Customer Reviews

Understanding the Canon Speedlite 580EX II/430EX II

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I agree w/another reviewer, the title is misleading. 98% of the time they are using additional equipment, light stands, multiple flashes, reflectors, filters, etc. while in a studio setting. It was a helpful DVD on lighting but didn't teach me much about my flash and how to properly use it by itself and in various conditions. Its basically, "heres a model in our studio. Ok, now shes on a beach but we still have our reflectors. Heres some still life back in the studio." The first 20min is a lighting primer before blowing through the flash's buttons w/o a thorough explanation on each one. They went through certain things far too quickly and spent more time than necessary on other subjects. For example, I didn't need to see multiple times how to change a setting through the camera's menu or on the flash itself. They do give demos but they weren't sufficient enough for me and the flash was never used stand-alone other than to show you that it gives horrible pictures by itself. If this DVD taught me one thing, its that I need to buy more equipment.

A more accurate title would have been "Using your Canon flash in a studio setting" or "Unlocking your flash's potential" because obviously to get into lighting and really take advantage of the versatility of a Speedlight, you must buy additional equipment and take the flash off the camera. The flash is just one of the tools they use to get the pictures they want and it happens to be a Canon 430/580EX. You would not let your friend borrow your flash one day and hand them this DVD along with it, thinking it will teach them how to use it because it won't. They'll just sit there thinking, "oh, thats nice but I don't have any of those things..." and "hey, could you slow down when you go over the controls, what they do and how I should use them? More comparison photos would also be nice."

As for production values, well, it's fairly drab presentation and I'd have appreciated voice overs while showing them taking pictures instead of having to stare at the guy talk, constantly switching his eyes from the camera to nearby cue cards. You look at him seemingly for 1/3 of the DVD. The rest of the time is spent in the studio or looking at the back of the flash and it's buttons. So is it worth the coin ? Ehhh, its decent and helpful information on LIGHTING but you're able to find this sort of information for free online at various lighting/strobist enthusiast sites. Its not a complete waste of money but this DVD could certainly use a new name.

If you're hesitating to buy this DVD because you're wondering whether it would be worth it, since obviously the manual covers the basic features, don't hesitate at all. This is a terrific DVD for the inexperienced stobist using Canon EX flashes as well as someone who only occasionally uses them.

What this DVD gives you is as close to "over the shoulder" instruction by someone who knows the Canon flash system inside and out. It provides a step-by-step intro to the Speedlite system, shows you how to set the various features on the 580EX-II and 430EX-II and leads you through clear and concise examples of planning a shoot and how best utilitize both ambient and flash lighting to obtain the best possible images.

It's not as comprehensive as a complete lighting course but it is very thorough when it comes to the Canon system and the thought process behind various choices in a series of staged lighting situations.

It is worth every penny of the $25 that I paid for it and I'll use it again and again.

This DVD is not good. The major step by step example they have in this DVD are inside of the studio WITH a lot of special equipment that regular household WON'T have. They do NOT teach you how to use the flash in regular daily using bases. The concept they teach is SIMPLE! They do NOT teach you real technic on the 2nd curtin shot, or some other special shots. They only teach you how to use PROFESSIONAL SETTING on stupid simple shot. If you are wondering how to use your SPEEDLITE in your house, on your cat, dog, children, or anything that won't hold still and move constainly, this DVD teach you NOTHING! You can not apply anything this DVD teach you unless you own those equipments like extra stand, special tripod for reflacting board... If you do not have the equipment I mentioned, this DVD can not help you. You also need to have a flash light extented core... if you do not have it, forget about this DVD...

I think this DVD sucks!

The real educational DVD should teach you how to use ONE SINGLE 580EXII or 430EXII and your DSLR WITHOUT any other aditional accessories to shot picture well in live situation. NOT studio shot, NOT with all type of expensive professional accessories that people usually do not own.

I think they should have change the title to "Apply SPEEDLITE to Studio Shot", this title is more likely explain what this DVD really is.

Unless you know enough about flashes, Canon's thought process behind how they make their products and advanced understanding of the science of light then the manual that comes with the 580 EXII is not going to help you at all. It might, but if you're like me some visual education to go along with the reading is what you need. The information is clear and concise and will have you using the advanced features after one viewing and feeling comfortable with how everything works.

They may not win any awards for their acting, but information is delivered in a clear, easy-to-understand manner by a female voice-over and male host. There is just enough variety to keep it watchable and enough non-engineer plain-English spoken to translate the manual into knowledge you can use. I was an Art Director looking for deeper knowledge of my 580EXII and this DVD helped tremendously. I'm very tech savvy, but the Speedlite is still a bit cryptic until explained function-by-function. I've read the manual repeatedly and I have 3 other books on Strobist-style lighting, but this is the only source I've found that actually explains all the foundational info to get the most out of this awesome light source. Within hours of watching I was taking better shots and focusing on the creative rather than fumbling through the technical aspects.

"Understanding" is the key word. Nothing quite like a Video for users like me that are novice DSLR owners. I own both of these Speedlites, use on 20D, Rebels, 5D2. No buyers regret on this DVD purchase.

Recently I purchased a Canon 580 EX II Speedlite. I found myself immediately overwhelmed with its features. I haven't even used any electronic flash for many years.

This DVD more than fills my immediate needs for electronic flash instruction. It gives me a refresher course in basic flash lighting and it helps me apply these basics to my new Canon Speedlite and Canon T2i Camera. Actually, it contains more information than I can use right now. But the instruction is clear and well organized. It's great to see each strobe lighting setup clearly demonstrated in DVD - instead of trying to learn it all from a book.

I recently purchased a Speedlite flash and wanted to get the most out of it. This book gave me the knowledge I needed to do that.

This video does a nice job of teaching the basic concepts of lighting. That's all. It does nothing for explaining how to use the flash (unless, you are using two or three flashes in tandem in a studio). Read about lighting on the 'net and save the $20.

They also continually show the 580, which has different controls and a different LCD.

This is the first thing that I have ever returned to Amazon.

A must see if you plan on purchasing or have either of these Speedlites. I have watched sections more than a few times and some sections I have not watched yet until I purchase the 580EX II Speedlite. Excellent DVD.