John Young
Senior Member
Thanks, yeah that's what I found to... the ebay shop does say they supply a 12 month warranty
Yongnuo YN-565EX For D600 ???
- Thread starter John Young
- Start date
Thanks, yeah that's what I found to... the ebay shop does say they supply a 12 month warranty
Thank you all for contributing to this post (even though this is an OLD post..);
I was just as hesitant as the P.O. in the beginning and was scare to buy any of the YN gear.
Last thing I want is to spend $400 into a set dead-beat gear... the hip-pocket is a bit tight of late.
After reading up here; I took the plunge and bought a set of YN622N/TX , a YN565EX + a YN568EX..
(just as one of the contributor here; yup, I'm a copy cat)
Both flashes is sitting on it's own YN622N, the YN622-TX is sitting on the D610. ...
TTL works OK ; but I'm new with this off-camera flash bizzo; knew nothing of it from the word go.
I'm Tinkering with manual flash setting with my el-cheapo Sekonic L308s light meter ATM..
Reason why I bought the YN setup is to learn portrait shots ...
Just wondering if any of you Gurus out there can give me a hint with the following questions:
1. many tutorials on the net recommended main flashe should be around 8' from the subjects
but never suggest the min/max distance of how far the camera should be from the subject;
(I do understand the distance is closely related to the lens of choice) but...
Wouldn't the distance of camera to subject affect the optimal F/stop choice?
2. The same tutorials are pushing f8 to be the bee's knees aperture;
is this realistic to achieve when using speedlights alone?
Thanks in advance.
I was just as hesitant as the P.O. in the beginning and was scare to buy any of the YN gear.
Last thing I want is to spend $400 into a set dead-beat gear... the hip-pocket is a bit tight of late.
After reading up here; I took the plunge and bought a set of YN622N/TX , a YN565EX + a YN568EX..
(just as one of the contributor here; yup, I'm a copy cat)
Both flashes is sitting on it's own YN622N, the YN622-TX is sitting on the D610. ...
TTL works OK ; but I'm new with this off-camera flash bizzo; knew nothing of it from the word go.
I'm Tinkering with manual flash setting with my el-cheapo Sekonic L308s light meter ATM..
Reason why I bought the YN setup is to learn portrait shots ...
Just wondering if any of you Gurus out there can give me a hint with the following questions:
1. many tutorials on the net recommended main flashe should be around 8' from the subjects
but never suggest the min/max distance of how far the camera should be from the subject;
(I do understand the distance is closely related to the lens of choice) but...
Wouldn't the distance of camera to subject affect the optimal F/stop choice?
2. The same tutorials are pushing f8 to be the bee's knees aperture;
is this realistic to achieve when using speedlights alone?
Thanks in advance.
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No, the camera distance does not affect exposure. The flash to subject distance does.
Camera distance does affect depth of field... is that what you meant?
For example of exposure, the exposure of a mountain is about the same, regardless if you are standing on it, or are a great vast distance from it. Sunny 16 either place.
This is because the Sun is the source, and the distance of the light remains 93 million miles no matter where on Earth that you stand.
But flash is extremely nearby, and its distance greatly affects exposure (inverse square law).
It is more than enough to know camera distance does not affect exposure (unless the flash is on it), but for more reason, see Camera distance does not affect exposure
News photographers in the old days always had the rule "f/8 and be there". f/8 is generally a sharp aperture with decent depth of field, and being there was the first rule of getting the story.
Preferences vary, but a very common rule of thumb for commercial portrait studio portraits is f/8 or f/11. Nobody wants any unsharpness. Well, some do, some seem to crave using f/1.8 to blur backgrounds in outdoor portraits. My own notion that that is often more poor than it needs to be, and instead, using a longer lens (also less depth of field) will first of all, will simply directly crop out most of the objectionable background (that we wish to hide), and then will allow shifting camera position to choose the better narrow part of the background to include (like one bush). Then two, standing a bit closer to the subject (relatively, not distance, but just meaning tighter cropping) makes the background relatively farther, and the longer lens blurs better than f/1.8 usually does.
f/8 should not be much problem for direct flash, or bigger studio flash. If outdoors in the sun, maximum shutter sync speed probably requires around f/11 anyway.
