580exII vs chinese knock offs

y75stingray

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I have a 580exII flash and its great can't say anything bad about it except it cost 500.00 bucks...I would love to buy three more but can't afford an investment like that right now. Has anyone tried out these china knock offs of the 580ex?? heres an example of one.

YN-560 Flash Speedlite for Canon1D 5D 5D II 5D III 50D | eBay

I understand there are definetly disadvantages right off the bat such as no warranty no metering and most likely worse build quality but for under one hundred bucks a piece i'm tempted to give them a try.
I figure since I have a light meter and will really only ever use manual setting anyway they would get the job done. Does anyone know of a better suggestion??
 
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If you are just buying them for off-camera use, then it's probably a decent idea to go with cheaper units. A lot of the cost of the 580EX can be attributed to it's high end features like E-TTL compatibility (including wireless Master option), HSS etc.
If you just need a flash to sit on a stand and fire...then why pay for all those extra features?

A common suggestion is to look for older Nikon Speedlights or Vivitar units. Unfortunately, the 'Strobist' movement has made those scarce and/or expensive....which is why these knock-offs have a good market.

From what I can tell, and have heard...the biggest downside to these cheap flashes is the build quality, especially compared to the Canon or Nikon units. Heck, Sigma makes a few decent flashes but their build quality doesn't compare well to the Canon/Nikon units.
 
Thanks mike, I knew I would want at least one 580exII for the e-ttl and for on camera flash but the others will be for exactly what you just stated. sit on a stand for strobist type work. Thanks for the advice.
 
I have a yn-560 I was surprised at how well made it is.
 
I bought a YN-560 in Sept, and I was happy with it for a while. It does have a nice feel, so the housing seem well-made. However, Camera Flash Reviews for Speedlites from Yongnuo, Nikon, Nissin, Metz, Canon, Vivitar and Sunpak found in testing that the GN that they claim is much lower than in actual use. Also, TTL is a really nice feature, and it makes your flash more versatile, so you can use it on or off camera. The biggest problem though is that the flash died in April. I sent it back and had to fight for a refund.

Now I have a Sunpak flash, and I'm very happy with it. I think that a Nissin might be a good option too.
 
I purchased the Bower flash and it was a piece! I only used it one day for OCF along with my 430 and it was very loud and had a recycle rate of about 10 seconds. Most of the reviews were decent on it but I sent it back to B-H the next day. Im going to give the vivatar 285 a try but if it is anything as slow as the bower I will purchase another 430 or 580 for OCF.
 
How compact do you want your setup to be? If you don't have to be 'that' mobile then what about a couple of cheap monolights and a battery pack?

Or one good monolight/battery pack and some reflectors?

I use some old Metz hammerheads myself and can pack in with one large camera bag, a bag for light stands and scrims and one with the background stand. An old Metz 60 has around 200ws (that's right on the money i think but i've heard claims of 300ws) and a 45 has around 150ws. So that's basically me, a camera bag and a golf trolly
 
I purchased the Bower flash and it was a piece! I only used it one day for OCF along with my 430 and it was very loud and had a recycle rate of about 10 seconds. Most of the reviews were decent on it but I sent it back to B-H the next day. Im going to give the vivatar 285 a try but if it is anything as slow as the bower I will purchase another 430 or 580 for OCF.

Don't bother with the 285HV then.
 
How compact do you want your setup to be? If you don't have to be 'that' mobile then what about a couple of cheap monolights and a battery pack?

Or one good monolight/battery pack and some reflectors?

I use some old Metz hammerheads myself and can pack in with one large camera bag, a bag for light stands and scrims and one with the background stand. An old Metz 60 has around 200ws (that's right on the money i think but i've heard claims of 300ws) and a 45 has around 150ws. So that's basically me, a camera bag and a golf trolly


Sounds like a pretty nice set up, but i kinda want to stay away from full studio lights. I carried a set around with me last summer and they really took a beating. Not to mention it was quite a bit of work to set them all up. I'm looking for something very light weight and easily portable I feel speedlites will be my best bet.

After reading all these posts i really just want more 580ex models...but since i want to shoot this summer and not save im going to press my luck and buy a Yongnuo 560 hopefully I get one that lasts at least a little while!
 

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