Confused about how flash works

[Quietguy]

Hi
I am keen to try some flash lit portraits with my canon 60D, and have just bought a flash stand and umbrella to hold my flash. (unimat twin)

I am also thinking about buying a canon 430exii flash if the unimat is not suitable.

But I am quite unsure about how the camera/flash combination works when the flash is not on the camera. (I can't put the unimat on the camera or connect it by cord as the voltage is very high so have ordered a remote trigger thing that the flash sits on and fires it by ?

So my question is does the camera tell the flash what to do? Or does the camera adjust itself to the flash? Ie who is the 'boss' when using a flash?

David

[ricktas]

You camera is the boss, if they link fully. However, many third party flash heads and wireless trigger combinations just send a signal to say 'flash now'. So you will need to set it up and find out what functions you get between your camera and the flash and then, if needed make adjustments to the flash settings on the flash. Not sure about Canon, but with Nikon if you have Nikon flash heads and the right camera, you can control all of the flash functions from the camera, so you might find the 430 does the same

[MarkChap]

With an old flash like that, you are going to be restricted to manual operation.
Be careful as if the flash has a high trigger voltage as you indicate, you may well fry your triggers as well.
A 430EXII would be a good investment, you will be able to control it in ETTL mode by using the built in flash on the 60D.

Visit http://strobist.com , great source of info about off camera flash

Sent from my GT-P1000T using Tapatalk

[Bennymiata]

I use the 580EX II flash with my 60D, both on the camera, and off using the built-in wireless function.

To use the 580 wirelessly, you need to also use the built in flash to trigger the off-camera flash.
However, in the flash settings function on the camera, you can adjust the balance between the 2 flashes quite easily and also control the output of the flashes seperately as well.
So, you can have just a little, or almost nothing coming out of the built-in flash and lots coming out of the external flash, or anything inbetween.

[reaction]

for a Canon you will have to use your old flash in manual. Get a radio or optical trigger and just treat it as a fixed light.
you won't be able to do TTL, HSS, rear curtain etc
hope you can set power on the flash manually