A Must-Have For The EOS-3 Owner
Written: May 26 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Compact, powerful, accurate, professional strobe
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: I use this strobe often for professional photography, and it has been quite reliable. The strobe features, combined with the EOS-3 body features make it an all-around performer.
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| ADDam's Full Review: Canon Speedlite 550EX TTL Flash |
The Canon Speedlite 550EX is the dedicated strobe for the EOS-3 body. Though it can be used with other bodies, the EOS-3 makes the best use of its features. The features include:
-Power: The 550EX has a top guide number of 180,(at ISO 100) in feet. To take full advantage of this power, you should use a zoom lens. The strobe has a zoom feature that can automatically, or manually adjust the coverage to lenses of different focal lengths. The 180 guide number is for a 105mm lens coverage. The wider area it covers, the less power it has. If you shoot primarily with short lenses, and want a ton of power, this strobe may not be for you. There are other strobes, such as Metz and Quantum that offer more power at wider coverages, but they do not have a zoom feature, so they have less power when using longer lenses.
-Autofocus assist: In low light situations the strobe emits a light(infrared?)that helps it focus.
-Evaluative Flash Metering: With the EOS-3, this strobe is able to balance daylight with fill flash.
-Use of 21 flash metering zones: One can spotmeter a subject to get a reading for a small area. The more metering zones there are, the more accurate the exposure will be. The EOS-3 body's meter is as close as you'll get to using a handheld spotmeter without actually using one.
-Flash Bracketing: The 550EX allows the user to over or underexpose by up to 3 stops in 1/3 stop increments. Flash bracketing can be done manually, or automatically. Automatic flash exposure bracketing shoots 3 consecutive frames. For example, one frame using the plain meter reading, one frame one stop over the meter reading, and another frame one stop under the meter reading.
-Focal Plain Flash: This is one of the most useful features of this strobe. In regular mode, the top sync speed is 1/200 of a second. When in high speed mode (or Focal Plain), the strobe can sync as fast as the top shutter speed on the EOS-3, 1/8000 of a second. This feature is especially useful when shooting in sunlight. With the strobe able to sync at higher speeds, it is not necesary to shoot at small aperatures, allowing the user more creative control.
-Tilt and swivel.
-Modeling flash: When the depth-of-field preview button is pressed, the strobe fires constant flash(more like a light), for about 3 seconds.
-Strobostropic Flash: This feature is more of a novelty, but is fun to use. The flash fires many times in a short period of time. It allows one to capture a moving subject many different times on one frame of film. The firing frequency, measured in Hertz, and the number of bursts are both user options, and set manually.
Other Notes:
There is the option to do wireless flash photography with this strobe. Canon makes a transmitter that mounts on the hotshoe. Multiple strobes can be used for different types of lighting.
It is possible to use an external power source with this strobe. It would allow for faster recycling times. Canon makes external battery packs. I'm not sure if they are any good. There are other battery packs that are compatible, with the right cord.
You'll need a sync cord to attach the flash to the body. I use the Off-Camera Shoe Cord 2. It attaches to the hotshoe and the bottom of the strobe. At $60 for the cord, it is not cheap, but there's really no other option.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ADDam
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Member: Adam Test
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 3 members
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