I have an Elan IIe, which I love, but I have a couple of questions regarding Speedlites. I hear mention of the 380, but it's hard to find. Is this the best flash for my camera? if not, what is?

Also, what are the benefits of the TTL feature that Canon raves about? What is that doing for me?

Finally, I am looking for a flash to use for fill in outdoor daylight shots. What should I use? A camera mounted? Handheld, slave? what?!?!

Thanks in advance

-- doug s (dsc@iscweb.com), September 05, 2001

Answers

I would recommend the 420EX over the 380EX. It's a little more powerful, but more importantly it has a swivel head which is very important because it allows you to swivel the head 45 degrees up to bounce flash off the ceiling when shooting verticals.

E-TTL flash offers several benefits over standard TTL flash. E-TTL flash fires a pre-flash to measure the scene/subject micro-seconds before the actual flash is fired. This generally results in better flash exposure. Also, E-TTL flash allows Flash Exposure Lock (FEL) that locks in the proper flash exposure for the subject even if the subject is or moves off center. Additionally, Canon flash allows FP Flash which allows you to use flash at shutter speeds beyond the Elan IIe's 1/125 max sync speed. You can actually use it all the way up to the Elan IIe's 1/4000 max shutter speed in FP mode. This allows you to use fill flash outdoors in daylight even with a fast lens wide open (which usually results in shutter speeds faster than 1/125).

-- Peter Phan (pphan01@hotmail.com), September 05, 2001.

I agree with Peter! The 420EX is only $185 US, and is much more capable than the 380EX.

-- Hung James Wasson (HJWasson@aol.com), September 05, 2001.

Any of the Canon E, EZ or EX Speedlites will do automatic fill flash in outdoor daylight. In fact the camera's built in flash meter will automatically reduce the Speedite's output by up to two stops with EX series (1.5 stops with others) to make your fill flash look more natural. You can also reduce or increase auto flash exposure as you see fit with Flash Exposure Compensation that is built into the Elan IIe.

Your question was about the best flash for the Elan IIe. In my opinion the best flash for the Elan IIe is the 550EX. It's considerably more costly than the 420EX, but it has manual controls, more power, wider coverage and other features that make it better and worth more. The 420EX is smaller, less expensive and works very well for the money, but it isn't the best flash.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), September 06, 2001.

The Elan IIe is a very light, very capable camera for daily use. If you want a very light, very capable flash to go with it, try the 420EX. I use the 420EX with a Canon Elan IIe and it works beautifully. I will admit to you that I also have the 550EX that I use with my EOS3. As Jim has said above, the 550EX is a far more capable flash. You need to study your own needs and decide if you need the features of the 550EX. For snapshots and family fun photos the lighweight combination is wonderful. When I get serious about taking pictures I head for the heavyweights. I would seriously discourage you from getting a used 380EX. It has less features than the 420EX, but more important to me is the fact that I had two 380EXs and thought they both gave horrible flash results.

Good luck!

-- Richard Snyder (rsnyder@lc.cc.il.us), September 07, 2001.

Hi Doug,

I have heard about Sigma EF-500 Super which cost you about $ 180, and also have lot of features that 550EX has (the valuable EX features + other bells). Although, I do not have first hand experience, build quality may be as good as 550EX. It is worth looking into. I have been using 380EX and ElanII and would like to have some manual control and high GN.

nilantha

-- nilantha sirisoma (nilantha@sdccu.net), October 03, 2001.