speed light

[daph1980]

I'm very new to photography and I have a canon t6 and my question is what do most of you use a speed light for and what one do you suggest that won't break the bank?

 

[ac12]

When there isn't enough natural/ambient light; home and restaurant parties, banquets, etc.

The Yongnuo flashes seem to be recommended by many, and they are a LOT cheaper than the Canon flashes.

You will also want a flash bracket, to raise the flash higher above the lens axis.
This is an outrageously cheap bracket. I have one, and I think it used to be a $70 bracket.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009UTLU/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_12?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

And you will need a connecting cable, which I don't have a link for.

 

[khakoo]

Broadly speaking, speedlights are the portable solution where we need to increase the light level and / or create our own lighting qualities. Most of us with more than a casual interest in photography own several. For a beginner, the most likely requirement is to help cope with low lighting indoors, usually shooting events or portraits. For these purposes look for a dedicated speedlight with a tilt, swivel, zoom head so the light quality can be improved by bouncing off a nearby surface. In this context "dedicated" means the unit communicates with your make of camera to achieve correct automatic exposure. This is useful, for example, when shooting people engaged in activities such that the conditions are rapidly changing.

I disagree with the recommendation by ac12 (sorry). These days most of us operate off-camera flash with wireless triggers, or more sophisticated controllers that can adjust multiple speedlights remotely. Many advanced speedlights even have these functions built-in. Simple triggers are very inexpensive and much more versatile than cables. I also wouldn't recommend a flash bracket unless you found a particular need for one. Long ago they were one of few options available to help improve results from on-camera flash, but the difference made by a flash bracket is minimal and there are countless other accessories to consider, such as collapsible softboxes and reflectors. In most situations the bounce head itself is going to be preferable to the modest difference made by mounting on a bracket.

Camera manufacturers' own speedlights offer very poor value for money. Yongnuo speedlights are indeed popular as they offer a lot of specification for a very low price. I don't own any of those but I have some from another well regarded budget brand, Neewer. My currently preferred speedlights are from Godox, whose products tend to be of superior construction and design for only a little more money than the cheapest brands. I strongly recommend the Godox TT685C, which pleased me so much the first time I used it I immediately bought another. If that isn't cheap enough let us know your budget, and ideally the kind of photos you plan to take, so we can make appropriate suggestions.

 

[stk]

I use speedlights in two different ways. First is on camera, I'll then use it bounced off the ceiling or walls for low light indoor shooting. Direct flash "never" looks good. For this kind of use I prefer a speedlight with TTL as I use this technique most for fast snapshots.

The second way I use flash is off camera and with light modifiers. This field is way to comprehensive to teach in a forum post, and I'm just starting to get the hang of it myself. But I do have a flash recommendation if you don't need TTL (and I don't think you do), and that is Yongnuo YN560 III + a Yongnuo TX560 (wireless transmitter). I have 3 YN560 IV* + TX560 and it's more than enough to start learning as well as produce some good pictures. If you want something even cheaper you can look at the YN560 and trigger it optically with your built in flash.

*The difference between YN560 III and YN560 IV is only that the IV can be used as a transmitter, which you don't need if you have the TX560.

 

[ronlane]

Speed light that won't break the bank??? Here ya go, Flashpoint Zoom R2 Speedlight.