I recently upgraded my old camera to a 40D and would like to have a setup geared for bouldering (outdoor and indoor). Admittedly flash photography is somewhat of a mystery to me right now but I like to learn. My requirements (not set in stone) are:

Off camera up to say 80 feet (wireless)
$300 or less
At least 2 strobes




I've waded through a lot of the Strobist site but there's so much there I'm kinda lost. My setup doesn't have to be "professional" (probably wouldn't be given my budget) but I'd like to buy reliable components. So, anyone have some advice? Thanks.

d.

$275 for a dvd! ripoff.

The 12mp shots coming out of your camera, if printed 1:1 would be about 40 inches wide, the largest you'll probably ever print any shot you make is a dual page spread in Rock& Ice or a similar mag, which is only about 26in wide (I don't have a ruler handy to measure the magazine, but I'd bet 12-13 inches). Shoot Large+Fine .jpg or RAW, buff it out w/ noise ninja or a similar plugin, sharpen and adjust your color if you want to, then post/publish your shots!

Not to be a naysayer, but why exactly do you want to spend all this money on flashes? Generally, one does the trick just fine!

I use a Nikon system (D300, SB-800 and several lenses) thats directly comparable to the 40D, and other than fill flash in daylight, you really don't need flash at all. The newer generation of digital handles higher ISO's so well, I can't tell the difference at 100% in photoshop (or Capture NX) between ISO 100 and 400, I only *start* to see *any* noise at ISO 800.

With the Nikon flash system, and I think Canon's works similarly, I can leave the SB-800 on camera, or take it off and switch the camera to master mode, use it's built-in flash to wirelessly trigger the SB-800 from wherever it's perched (don't worry about fancy clamps and stuff, just have a buddy hold it! There's always extra people around resting, and it's a pain mounting a flash anywhere on-site unless your setting up for a very specific shot). With just two flashes, neither being very powerful, I've never had a problem shooting anything out to maybe 35ft (if your shooting farther away than that, your going to need some *serious* batteries to power your portable flashes anyway. I'd complain about just carrying a few mid-size strobes, not to mention a couple of car batteries to the crag . . . And besides, why not get closer? If anything use an ultra-wide lens and get super close! The change in perspective can be very cool).

Besides, do you really want to carry all that flash gear to the crag anyway? I already carry a body, lens, spare battery and extra CF card or two, a few filters, 1-2 extra lenses and one flash when I go out shooting (anything really, not just climbing). Plus whatever climbing gear I'm actually using . . .

If I were you, I'd put the $300 towards a removable flash that can be triggered by the on-camera one (Strobist links to a few early on in the Lighting 101 series), then spend the rest on some faster, pro level glass.

I'm not *positive* about canon lenses, but I believe they have a few fast f/1.4 or f/1.8 lenses in the 35-85mm range that aren't that expensive. Pick whichever one works for the range you want to shoot at (remember the crop factor, 1.3 or 1.6 for low/mid Canon digital cameras) and one flash should *more* than do the trick (the larger your aperture, the more light your letting in, so the less the flash has to work).

See here: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/flash.htm and http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/syncspeed.htm. Some of that info is Nikon-specific, but a lot of it applies to any flash, regardless of brand. There's also links to reviews of older Nikon flashes at the bottom of the first page that might be perfect for you with a remote trigger.

Not being overly technical about it, a 12mp picture printed at 300dpi would be about 14x9.5 inches.

Given that many of the images printed in Rock&Ice, Alpinist, and elsewhere are shot with digital cameras, and they use some of those images in two-page spreads (which don't obviously look worse than the single page shots next to them, and they would if the single page was printed at 300dpi and the two-page was ~150dpi or 200%) I don't think they print at that high of a resolution.

This is a good read, and explains more about the subject:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/mpmyth.htm

And I think I did the above math wrong anyway, because printers print in 3 colors (CMYK or RGB), so 300dpi (dots per inch) is equivelent to 100 ppi (or pixels per inch). So it takes 3 ink dots to approximate one pixel from your digital camera, because one 'pixel' from your camera contains all three colors (a single pixel on your cameras sesnsor is actually 2 green, 1 red and 1 blue sensors in a matrix. Ken has an article or two about camera sensors as well if your interestd in learning more about them).

Oh, and I apologize if I'm hijacking this thread, didn't mean to get so off topic . . .

So much of a "rip off" that he is sold out of the first run already, and pro photographers have nothing but great stuff to say about it. I have looked at his classes, and they are pretty cool. Yes, strobist *might* have some of the same info, but I doubt it is presented nearly as well. Check out his site, and his flikr. Some pretty cool work. And, for a pro, 275 is just a part of one session's income.

And, I will be buying it, no doubt. Even though I already have some of the off camera stuff down, it still looks like a good deal to me.

One left in front of the climber and one right next ot him. Also I used a ct_orange filters