But indoors, hot shoe flash is generally best done as bounce flash, and for bounce flash, ballpark of ISO 400 and f/5 is commonly required (to have enough power to go to the ceiling and back).
It is off-subject here, but maybe I can show that depth of field example better.
D300 (DX) 50 mm lens, f/1.8 1/6400 ISO 400, 10 feet. About the worst view of tree scene I could find. f/1.8 did nothing for it. Maybe is worse. Needs to be much closer.
D300, 150mm f/2.8 1/800 second. Camera position shifted left about three feet for better background view (selective). Tree trunk is about 11 inches, a bit larger than a face. Camera could be rotated vertical.
A longer lens is a prime tool for cleaning backgrounds. Stepping back would increase depth of field (a bit). Way back (3x to 30 feet) would equalize the 150 mm with 50mm field of view, and depth of field at same apertures. Exposure increase is because narrow view shows more shade and less full sun.
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WayneF.... Thank you for sharing your vast experiences on the subject.
I've learned much more just by reading your reply.
DOF was a small part of that query; as f/8 would meant deep DOF.
Then again it is meant to be portrait shot; Wouldn't matter much.
My key query was based on an observation I made seeing the demonstrators
using 70-200mm lens shooting from >15' from the subjects..
One would wonder if additional ambient lights (beyond metered light on subject)
may ruin the shot.
This is my major concern as I went the cheap way in choosing speedlights over studio strobes;
I convinced myself that current DSLRs' are now better built than my old D100; the ability to shoot
at high ISO can be a remedy in not wanting to spend up big with studio strobes.
As I was trying last night; the speedlights were working hard giving me f/8 @ISO 400
I might need to ganged more of these speedlights up to give me an extra stop if I start using
soft box.... bother bother bother
P.S. That D300 of your's is sharp as a needle.. fantastic saturation too! Is it a Nikkor glass ??
I've learned much more just by reading your reply.
DOF was a small part of that query; as f/8 would meant deep DOF.
Then again it is meant to be portrait shot; Wouldn't matter much.
My key query was based on an observation I made seeing the demonstrators
using 70-200mm lens shooting from >15' from the subjects..
One would wonder if additional ambient lights (beyond metered light on subject)
may ruin the shot.
This is my major concern as I went the cheap way in choosing speedlights over studio strobes;
I convinced myself that current DSLRs' are now better built than my old D100; the ability to shoot
at high ISO can be a remedy in not wanting to spend up big with studio strobes.
As I was trying last night; the speedlights were working hard giving me f/8 @ISO 400
I might need to ganged more of these speedlights up to give me an extra stop if I start using
soft box.... bother bother bother
P.S. That D300 of your's is sharp as a needle.. fantastic saturation too! Is it a Nikkor glass ??
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I usually use a 70-200 lens around 110mm for waist-up portraits at ten feet (FX camera). Which is indoors, and any normal ambient is not a problem if at f/8 1/200 second ISO 100 (no reason studio work should not use 1/200 to keep out the ambient). Even the modeling lights on the studio flash seem very bright, but they are not a problem. The test is to pull the sync cord once so the flash will not trigger, and with the modeling lights and ambient, the picture is black (at same 1/200 second f/8 ISO 100). If it is almost black, there's no big problem. But higher ISO or wider aperture, or slower shutter speed, could become an issue, but the black test will show how much.
Here is one of my ganging trys:
Just flat bar stock from Home Depot, with three 1/4" holes drilled. It worked.
ISO 400 is probably fine, and you could gang them, but just put the umbrellas closer.
The main light should be "close as possible" anyway (big and close for softness, but close helps power too). The subject probably can reach out and touch the light stand pole, it is barely out of the picture. Fill is lower level and can be back by the camera lens.I started with speedlights, and my SB-800s (which are stronger than some) could do ISO 200 f/11 (barely) in a 45 inch reflected white umbrella, with the light stand pole at 24 inches from subjects nose. I used f/8, or maybe f/5.6, to gain some recycle speed.
