Playing with Canon 580EX II Flash
Canon has recently been running one of their semi-annual sales. They usually run for a few weeks twice a year. After reading many lighting blogs and forums on Flickr, I decided it was time for me to start the journey of off-camera lighting. I picked up the Canon 580ex Mark II Flash. I had already ordered and received my Maha battery charger so the batteries were fully charged and ready to go.
My first thought after taking the flash out of the box and loading up the batteries was that this will be heavy on my XSi body. The overall construction of the flash is very solid and feels durable in your hand. One really nice upgrade I noticed is the slide-lock mechanism used to attach the flash to the camera. No more twisting a large locking screw, just slide and done.
As I just ordered the flash at this point I was not able to do any off camera work. It’s just as well as I barely knew what all the modes and dials on the flash did. I had done some basic reading about the 580 while I was waiting for it to arrive so I have some basic understanding of its usage.
I took about 20-40 pictures the first night of various objects and scenes around my house. Here is one of the better ones I ame up with. I’ll post more information as I explore the features of the flash and get my off-camera accessories.
