Here is a clip from the series.

Check out his personal website here:
http://humanplanet.com/timothyallen/

…and his BBC page here:
http://timothyallen.blogs.bbcearth.com/

Max Sync Speed

Normally the Canon 5D has a max sync speed of 1/200 of a second, rather than the more usual 1/250, since it has a full frame sensor. When using the RF-602s, the max sync speed is reduced to 1/160 of a second. These numbers may vary depending on your equipment.

As a general rule I would recommend to test this before you go out shooting. Especially if you’re using a new camera, a new set of receivers or flashes.

Connecting the Receiver to the Flash Using a Cable

While the RF-602s works more or less flawlessly when the flash is connected using the hot-shoe on the receiver, using a cable (as shown in the image), may result in some strange behavior. In my case, for example, the receiver will no longer be able to wake up the flash from sleep. I’ve tested this on both my Canon Speedlite 580EX II with the same result.

This can be solved by disabling the sleep function on the flash unit.

Another thing I have observed on a few occasions is that the receivers stop working. I can be resolved by either turning of the flash unit and then turn it back on, or in some cases turn of the receiver and then turn it back on. Again, this seems to be a problem when using a cable instead of the hot-shoe mount.

Securing the Receiver on a Flash Stand

Based on what I’ve written above, you might wonder why I don’t simply use the hot-shoe on the receiver instead of the cable.

While connecting the flash unit to the receiver is no problem, connecting the receiver to a mount is a whole different story. Actually, the problem consists of securing the receiver to the mount. And the last thing you want is your expensive flash hitting the ground because your cheap receiver couldn’t hold on to the flash stand.

However, if you use a screw (like the one used when connection your camera to a tripod) instead of a hot-shoe mount, this shouldn’t be a problem. The important part is to make sure your flash is secure. Do not compromise.

Canon specifies a safe trigger voltage up to 6 volts using the hotshoe on their digital cameras. If it’s higher, it might damage the camera. So I have measured the trigger voltage on two older flashes I have lying around, since I didn’t get (m)any hits searching the interewebz.

Pentax AF-330FTZ has a trigger voltage of 3.14V
Hanimex 325AZ has a trigger voltage of 110V

So the Pentax AF-330FTZ should be safe. Hanimex 325 however, isn’t. What’s kind of scary is that I have used the Hanimex on several occasions on my 350D. Luckily no harm done (as far as I can tell).

This is how Norwegian nature looks like without power lines… (actually, you can still see some to the right of the picture).

The vignetting is because of a polarization filter. Didn’t use a leens hood on this trip.

A swine schnitzel with rosmary, basil, salt and pepper on a bed of rice.

An old Canon AE-1 with a 50mm f/1.8 lens. The reflection is mainly candles, but also includes me.

A half baked bread still in the oven.

A horse enjoying the sun at Eikeskog, Norway.

A self portrait taken with my new (second hand) Canon 5D.

What can I say other than ‘Wow’. This is an amazing piece of equipment, and definitely a step up from my four year old Canon 350D. Although the previous owner had it for almost 2 years (1 year and 10 months), it’s in mint condition.

One of the ‘rules’ in photography is to invest in good optics. But now that the marked is packed with people upgrading to Canon 5D MkII, it’s the perfect time to get the hand on a used MkI for a reasonable price. In fact, for the price I paid for the 5D, I couldn’t even get a new 500D. Sure, the 500D has more mega pixel and full 1080p video. But I’m not interested in video, and the camera is to small for my hands. And that is also my biggest regret on buying the 350D in the first place, but it’s also the only one. Always buy a camera that fits your hand.