Using a strobe as a flash

[Andybazyoung]

I have just been given a strobe light pro photography 300w. Mini pioneer series studio flash. There is no user manual.. I have worked out how to use this as a constant light source but it came with a sync cord for flash(I presume). Can anyone please let me know how I can set the strobe up to use as a flash with my camera (Canon 60D)? How do I sync it?
Thank you
Andy

[Manfred M]

I assume that the unit you have is a monolight, so just plug it into the wall. Hopefully it came with a synch cord as well, if not you might want to buy one.

Using the synch cord is the easiest way for you to use it. I assume the 60D does not have a synch cord connection, but you should be able to buy one that mounts on the camera's hot shoe and fire it that way. Your other option is to use the built in flash on your camera to fire the strobe using the camera's flash as the master and the strobe as the slave. The only downside is that your built-in flash will add to the light hitting your subject (which may or may not be desirable).

If you want to spend the money, you can also look at using a radio trigger (transmiiter on the camera and receiver on each strobe).

A couple of things to remember; a strobe takes longer to fire that a Speedlite, so you might have to shoot below the normal synch speed. There is absolutely no interface to the camera's computer, so all shots will have to be 100% manual.

[Andybazyoung]

Thanks Manfred, you are right the 60D does not have a sync cord connection. So I will have to buy one that fits on to the hot shoe. I will have to experiment with it all. Thanks

[rpcrowe]

Andy...

What you are using as a constant light source is the modeling light of the studio strobe. This is designed to let you get an idea of what the flash will look like, not to shoot with.

If you use a wired connection (sync cord), you need to ensure that the sync voltage of the strobe is not higher than the 60D will allow. I think that the 60D max sync voltage is 250 volts.

If you can find one, an infra-red wireless trigger would work. I have been using one for years.



This is not my model ( http://www.ebay.com/itm/YINYAN-CY-20...item3f0f865c96 ) but mine is also a YinYan. Every studio strobe I have ever seen has an optical slave built in which allows you to use an IR trigger. This would be as cheap and easier to use than a hotshoe sync adapter and sync cord. All you need is line of sight between the IR trigger and the optical slave receiver on the strobe.

Additionally, virtually any cheap trigger will work such as this one...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CTR-301-Wire...item3ca87fc7ac

You need to ensure that the female sync cord socket will accept the receiver sync cord. All you need to do is fire off one studio strobe. If you have others, their optical slaves will fire them...

Shoot your flash with the camera in Manual exposure. Some studio strobes (especially older ones) have a pretty slow maximum sync speed. I use a set of old White Lightning "coffee can" strobes which use 1/60 second as their fastest sync speed. No problem since the flash will stop action and I usually only have the modeling light of the strobe on with no extra illumination.

All you have to worry about is your camera f/stop. Shoot a series of shots at different distances and at different f/stops and you will get a handle on the exposure for your strobe. Flash meters are nice but, you can get along without one.

You "may" be able to trigger your studio strobe with the built-in flash of the 60D. I don't know if you can fire that flash without a preflash going off...

[Andybazyoung]

Hi Richard, than you for this information. I have an infra-red wireless trigger I bought to use with a speedlight. That was before I realised I could use the canon 60d built in infra-red system with the speedlight without having to use the pop up camera flash !!! (I sometimes need to slow down a little)
I will give all this a go & see where it takes me - I do like an adventure!
Regards
Andy

[jcuknz]

Since you likely will be working manually it is worth being aware of the "Guide NUmber" system of working out your exposure.
By taking a number of photos of an average subject ten feet from the flash unit[ ISO set to 100] with the aperture closed down one stop between each you can detrmine the f/stop which gives the best result. if this was f/8 you multiply that by 10 and you have your guide number 80 for the flash when using 100 ISO.... from then on you merely divide the flash to subject distance into 80 for subsequent photos ... one little trap if you up the ISO to 200 the GN doesn't double but is x1.4 and becomes 110. It also can vary with non average subjects that are predominently light or dark.

[jcuknz]

A wee cautionary comment about your not using the pop-up.... a single light casts hard shadows which can fall outside the contrast range of the camera so it is better to have some light coming from the camera to lighten the shadows, an alternative is to have reflector on the opposite side of the camera to the strobe ... your choice My flash units have built in optical triggers so it is easiest at home to use the pop-up to trigger them with its light completely or part shielded from the subject depending on the light balance I want.

[Andybazyoung]

Thank you for both of your pieces of well aimed guidance. I will try out what you have mentioned & post the results. I have a photo shoot next Wednesday so hopefully by then I would be able to organise myself!
Andy

[inkista]

It looks like your Godox 300DI has a built-in optical slave, btw.

If you want to trip it, just use your infrared trigger or put your pop-up flash into M mode--and out of Wireless mode (Canon's wireless e-TTL optical system will just confuse it with multiple preflashes)--and make sure you've got line-of-sight from that little red sticky-up thing on the top (6 in the picture below) to your popup/trigger, flip the "Slave" switch on the Godox to whatever setting can be tripped with a single flash burst (vs. preflash stuff), and the Godox should fire when your pop-up fires.

Found this on the Godox website to help you out:



It also looks like the sync connector on the Godox is a 3.5mm (1/8") miniplug, so I'd go for a hotshoe adapter for your camera that does 3.5mm miniplug/jack rather than PC, and then just buy a mono 3.5mm minijack audio cable from any electronics store as your sync cable. Cheaper, more robust, and easier to find than PC cables or 3.5mm-to-PC cables.

[Andybazyoung]

Kathy, brilliant, thank you so much that explains it all. I have been experimenting throughout the day & you info just puts the 'icing on the cake'
Andy