own an eos 5 and need a flash. have a pretty slim budget. i don't do a lot of flash photography, but seems nice to have one in my bag. considering either a 380ex or 430ez. borrowed a 380ex a weekend ago, but seems to overexpose everything (maybe it's me). anyhow, any comment or direction would be appreciated...

-- howard shen (hshen@lsm.org), April 11, 2000

Answers

The 430EZ offers a head that rotates in addition to just the tilt on the 380EX, so you can do vertical format ceiling bounce. The 430 also produces more power and range which is nice for those bounce shots. It also offers A-TTL metering on the EOS 5

The 380EX offers E-TTL metering, high speed sync and flash exposure lock, but only on camera bodies that support these features. But not with the EOS 5. I fact the 380EX does not even offer A-TTL metering for better fill flash with the 5.

The 430EZ is a much better combination for the EOS 5. For a little less money you could get a 420EZ, which has the same power & til/swivel/zoom head, but lacks controls for rear curtain sync and flash exposure compensation. Since the EOS 5 has these controls built in to the body, you'll never miss them on the flash.

I doubt the flash exposure will be improved regardless of which speedlite you use though since it is controlled by the meter in the camera body. The primary problem people have with flash metering with the 5 is that they forget that the metering is biased for the area around the focus point that is in use. Make sure THAT focus point is still on the main subgect when the flash goes off. If it is still overexposing then dial in some negative flash compensation.

-- Jim Strutz (jimstrutz@juno.com), April 11, 2000.