Buying my first external light kit.

[Buckster]

Let's all see what David Hobby says about the rubbish that are Chinese flash units and triggers, shall we, then reconvene here later, and talk about how fantastic Chinese crap is!!

Strobist: What China Doesn't Understand

Those who say ANY Yongyflash or Yongy product is a "high-quality" flash have never, ever, not even ONCE, held or used a Metz 45-series flash...it's like toy crap versus solid, almost hand-made luxury...

Seriously...laughing at the young man who calls Yongy a "high-quality" flash. Seriously....laughing!

Cite specifics on what's NOT high quality about them, especially in comparison to what you deem a "high quality" flash. Plastic thickness? Flash tube effectiveness? Ability to fit into a hot shoe? Ability of the on/off switch to work? What? Be specific. Use measurements. Provide real data, not just loud grunts and "harumphs".

You siding with David Hobby! LOL! That's funny!

Look at the date it was written first. Those units have since proven themselves as reliable and very good for the price.

As for the pricing issues, sorry - can't help you there. I'm not going to pay 5 to 10 times as much for essentially the same ability just because it's "unfair" to those non-Chinese manufacturers who want to charge more for products that don't offer substantially more for my dollar, especially when it won't make a bit of difference other than the fact that I paid so much more and didn't get more ability for it. If it matters to you that the trade agreements between the two countries put things on uneven playing fields, then write your congressional representatives about it and don't ever buy another Chinese product, nor even a Chinese manufactured product, Mr. "I Love Apple With All My Heart".

Meanwhile, it is what it is, and here in the real world, money talks and bullspit walks. Here's where the bullspit hits the sidewalk for me: You can't see any difference in the photos and I don't have any interest in spending money needlessly.

But that's just me. YMMV

 

[jdsfighter]

So aside from Darrell, everyone thinks this is a decent quality setup to get my feet wet, so to say. Until I can get something a bit better?

 

[Mach0]

OP - I've never tried the yn's but I've had great success with the older sb's. I love the sb28 and you can find them for the same price and they have a decent power output.

 

[jdsfighter]

I went ahead and made my purchase, I bought the kit in the first post with some very minor modifications, I upped the wireless triggers to wireless instead of IR, I skipped the reflector simply because the ones I wanted were sold out, so I'll grab them here in a couple weeks when I have more money xD.

Amazon approved me for $800, so I went ahead and maxed it out as well as tossing in a few hundred of my own. I'm excited, that $800 will greatly help when ordering my lenses in the future.

 

[nickzou]

I have used the YN-560 and thought it was fantastic. I have the SB-600 and I found I liked the YN-560 better. I have a YN-460, which... is a little weak but a great little unit for the price. Oh and everyone here likes to talk about how great the Vivitar 285-HV is. I don't understand that it all. The head doesn't swivel, it goes from 1/16 power to 1/4 without a 1/8 option which I found odd and it's recycles pretty slowly. I don't know why this flash has such a good reputation.

 

[Derrel]

There's a new thread here in the Lighting forum that popped up just last night. http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...ution-flash-wireless-transmitter-problem.html

Be sure to read it to check out Buckster's 18-point checklist to make sure cheap flash triggers will actually function.

Buckster's list is quite thorough, and details (most) all potential pitfalls that inexpensive Chinese knock-off flash triggers are prone to.

Glad you got some stuff on the way!!!!!!! AWESOME!!! You will have some fun with it, and probably get some super-cool pics after a bit of practice!

 

[Buckster]

Oh and everyone here likes to talk about how great the Vivitar 285-HV is. I don't understand that it all. The head doesn't swivel, it goes from 1/16 power to 1/4 without a 1/8 option which I found odd and it's recycles pretty slowly. I don't know why this flash has such a good reputation.

From my observations over the past 40+ years or so, it's because when it came out about 40 years ago, it was the shiznit compared to others, so it got a good reputation and sold a lot of units over the years and a lot of photographers used them. Those photographers are old-timers now and are still talking it up at though it's still the shiznit because they can't stop reminiscing about their glory days and the gear they used way back when and how awesome it was compared to what they deem "today's cheap Chinese crap" (that most of them don't have and have never used, so they have no actual way to definitively make the negative claims they do, and "curmudgeon" has become a new hobby for many of them). Noobs pick up on that talk, believe it, and pass it on because they think it shows that they know something if they agree with the old-timers who are still living in the past.

