Recommended Flash for Digital XT

[MarkBarbieri]

I have to stress that for owners of newer Canon cameras (including the Rebel XT), that's a very misleading statement. The 220EX is not E-TTL 2 compatible. Using one on a Rebel XT, 20D, or other E-TTL 2 camera will cause you to lose metering capabilities that the camera is capable of. In fact, for metering it is worse than the built-in flash. So it is compatible in the sense that the flash will work, but not compatible in the sense that it doesn't work with the newer metering capabilities Canon provides and that even Sigma supports with it's newer flashes.

WRONG! I was told in a PM and have since verified on Canon's website that any Canon EX flash will support E-TTL2, even those like the 220 and 420 that were made prior to the indrocution of E-TTL2. That's because the processing is done in the camera body and none of the communications with the flash have changed. I apologize for my error and to anyone that I have mislead.

 

[WillCAD]

while this statement may be true, it is contradictory to this way of thinking....I leave my lens cap in my camera bag, and my camera bag in the room.

A camera is useless if it is not accessible when you need to take a shot, and it is inaccessible if it is in a bag, has a lens cap on, or is sitting in your hotel room. That's why I carry my camera with me all day at the parks, on a strap, with no bag, and leave the lens cap back in the room.

Not really contradictory.

When I'm wandering the parks at WDW and Universal, I have my Speedlight in my pocket all day, but it's not really needed for the kind of wide-aspect outdoor shots I typically take - shots where only a nuclear weapon would provide enough light to use as a true fill-in flash.

For closer shots, I will often put the Speedlight on to provide fill-in, and when I'm indoors for long periods I will put it on as well.

Not having the Speedlight on has never caused me to miss a shot. I am sure that some shots I have taken quickly without the Speedlight or with only the pop-up to provide fill-in flash have been less than perfect, but I still got them.

On the other hand, my first few trips with an SLR showed me that walking around with the camera turned off and the lens cap mounted causes me to miss all kinds of pics.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

On the other hand, my first few trips with an SLR showed me that walking around with the camera turned off and the lens cap mounted causes me to miss all kinds of pics.

One of my favorite improvements from the older generation DSLRs to the newer ones is the startup speed. My old D60 seemed to take forever to fire up. My newer camera powers on and is ready to shoot in what seems like less than a second.