Yes, Nikon, an ancient 50mm f/1.8, and a 70-200 at 150mm. It was a really too-fast try, should have been thought out better (I discovered I had no room to backup a few steps with the longer lens.
) I used the DX D300 instead of the D800 because DX has a bit more depth of field than FX, and more people use DX. Shooting in the dark at f/1.8 is obviously one thing, but using f/1.8 in bright light when a longer lens works better is something else. Fantastic tip this! Save me a lot of time in researching/testing the optimal environment.
I fumbled a lot trying to set up a home studio as a hobby with very limited budget.
I've got an ancient 80-200mm f/2.8 ED that I can put to good use now ...YES !!
Before I bought the D610;the old D100 struggled quite a bit as there is no PC sync port;
I had to work with an ancient Metz 44AF that will only do D-TTL; manual-Lo or manual 1/1.
Yes.. A total of 2 manual power settings!! And Pocket Wizards ain't a dime a dozen neither..
These old gears satisfied my point and shoot endeavors at the time.
All museum pieces now.
Looks like this weekend I'd be building one of these then
The YN flashes can't be as bright as they claimed to be.... a GN of 58's??
No way!! Looks like I might need to get at least 2 more YN565ex 's
2 565ex to sit in a softbox with your flat bar, one in an shoot thru umbrella as fill
The Sunpak AF5000 can play optical slave as background light!...
(yes..I got one of them too when I was shooting film! man..I'm showing my age now.
)The Metz 44AF can go down the toilet for all I care.
I was going to do this home studio thing a couple of years back; hoping to get a D700
and some studio lights.. I nearly fell off my chair when I saw how much the light was... thousand$ !!
I can barely afford the D700 but definitely not them Monoblocs .. Even speedlights are $600 a piece..
So everything got shelved.
Of course I don't expect these YN flashes to go the same mileage as the SB-700/800/900's
But they're getting me closer to furnish this home studio ..
Geewiz... you've got all the nice stuffs:drunk:
My next "want to have" item is a Tamron 24-70mm F/2.8
That will take a lot of "loving" efforts to get it pass treasury..
Remind me again; why did I tie the knot ??
Wayne; I think we all love to see some of your work if that's OK?
Alex
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Looks like this weekend I'd be building one of these then
The YN flashes can't be as bright as they claimed to be.... a GN of 58's??
No way!! Looks like I might need to get at least 2 more YN565ex 's
Assuming your shoes have the tapped hole in them, then standard 1/4-20 NC screws will attach them. The flat plastic stands that come with the flashes would work for that, but metal seems better to me. My shoes were Stroboframe 300, which comes with the threaded knobs. The S1 slave mode ought to trigger all of them except the one the camera triggers (probably the near fill light, which happens to conveniently be aimed at main light).
I think the YN565EX guide number is about correct, at least at 24mm. See Review of the Yongnuo YN565EX Speedlight about 1/3 page down.
GN 58 (meters) is at 105mm zoom. At 24mm zoom, it is GN 28 (meters), which x3.28 is 91.9 (feet). I multiplied 91.9 by 1.414 to get ISO 200 value of GN 130 (feet), and therefore used f/13 at 10 feet (ISO 200), and I thought it was perfect, matching the GN. I'm not sure if the longer zoom GNs are as accurate, but 24mm zoom seemed right. And it is a full powered flash, it matches the SB-800 power, which is saying a lot.
Certainly there are less expensive choices (speedlights too.
) I don't know where you are, but in the USA, Paul C. Buff Alienbees are extremely popular, and there are different sizes, but more like $225 and $280 each. That's what I have, and they have advantages, esp service and support. IMO, these are the GOOD inexpensive ones. And there are several other brands too. I would avoid the cheapest (Ebay stuff), and be sure they are fan cooled, but there's many choices.
FWIW, it has been several years, so I repeated the metering of the flashes
Both SB-800 and YN565EX (individually) in same 45" white reflected umbrella. Manual full power, 24mm zoom. Metering at 24" from light stand, on 27" full umbrella shaft, 51" from apex of umbrella:
Both flashes meter f/8 plus 0.4 stop (f/9.2) at ISO 100, and f/11 plus 0.4 stop (f/13) at ISO 200.
