What would be the best flash for a 6D?

[karimkahatt]

I wonder what is the more suitable flash for a 6D? I do indoors (interior design) and general photography

[kvbarkley]

 Rats, I just went to the Canon USA site and searched for flashes. There was no indication that the 90EX was out of production.

[RexGig]

If I recall correctly, the 90EX can act as a master flash unit, unlike the other smaller Speedlites. The 90EX cannot swivel or pivot, so the remote flash(es) will need to be within a limited visual cone, to "see" the master flash signals.

[TDKLEX]

Thanks for your help.

[TDKLEX]

Thanks for the info, i was just confused on which one was best.  I understand better now and will probably go with the 270 or 430.

[Skirball]

If you're doing interior photography and don't intend on dropping a couple thousand dollars, then I'd look at getting an assortment of flashes, most of which are manual generics like Yongnuo.  You don't have to buy them all at once, but if you're doing a lot of interiors you're probably going to want at least 4 flashes, with wireless triggers.  There are many ways to go about putting together an off-camera flash setup, but my recommendation would be to start with a Canon 430exII, which gives you on-camera eTTL and reliability, and then several Yongnuo 560 mark III.  Make sure you get the III, it has built in radio triggers, which will work with a set of Yongnuo RF602s. I'd also start with two micro light stands (I like the Manfroto Nanos), light stand heads (again, Manfrotto), a couple of large umbrellas, and lots of batteries.

[TCampbell]

The BIG advantage of radio based flash is that it doesn't require line-of-sight.  Optical triggers do.  That means with radio, you can hide flash units around corners, through doorways, behind furniture, etc. as needed and it will reliable fire.

A 600EX-RT flash is about $500 per unit.  The camera will also need a radio trigger... you can either trigger with another 600EX-RT or you can use the ST-E3-RT trigger (fits in the hot-shoe like a flash, but a bit more compact, has the identical LCD screen and button layout... just no flash on the trigger unit.)

Depending on your needs, you may want to soften the flash by using shoot-through umbrellas, softboxes, etc.  (I use both).  

If you need to match flash color temperature to interior lighting, you can use color gels.  The 600EX-RT flash comes with gel holder and two gels... a light orange and dark orange.  One is designed to match the color temperature to interior incandescent (tungsten) lighting and the other is a CTO (color temperature orange) gel which matches sunrise/sunset color temperature.  

I did manage to find a company in the UK which pre-cuts Lee brand filter gels to fit the new filter holder that Canon includes with the 600EX-RT (you can buy plain gels and cut out your own -- they apparently made a nice die which cuts the perfect shape) and you can get gels to match any color temperature or createive color you need.

I was a bit surprised that I could not find any company in the US that sold pre-cut gels for the 600.  I figured there would be a number of people making and selling these by now.

[jcourtial]

Hi, sorry to jump on the thread but I'm in the exact situation from Karim. 6D and wanting to do interior photography.

Now I've bought 2 YN560 III to start with and light stands, gels, umbrellas. But what I can't get my head around is how do I the transmitter / commander thing.

What do I need to buy to be able to control the settings of each flash from my camera?

I want to take it slowly so don't need TTL to start with, but would like to make sure I dont have to go and change the settings of each flash individually all the time.

[ubiquity]

For anyone picking up on this post the suggestion for a trigger (posted above) is a Yongnuo RF602 to match with the YN560 III

[amfoto1]

---

@jcourtial wrote:

Hi, sorry to jump on the thread but I'm in the exact situation from Karim. 6D and wanting to do interior photography.

Now I've bought 2 YN560 III to start with and light stands, gels, umbrellas. But what I can't get my head around is how do I the transmitter / commander thing.

What do I need to buy to be able to control the settings of each flash from my camera?

I want to take it slowly so don't need TTL to start with, but would like to make sure I dont have to go and change the settings of each flash individually all the time.

---

Not sure what you mean by "interior photography"...

If you are referring to doing small product shots indoors, such as tabletop studio work, or perhaps tight portraits... 2 190GN flashes will work fine but are about the bare minimum, especially if bounced out of umbrellas or shot through diffusers.

If you are thinking you'll light up a large room, it's nowhere near enough light with two 190GN flashes.

For portraits on location, I use a modest, portable lighting kit of five 320WS monolights... Usually bounced out of umbrellas, sometimes shot through diffusers. My "main light" is actually two of the monolights ganged up into one umbrella: 640WS. I nearly always use a third monolight as a fill on the side opposite the main light, then often use a fourth monolight on a boom as a hair light and/or background light, sometimes the fifth as well.  This is far, far more light than you'll get out of a pair of 190GN portable flashes, but is still just barely adequate light for full length portraiture from about 10 or 15 feet away.

I also have three Canon 550EX and three 580EX II flashes (each of which is roughly 190GN) that I use for a variety of other things. Even if I were to use both the monolights and the flashes, I don't think I'd have enough to adequatly light up a very large interior space.

In other words, with just two 190GN flashes you really don't have anywhere near enough flashes to light up an architectural interior much larger than a closet or small bathroom... particularly if bouncing those flashes out of an umbrella (you "lose" roughly half the light when using an umbrella... because you're increasing the distance, spreading the light more, and some of it is being absorbed as well).

Check out a friend of mine's architectural interiors at http://luhnphoto.com/architecture/ Jeff is one of the best in the business!. The trick he accomplishes so well is artificially lighting the scene beautifully, while still managing to make it look natural and inviting. I seem to recall the shot of the interior with the piano took five or six hours to set up and uses some 25 or more light sources of several types, each very carefully placed and balance with each other. This includes replacing each of any existing bulbs, such as those in ceiling recesses and the chandelier in that room, with special bulbs that match the color temp of his broader lighting. At least this particular shot wasn't also trying to balance with exterior light. That was always a real pain with film... it's still extra work, but now much easier with digital post-processing. You can see how well he manages indoor/outdoor balance in some of the other examples he has online.

I don't use any Yongnuo stuff, including the YN560 III, but understand it's a manual flash... not TTL (actually ETTL in Canon lingo). This means that the camera cannot meter the light and automatically reduce or increase the flash exposure as needed (the way it can with all Canon EX and other ETTL-capable flashes). Yes, it appears a YN602 or YN603C unit can trigger it.... but you'd have to go to each flash unit to set or change it's output power or zoom level. Apparently a YN560-TX is a slightly more sophisticated controller unit. It's not TTL/ETTL either, but you can remotely set  or change the output power and zoom of as many as six different groups of flashes (each group can be one or more flashes, apparently). It also seems to be usable as a simple trigger with YN602 or 603 modules that are being used to fire other brands of flashes and/or studio strobes/monolights.

***********

Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7D(x2), 50D(x3), some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & EXPOSUREMANAGER 

[magarity]

I have a 90ex for my 6D and my observations are: 1, it is comically small and power output to match. It can just barely add in a little fill for shadows. As a main light, forget it. 2, if you have an optical slave flash such as a 430ex 2 or 3 then the 90 can be a remote trigger very simply and cheaply. This is its main attraction really. It's really too bad the 270 can't do that. Have you considered the ML100? I think that's probably better than a 90 unless you find a used 90 on ebay for $30.