how to set up t2i for photobooth shooting

[alexsiskahn]

T2i recommended settings
AV mode
set custom function to 1/200th second flash sync.

this allows the live view to look good
set Aperature to maybe f/16
iso to 800
use external strobe

have fun.

[alexsiskahn]

http://www.flickr.com/groups/digixpro/discuss/72157604732687793/

discusses custom picture styles

also read pages 94 and 95 in instruction manual for setting up sepia as a seperate picture style in addition to BW.

Lots of cool possibilities!

[alexsiskahn]

I have a computer system I just set up and the custom function to set shutter speed to 1/200th in AV mode is not working. the camera is using a slower shutter speed to get the right exposure which is causing ghosting in some images.

Does anyone have any ideas why this might be?

[Chris Breeze]

What flash are you using and how is it triggered? The camera will only select 1/200 sec in Av mode if it knows it has a flash attached.

[alexsiskahn]

I'm using an external strobe with the sync cord hack
turns out I wasn't shaving enough off the hotshoe and the secrete switch on the camera's hot shoe was being depressed causing the Av mode to switch OFF the 1/200th custom function command

[TaylorAdair]

alexsiskahn, in Chris' April 26th post about the sync cord hack he cautioned that:


The camera is not designed to work this way and there is a risk it may be damaged.


How long have you been operating in this configuration without issues?

Thanks,

Taylor

[alexsiskahn]

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

how could it possibly damage a camera? he just posted that so people would NOT blame him for their own ineptitude. I consider myself pretty crafty and it took me several tries to make cord that works well, fits in the hot shoe and let sthe built in flash be raised all the way up.

the flash does not interface with the camera except for the sync voltage. Google Sync voltage to understand how it works. Electricity 101.

[TaylorAdair]

alexsiskahn - Well, I hear you. That was my initial reaction, too, and I would be surprised if this caused any camera damage. On the other hand, I do not know enough about camera internals to outguess Chris about what might cause damage.

Are you just starting to run this configuration?

[TaylorAdair]

For what it's worth, here is an excerpt from http://aaronlinsdau.com/gear/articles/flashvoltage.html
(http://aaronlinsdau.com/gear/articles/flashvoltage.html)


With the advent of sensitive digital cameras, there has been much discussion on the web about the danger of using older photo flash strobes on the hotshoe connector. The primary concern comes from the two major SLR manufacturers, Nikon and Canon, listing the maximum hotshoe X-sync voltage being no higher than 250V and 6V, respectively. Many older flashes had a trigger voltage of over 200V on the X-sync contact relative to the mechanical ground shoe connector. This high voltage has the potential to damage or destroy expensive modern digital cameras.

I took all of the flashes out of my arsenal of photographic equipment to measure to determine what the exact X-sync voltage is for each of them. Now that I shoot with Nikon digital, I only use Nikon SB-800 flashes so I never have to worry about any compatibility problems. I've never had a reason to use some of the older flashes and after measuring the voltage on each of them, I'm glad I haven't. Several of the flashes have X-sync voltages above 200V!

The reason older manual cameras did not suffer from damage from high voltages present on the X-sync contact is that mechanical metal contacts were used to fire off the attached flash. This means that there is no reasonable voltage that could damage the contacts. However, modern digital cameras use CMOS open-collector drive circuits which can only withstand so much voltage.

I suppose that the mechanism on the Canon hot shoe (if not overridden) might help protect the camera from high x-sync voltages.

[Chris Breeze]

I ran a 600 shot test with an Interfit EXD200 studio flash and a Canon EOS 550D/Rebel T2i and it worked fine. The only reason I stopped after 600 shots was because the camera batteries gave up.

The Interfit EXD200 I used is designed for use with digital cameras and has a 5V sync voltage. It also has a slave with pre-flash cancellation and so it can also be triggered of the camera's built-in flash if you don't want to use the hotshoe hack.

[TaylorAdair]

Thanks for that, Chris. I've been using AlienBees only because I already owned four of them before entering the photo booth business. They spec their sync voltage at "less than 6 volts" and mine all measure right around 5V.

