ST-E2 and studio flash

[meierruedi@hotmail.com]

What I did in my Nikon days was: syncing the Nikon Flash via a Wein Infrared Transmitter and using another bigger flash (Elinchrom, Dynalite or Lumedyne) as a second light source. As the Canon Speedlite 580EX doesn't have any "sync-cable port" I bought a Canon Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2 and tried to do the same. But it won't work: the big flash always fires ahead of the 580EX, so much you can see it in the viewfinder. Anybody any fixes? (already tried second shutter syn)

[Jonathan Wienke]

You can't use an E-TTL flash to trigger a strobe; E-TTL's metering preflash will trigger the strobe before the shutter opens, and the strobe will still be recycling during exposure. You can use a 550EX or 580EX in manual mode to trigger the strobe optically, or better yet, get some Pocket Wizards and trigger your strobes wirelessly. But an ST-E2 is useless for triggering studio strobes.

[CliffSamys]

Wein makes a "Digital" photocel slave which ignores the pre-flash.

[rogerall]

Yes, you *CAN* use the ST-E2 to trigger a strobe in the manner that you are seeking.  
1. Put the ST-E2 on the camera in the normal way.
2. Have your 580EX (or other Canon wireless flash) *OFF* camera, and set as a SLAVE.
3. Press the <MODE> button on the 580EX for 2 seconds. <M> will blink. THIS DISABLES THE PRE-FLASH and stops the other flashes being triggered prematurely.

4. Now set the manual flash OUTPUT on the 580EX in the normal way. You can use the 580EX as your "main", "fill" or background light, OR turn the output right down and simply use it to trigger the other studio strobes via their optical slaves.

It works really well. I use it when I'm shooting with a light tent for macro photography. I have the 580EX as on of the main lights and I use that to trigger a couple of old Panasonic flahes I've had for 30 years.

**See page 43 of the 580EX instruction manual.
Hope you find this useful.

Roger

[Jann Lipka]

here is what I do with 5 D :
ST-E2 ( in hotshoe )  runs 580 EX in normal way ( using preflash )

I put a pocket wizard ( or cord ) in a PC cord contact in the camera ,
and run studio flash ( Pro 7 ) from that .
Obviously slave function have to be off .
No problems at all .

the advantage of that is that preflash metering is still in use .

[Ethan Schoonover]

Recently had a pocket wizard die (a lonely death while i was away... took it off the shelf after a trip and no-go)... so I turned to my ST-E2.

You *can* trigger studio slaves with just the ST-E2 and no other speedlite... just tape over the "four square" contacts on the camera's hotshoe (so only the old school, single center pin contact is exposed).

I use a bit of black masking tape so it doesn't look too shoddy  

This prevents the ST-E2 from functioning in ETTL mode and the studio strobes (profotos in my case) trigger perfectly.

Sounds like there are pros and cons to the various methods in this forum, but I got a lot of mileage out of this hack until I picked up my new Pocketwizard Plus IIs.

[meierruedi@hotmail.com]

Many thanks Ethan! Nice work-around!!!!

meierruedi

[Ethan Schoonover]

Many thanks Ethan! Nice work-around!!!!

meierruedi
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I'll post a pic if my description is unclear, let me know... One other note is that a strategically placed bounce card taped to the front of the ST-E2 can help significantly to redirect the IR strobe to the studio strobes. I found that bouncing the ST-E2 off the ceiling helped when I was using a lot of scrims and umbrellas.