flash equipment help, please

[David Pugsley]

I've come to the realization that I must add a flash option to my nature photography.

I'd like to add a flash, better beamer and a bracket. For the most part I'll be shooting with a 1DMkIII and an EF100-400. My thought was to add a 430EX-II as I don't think I need the 580, but I may be wrong. Please let me know your thoughts.

Also, what bracket would you suggest to get the flash off-camera? Ideally I'd want one that would still allow me to rotate the camera into portrait mode without the flash moving.

Thanks for the insights!

Cheers!
David

[LouBuonomo]

I am assuming you are handholding the 100-400 ? You can get a quick release plate for the 100-400 and get a sidekick bracket that is comprised of Wimberley Modules 1 and 3 that will connect the the plate. You can use this hand held or on tripod with a sidekick type gimbal.

[David Pugsley]

I am assuming you are handholding the 100-400 ? You can get a quick release plate for the 100-400 and get a sidekick bracket that is comprised of Wimberley Modules 1 and 3 that will connect the the plate. You can use this hand held or on tripod with a sidekick type gimbal.

Thanks, I'll look at this. I should have mentioned that I often shoot from a tripod with a ball-head or a mono-pod with a RRS MH-01 head so I do need an option that will work in various circumstances.

[LouBuonomo]

Then I would add a sidekick to you rig turning you head into a gimbal

[David Pugsley]

Then I would add a sidekick to you rig turning you head into a gimbal

Thanks again. I have hopes of adding a 500/4 down the road. In your opinion can the sidekick work reliably with this lens assuming the rest of the rig is up to the challenge? I've heard differing opinions.

[Ed Cordes]

RE the flash get the 580. It is a much more flexible unit and will last long enough so the price difference will be amortized over enough time to be of little consequence. The side kick is a bit difficult with the 100-400 as the lens is a bit small for side mounting. The camera body will hit the tripod too much. Using the 100-400 on a straight ball head works well. The flash bracket used in this situation will have to attach with the tripod foot of the lens in the down position rather than the side position of the side kick.

[Jim Michael]

I've been curious about the use of flashes at the distances typically involved when using for fill, particularly in auto modes. The last time I used flash I was shooting commercial assignments typically with a 200 watt-second strobe and no auto option. I wouldn't have used an auto option then because one couldn't trust the sensor to "see" what was being lit - subject could have been a single person outdoors etc. Instead we used "f-stop feet" to calculate exposure. If I know the exposure is f8 @ 8 feet, then the exposure is calculated for other distances by taking that distance closest to an f-number and counting stops from the reference point, e.g. f5.6 @ 11 feet, f4 @ 16 feet. Always nailed the exposure that way, and the calculation holds true when you have a known beam spread angle although sometimes you need a virtual starting reference point.

At any rate, re the 580, how would you use this flash to illuminate a subject at say 90 feet, with ambient light giving you an f-stop of 5.6? Would you use an auto mode for this or dump full or partial power? The documentation seems to imply that there is no real manual mode, that you need to manipulate the ISO and f-number settings to compensate for the interaction between the flash and camera. It just seems to me that using something with a fixed known output might take some of the guesswork out of exposure.