So far I've been using the Bees in slave mode triggered by SpeedLights (which I also already owned, thank goodness) on a hot shoe extension. With my booth design the Bees would never see the flash from the pop-up. This has worked pretty well, but not perfectly. Positioning of the SpeedLight matters. Roving photographers with flashes that happen to fire, and trigger the Bees, inside the recycle time of the next booth shutter activation have been an occasional issue. I have to imagine that a directly connected flash would be more reliable in addition to all the other obvious advantages.

Your disclaimer not withstanding, if compatible x-sync voltages are the only specific issue to watch out for, I think I will setup a booth with the sync cord hack and see how it goes. But maybe I will use an older Rebel for the test. We generally shoot 800 to 1000 images per event, so it shouldn't take too long to flush out any issues.

[smilelounge]

I'm curious about the use of a speedlight AND the AlienBee. My current booth uses Nikon D5000 and I have an AlienBee that I connect via sync cord; no speedlight. Why use both the speedlight and the AB flash? Wondering if I'm doing something wrong??

[snapshot]

I'm curious about the use of a speedlight AND the AlienBee. My current booth uses Nikon D5000 and I have an AlienBee that I connect via sync cord; no speedlight. Why use both the speedlight and the AB flash? Wondering if I'm doing something wrong??

From the description, it sounds like the speedlight is merely being used to trigger the slave AB flash. The lower end canon DSLRs will not fire a non E-TTL II compatible flash when live view is active. Therefore, in order to use an external strobe you either have to hack the hotshoe adapter or trigger via a slave.

Since you shoot Nikons, you don't have this issue. Oddly enough, some PowerShot cameras have no issues either. One of my booths uses a G10 and a AB flash fired by a sync cord.

[PhotoJames]

You aren't missing anything, Taylor is just using the speedlight to slave the mono light instead of wiring it directly. Might be due to the conflict that has been discussed many times before (that is corrected by shaving off part of the shoe mount so as not to depress a hidden button). But if you use a Canon flash this isn't an issue. So Taylor has the Canon Flash on the camera and when it fires the monolight goes fires too (slave mode).

Taylor, have you tried using an off-camera sync cable for you flash? I have a couple of them that I use with my flash brackets so that my flash still has the ettl functionality. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/498744-REG/Canon_1950B001_OC_E3_Off_Camera_Shoe.html This is the link to the Canon version at B&H, they have others that look identical for less than $20 plus shipping. This way you could take the mono light out of the booth and just use the strobe, then you wouldn't have the issue with other flashes setting it off. Just an idea, I personally don't want anything in my booth that uses batteries and doesn't have an a/c adapter to run it on.

[Chris Breeze]

I've updated the photobooth articles on my website to include information about how to trigger studio strobes using different cameras:
http://www.breezesys.com/articles/photobooth5.htm#lighting

I've tested the hotshoe hack method with a Canon EOS 1000D and Interfit EXD2000 studio flash for several thousand shots and there is no sign of any damage to the camera. I can't guarantee that it won't damage the camera, but so far there is no evidence that it does any harm.

[TaylorAdair]

snapshot - You are correct. The sole purpose of the SpeedLights is to trigger the ABs.

PhotoJames - You are also correct and thank you for your suggestions. We do use the SpeedLights off camera with hot shoe extensions. Otherwise, it is difficult to position the SpeedLights so that they reliably trigger the ABs. I also hate batteries. Set to manual at 1/64, the SpeedLights will generally last an entire 4-5 hour event, but we replace them about halfway through just to be safe.

To be clear, I do not recommend the setup that we are currently using. In an event environment, it is a multifaceted pain in the neck and we are moving away from it as fast as we can. We just purchased a 50D for our next booth and the one after that will be a T2i. My personal guess is that for stills we will settle on the T2i and use the sync cord hack. But still testing. Video is a whole other kettle of fish.

[PhotoJames]

PhotoJames - You are also correct and thank you for your suggestions. We do use the SpeedLights off camera with hot shoe extensions. Otherwise, it is difficult to position the SpeedLights so that they reliably trigger the ABs. I also hate batteries. Set to manual at 1/64, the SpeedLights will generally last an entire 4-5 hour event, but we replace them about halfway through just to be safe.
I would think that at 1/64 power you should be able to get a few events out of a set of batteries. But always better safe than sorry.