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I'm only working through with what I've got ATM; you're right,
those plastic shoes are not gonna to cut it .. have to rethink
Hmm.... so these el-cheapo 565ex flashes are GN58's; looks like we've got ourselves a real bargain then.
"Flash Gun 101" told me that a quality speedlight needs to have correct color temperature;
most importantly it needs to be consistent in it's brightness in every shot... I guess time will tell.
And yes; Scantips.com is an invaluable resource if one needs to know anything about
digital photography/imaging. I'll be referring to this site's resources for FP mode(High Speed Sync)
as soon as I mastered my D610. That's the reason why I picked up a YN568ex as well.
I'm still unsure of how to approach shooting in FP mode; do I shoot manual or TTL?
My assumption is that, the shooter wants to use a much faster shutter speed
to dramatically tune down ambient light in order to get proper exposure of the subject ..
This would meant shooting in manual then right? But my Sekonic L308s can't go anything
close to that shutter speed ... HSS will have to go to the back burner for now.
I'm in Australia (Arsx end of the earth; so they say !!) ..
I'm lucky now that there is eBay where I get all my junk from;
Most photog shops here deal with Bowen/Elinchrome gears only;
And man, you pay through your nose for them.
I've heard of Alienbees; due to lack of competitions here in the
land of Kangaroos and Koalas; the importer here price them closely to
the Bowen/Elinchrome's alike. Once you add the tripod and modifiers to them
.... time to take out a third mortgage.
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GN 58 only applies to 105mm zoom (which is not the usual way speedlights are used, but marketing likes to pick the highest number
). The Guide Number chart is in the back of its manual. It is GN 28 (meters) at 24mm zoom, and other values in between.IMO, there is no problem with color temperature or consistency. My YN565EX works fine. There are some little things, but big picture, it works great, and is an unbelievable bargain.
Either TTL or Manual, today HSS does both (either). Manual would not be necessary, TTL would do automatic fill level (because it is TTL BL, unless you overrode it to be TTL mode, when you would have to compensate for fill).
OK, then I'm unsure of your availability of American 1/4-20 NC screws for the flash shoes.
I think British Whitworth are not the same thing. The diameters are the same, but Whitworth is 55 degree threads and American NC is 60 degrees. It sounds like a serious bind.Do whatever you do for camera tripod screws then. They are the common 1/4-20 screws here in America, available everywhere here (ANSI UTS NC, Unified Thread Standard, National Coarse), but I suspect it is a specialty item elsewhere. The Stroboframe 300 shoes do include the screws.
And the Alienbees are 120 volts AC only, so are not compatible there. Their specifications are comparable to Elinchrom D-lite models (but arguably better
).I haven't got around to copy your flat bar yet; as you said, getting the correct thread angle
for the 1/4" foot can be a challenge in Australia. May sought to acquire el-cheapo pre-fab
multi speedlight mount (came with 3 cold shoes)from eBay.. last I look, one can be had for around AUD$20..
no drilling means no mistakes... ha ha
Since my D610 can only do 1/4000sec; I'm somewhat handicapped shooting in FP mode..may need to shoot in
a much shadier spot as compare to your D800. I have to some experiments in both TTL and manual first.
Lucky we're in the digital age! If shooting film; one will need to wait 2~3 days and a few $$$ before knowing
the tragic results.
Alienbees are 120 volts AC only... Their specifications are comparable to Elinchrom D-lite models (but arguably better
I thought I saw Alinebees in local shops here; may be they are available with external step-down transformer (240v-120v) ??
D-Lite's are available in most shops.. ~$900 for 2 lights with soft box and stand if on specials
they are $1200 normally .... grrrr
All in all the speedlight setup is more feasible to me ATM.
Yesterday I got up at 6AM trying to get some shots within that magic hour...
but it's all foggy to start with and stayed hazy through to lunch time; coz it's almost spring here now...
There is always next weekend....
I wouldn't know where to find a Whitworth thread here either. Makes a metric system seem desirable.
