shooters - speak up!

[will pattison]

i'm thinking about getting the sigma ef500 dg super flash. any thoughts on this?

wp.

 

[Squid31]

I've got 2 buddies that bought this flash One buddy had to return it and get another because it died. The other buddy (Crash32 on DRN) has had 2 of them quit working, so he finally went with the Canon 580. I've had a Canon 420 that fired more times than all 4 of those Sigma's put together, and it's still working fine.

Now other than the flashes dying, they both liked them very much.

Good luck,

Emile.

 

[IndyMX]

I am mostly happy with mine. There is an issue with it sometimes, not sure what causes it. But the display will flash "28mm" where it shows the focal length and you can hear the motor clicking.. .I shut it off and turn it back on and it works just fine.

Otherwise, it's worked good for me.

 

[Okiewan]

Love mine.

 

[Squid31]

Oh yes, just thought of another downer for the Sigma. If you are shooting in high speed sync, and you happen to go 1/250 or lower with your shutter speed, high speed sync turns off. So if you don't catch it, you will have a bunch of overexposed photos.

I'll try to explain a bit. -- Let’s say you’re shooting indoors in Av, and you have your flash set to high speed sync. You snap off a few frames with shutter speeds around 1/320, 1/500. All of a sudden you toddler does something really crazy in the next room (which is a bit darker) and you take a couple of shots. Now for these shots the camera decided to use 1/125 (remember, we're shooting in AV mode). The flash has now automatically turned high speed sync off. You go back to shooting what you were shooting before, and forget to turn HSS back on and you shoot a few shots not worrying about exposure because you’re shooting in Av. Well guess what? All your shots are now overexposed because your camera can't go above 1/250 with the shutter because HSS isn't turned on. Does that make any sense? Anyway, that’s one thing my buddy hates about his.

 

[Okiewan]

Oh yes, just thought of another downer for the Sigma. If you are shooting in high speed sync, and you happen to go 1/250 or lower with your shutter speed, high speed sync turns off. So if you don't catch it, you will have a bunch of overexposed photos.

Yup. The fix is to shoot in Tv, manual or pay attention :)

 

[Chili]

So your saying it doesn't go back to HSS after you go back to a higher shutter speed? I know my 580 goes back and forth between HSS and none depending if the shutter speed is above 1/250.

 

[Okiewan]

So your saying it doesn't go back to HSS after you go back to a higher shutter speed? I know my 580 goes back and forth between HSS and none depending if the shutter speed is above 1/250.

That's correct, it doesn't switch back automatically.

 

[Squid31]

Yup. The fix is to shoot in Tv, manual or pay attention :)

Or spend a few extra bucks on a Canon. :yikes:

 

[Okiewan]

A few? LOL!

 

[Squid31]

I just had a look at the prices. I didn't think there was that much of a difference, but I guess I was wrong. You can always pick up a used one from Fred's. That's what I did. I could almost buy 2 used 580's from Fred's compared to the price of a new one up here.

 

[crash32]

I had trouble with 2 Sigmas in about a year of purchase, plus like squid31 said I hated that the HSS would shut off.

I now own the 580. The HSS doesn't shut off.
It's worth the extra money.

 

[will pattison]

yep, this issue with hss in av mode is clearly the major weakness of the product. it's discussed everywhere. however, at my stage of the game, and given that i needed a flash by friday, and given that the sigma is $150 less....i ordered one from sigma4less on tuesday.

hopefully i'll be happy with it. my sigma 70-300 is a piece of poop, but my 70-200 f2.8 is a rockin' piece of glass, so i figure my odds are good.

wp.

 

[Okiewan]

It's like anything else .... if I made a living with a flash, I'd spend the bucks for the canon. As it is, between the camera, lens and studio gear (which I do make money with), I'm already in deep ($$)! I'll start saving my pennies soon for a new body (n).

On a side note ... with the 1d's can't you set the minimum shutter speed even in Av mode? Thought I read it's a custom function. Wouldn't that get you around the HSS switching off, at least in many situations?

In addition... based on my VERY limited experience shooting indoors (stadiums), locking down a min shutter speed would seem way more important that playing with Av ... it's probably going to have to be as wide open as the lens can handle anyway?

 

[Squid31]

I don't know of a custom function that enables you to set a min shutter speed when shooting in AV. There is a CF that you can set for a safety shift when shooting in AV or Tv, but that does something all together different.

If you are going to use your new Sigma flash as a slave (using your onboard flash to fire the Sigma), make sure you set CF#5 to 2 on your 20D. I think it might last a bit longer this way. :bang: