I’ve had the Canon 580 EXII for quite some time now and never bothered to learn all of its features.
While playing with my gear today I decided I would figure out the ‘Multi’ mode on the flash. I am quite familiar with the full manual and the ETTL modes but never used the Multi mode since no other photographer bothered to use it.
The three things I noticed were the usual flash power setting (1/32 in this case), number of flashes during exposure (2 in this case), and the frequency of flashes (4Hz in this case).
Let’s break it down:
4Hz refers to the rate at which the flashes occur (4 per second).
2 refers to how many flashes should occur.
1/32 refers to the power of each flash burst.
One important thing to keep in mind is the shutter speed. If the rate is set to 4Hz and you want 2 flashes to occur then the shutter speed must be at least 0.5sec.
(Number of flashes / Firing rate = Minimum shutter speed)
With this in mind I will try to create some cool effects during reception dancing photos. Who knows? This could be the start of a brand new trend.