 

[Buckster]

There's a new thread here in the Lighting forum that popped up just last night. http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...ution-flash-wireless-transmitter-problem.html

Be sure to read it to check out Buckster's 18-point checklist to make sure cheap flash triggers will actually function.

Buckster's list is quite thorough, and details (most) all potential pitfalls that inexpensive Chinese knock-off flash triggers are prone to.

Except they're NOT "prone" to them, and you have no data to show that they ARE "prone" to them. It's just your bias at work badmouthing them like it's a hobby for you or something.

My list is lengthy because I just wanted to cover anything and everything I could think of to help the OP troubleshoot whatever the problem might be. Chances are it's a simple user error, which can happen with ANY trigger or flash or camera body, and you know that's true.

Most folks have NO TROUBLE at all with them - they plug them in, turn them on, and fire away with no problems at all, as evidenced by the MANY users on this very forum even who have and use them with no trouble, and go on to say they work great, not to mention the many, many more outside this forum having the same positive experiences with them.

 

[Ballistics]

There's a new thread here in the Lighting forum that popped up just last night. http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...ution-flash-wireless-transmitter-problem.html

Be sure to read it to check out Buckster's 18-point checklist to make sure cheap flash triggers will actually function.

Buckster's list is quite thorough, and details (most) all potential pitfalls that inexpensive Chinese knock-off flash triggers are prone to.

Glad you got some stuff on the way!!!!!!! AWESOME!!! You will have some fun with it, and probably get some super-cool pics after a bit of practice!

Why are you so manipulative? It's kind of sad how you distort and twist reality.

Buckster starts out his post with:

I have 8 RF-603 triggers and have used them a LOT for about a year now, with no misfires at all. They've all been very reliable for me.

And doesn't at all talk about pitfalls or that the triggers he owns are prone to. He provides a checklist that is for ALL triggers. But, you of course need
to skew and distort in order to create dishonest leverage. And I've seen you do this a few times.

 

[Qveon]

I'm with Buckster, you sir are my new hero. I have two yong 560II's and never had a lick of problems. I won't lie my first flash I purchased was a canon 430ex, but I only use that for TTL since yong didn't have TTL. But I have two sets of 603 and 622 triggers and never had a bit of trouble with any of them. This will probably drive you nuts but I have Neewer TT560's that I use primarily as my studio strobes and for what they are and what they cost they work excellent for my studies and projects. And for the records I cannot find anything to disagree with from what Buck has said, maybe the "buy local buy american" for that angle to keep jobs here but my "rubbish" works great for my purposes and it is what I am going to use till my part-time photography produces profits in a range where I would just buy expensive equipment just cause I can. Till then you'll see the majority of my shots are taken with the Neewer TT560's.

All in all the best line in this thread was:

When you can identify what brand and model of speedlight was used just by looking at images, and can teach the rest of us how to see that difference, I'll convert.​

:thumbup:
Accept I still won't convert until I need to reach that level and the return on my investment would make it a wise decision

 

[IgsEMT]

I have used the YN-560 and thought it was fantastic. I have the SB-600 and I found I liked the YN-560 better. I have a YN-460, which... is a little weak but a great little unit for the price. Oh and everyone here likes to talk about how great the Vivitar 285-HV is. I don't understand that it all. The head doesn't swivel, it goes from 1/16 power to 1/4 without a 1/8 option which I found odd and it's recycles pretty slowly. I don't know why this flash has such a good reputation.

I've inherited vivitars that were converted to armitars (round head). When my mentor passed away, some of the gear that was left were 283 and 285. I started working with this guy in '99 and he already didn't use them (used quantum).

First the bad: ridiculously slow recycling time. That really kills me.
The good the quality of light that I get is the same as I get from Quantum Qflash only it didn't cost me $1000.
OnLocation portraits : vivitars are my GoTo gear.
As for other name brands and 3rd party brand speedlites.... everyone of my pieces of gear underwent maintenance or repair, repairing a Nikon flash was much efficient then repairing Metz. In some instances, I feel it is better to purchase a brand name product for the sake of manufacturer's warranty rather then saving few $ and having potential problem in the future.

Just my opinion.