FWIW, I found this... in AU, replacement 1/4-20 threaded knobs that otherwise come with the Stroboframe 300 shoes.
AV Superstore: Stroboframe Replacement - Mounting Screw for Flash Mount - 1/4' Thread with Knob
Price takes my breath away though. The Stroboframe 300 shoes with the knobs are $8.78 US here
Error
There are two Stroboframe 300 shoes, this "General Purpose" version with the knobs, and another one for flash brackets, seemingly without knobs, but the last I bought did have smaller knob screws with them.
Photo shops that sell flash brackets surely will have "camera screws" that hold the camera (bottom tripod hole) onto the bracket. Or replacements for tripods too...
Those will be 1/4-20. Probably pricey that way however.
I would not call that handicapped. And shade will just need a slower shutter speed.
If Bright Sun, Sunny 16 says 1/100 second f/16 at ISO 100, so then f/2.8 is only 1/3200 second anyway.
You would need f/2 or higher ISO to use a faster shutter, in bright sun.
If you have shade, you may have no need for FP, almost like indoors. Shade could possibly be f/4 at 1/100, or f/2.8 at 1/200, regular flash mode (which runs circles around FP, power, distance, speed).
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Yup, ya needa pay AUD$12 for a 1/4" bolt in Oz.. Welcome to my nightmare!!!
And you; dear Sir, you'd think I was on the bottle when I said it costs ~$1k for a studio monobloc
I found something similar to your Stroboframe 300 on "Flea-Bay".. it's called a N/B bracket something or other; $20 for a pair with 2 removable "Stroboframe 300" (clone) on top.
At this rate that last multi-speedlights mount I mentioned last time sounded more positive at $20..
Geewiz.. I sounded just like my old man; going with the cheap on every turn... ha ha :suspicion:
Well; that's why at times I got my undies in a twist.. If it wasn't for those $$ I spent on
those Nikon glasses; I would have jumped ship to the Canon camp already;
their bodies are smarter than Nikon's by a mile .. touch screen LCD, 1/8000 HSS and better prices!
Lucky I still got my old trusty 50mm f/1.4 from a more than a decade ago;
although it is not at it's sharpest in f/2, that will have to do until I can afford
a Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 or may be a Sigma 24-105mm f/4.. hmmm.. bother.. bother.. bother
what do you think?
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Yeah, I was worried about just the 1/4" nut to hold the flat bar on the light stand.
I don't know what you do there.Just guessing, but maybe the largest hardware stores might have some American bolts and nuts in a little drawer somewhere? It must come up now and then, and the large ones here can surprise you sometimes. If so, surely less expensive than calling it a photo item.
The thread is called UNC, and 1/4-20 is the tripod screw.
Here is one with UNC
http://www.boltmasters.com.au/stain...pscrews/unc/afa.asp?idWebPage=47893&CATID=653
Our dollars are nearly equal now, and quanity 200 is better, but the price for one is out of this world.
Yeah, I was worried about just the 1/4" nut to hold the flat bar on the light stand.
I don't know what you do there.
Yeah.. the locals here have to improvise quite a bit due to the circumstances; small population
is the cause of high labor & logistic costs. I've got a mate who's a fitter and turner by trade;
he might help me out here... fingers crossed.:stung:
Folks in northern America can ship small parcels from coast to coast
overnight; for few dollars at most. We hillbillies here need to pay a fortune to get things shipped.
Once I was charged $22 freight for $20's worth of AA rechargeable batteries; just because I didn't
un-check the "overnight shipping" box.. damn!!! The alternative was a 3 days' wait @$10 freight.
Still expensive at any measure.
200 ?? I don't think I need that many ..
Yup; last I heard our dollar is at USD$0.93.
That's why I'm looking to stock up from eBay.
I got my YN565ex + Yn 568ex flash from eBay; I also got a
set of the Yn622N/TX triggers as well; next to get is a softbox/ umbrella Kit..
Plus; need to duplicate your flat bar contraption & acquiring some of these
1/4" bolts and nuts... fun and games. :smile-new:
Looking to get some ND filters to try out some long exposure shots.
And I feel just like a kid in a toy shop ... very rejuvenating indeed.
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