.

Your best bet is to fire it wirelessly for a single flash.

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Canon 7D/350D, Σ17-50/2.8, 18-55IS, 24-105/4 IS, Σ30/1.4, 50/1.8, 55-250IS, 60/2.8, 70-200/4 IS, 85/1.8, 580ex II, 430EX II, 270EX II.

I saw your flickr page. Have you considered painting your macro subject with a flashlight? (I think "flashlight" is termed "torch" on your side of the Atlantic.) I have seen images of dead insects, one live spider, and various inanimate subjects painted with a small hand-held light, for the purpose of forensic identification. I have not painted a macro subject with light, but photographed a tree and footbridge last light, painting them with a Surefire LX2 Digital Lumamax, which has a very well color-balanced white beam. This was during a night photography course, and the instructor indicated he was pleased with my images.

A 430EX can certainly be used to paint a subject, too, by manually strobing while the shutter is open, but there is math involved to get the exposure right, and I have only done this with limited success, on large subjects, at non-macro distance. By dialing down the strength of each flash, on manual mode, one adds a fraction of the total needed amount of light.

To be clear, I am a beginner with this, having just learned last night how to paint with flash units and flashlights/torches. I have only done this in near-total darkness, but it seems to me that the principle should apply anytime one can leave the shutter open for an extended period.

Obviously, if one's subject is going to flee with the first burst of light, none of this will work.

Hi… that was great stuff.

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