You don't need anything so complicated as the FL-CB02 or its Canon
equivalent. For a wired solution to studio or any other manually
controlled flash units you only need to bring out the center trigger
contact which is in the same place on all ISO compatible flash shoes.
There are lots of inexpensive solutions on ebay such as:
<http://cgi.ebay.com/Hot-Shoe-PC-Sync-Adapter-for-Digital-Cameras-NEW-RF1041_W0QQitemZ200047878934QQihZ010QQcategoryZ15215QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem>
but for a very high quality unit you can turn to the Nikon AS-15
<http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Search&A=details&Q=&sku=37086&is=REG&addedTroughType=search>
Both of these convert the hot shoe to a female PC connection but the
ebay item also has an auxiliary cold shoe on top.
Both pieces will require a long PC cable which is likely available in
the studio. One end will require a male PC connector to plug in at the
camera end and the other will require a connection specific to the flash
units in use. These are often 1/4" or 1/8" audio type mono or stereo
plugs but many other types exist.
It's probable that the studio flash units can be triggered by built-in
optical slave and that may be the default triggering method as long as
no triggering plug is in the socket. This means that you only have to
trigger one of them with a signal from the camara and the rest will
follow suit.
If you'd like to get rid of the cable you can use an inexpensive radio
slave from ebay. I have no direct experience with this seller but I
would recommend the unit he's selling since the receiver has provisions
for a 1/4" mono plug, 1/8" mono plug adapter and also a PC connection
which pretty much guarantees you'll be able to connect to whatever is in
the studio. The 1/4" and 1/8" mono plugs are common but the PC
connection is not found on all the competing products on ebay.
<http://cgi.ebay.com/Digital-Radio-Slave-Flash-Trigger-4-Channel-Wireless_W0QQitemZ140052456066QQihZ004QQcategoryZ30086QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting>
If you buy one of these I recommend you test it for range. You'll have
no difficulty in the studio but these guys are often wildly optimistic
about the range of these devices. QC is probably non-existent and the
transmitters are very directional with much different ranges seen
whether measured off the front, side or back. I don't complain if I get
at least 60 feet off the weakest side which is quite a bit less than the
100 feet claimed. But I also have one unit which will reach to almost
200 feet if the wind is blowing in the right direction and the receiver
is a little off to one side :-) You can, of course, buy Pocket Wizard
radio slaves which are reliable (sort of) and have quite a long range
but you will pay at least 10 times as much.
Ask away if you have an more questions.
Chuck Norcutt
James Royall wrote:
> I'm doing a 4-day portrait course in December where lighting is being
> provided by the school (Central St Martins, London). I'd like to use
> my E300 for the instant feedback. I can't quite work out what the
> options are for connecting the camera to the studio lighting to
> trigger them as the camera has no flash connector aside from the
> hotshoe. I know that some lights can be triggered by an on-camera
> flash, but then that would add an additional, unwanted light source
> to the mix. The FL-CB02 would seem to be about right, but the 5 pin
> connector is no doubt an Olympus only pin pattern. As the Canon flash
> bracket cable works with Olympus flashes, does Canon make a cable
> that would work?
>
> Any advice would be appreciated.
>
> James
>
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