Which flash?

[SnappySue]

Hi all! I'm new to the forum and have already learned a lot by just reading threads! The question. I am totally unfamiliar with external flash. Have only used in-camera flash. I intend to purchase one soon and was wondering if anyone could suggest a good flash to start off with? Or maybe some good blogs, tutorials as well? Thanks in advance!

 

[Dao]

Which camera do you have?

 

[SnappySue]

Oops. Rebel xsi.

 

[o hey tyler]

I have a 430EX II for my 5D, and it's a great flash. Sometimes I wish it had more output power, but it works well for most situations. There are off brand flashes that are less expensive. It kind of depends on whether or not you want TTL or not.

 

[Buckster]

I have 2 Canon 580EXII flashes, and they're fantastic, but pricey, at about $425.00 each. They have a guide number of 58 (reaches 58 meters at strongest power setting).

The Canon 430EXII is less expensive at about $269.00 each, but also has less power, with a guide number of 43 (reaches 43 meters at strongest power).

Over the past month and a half or so, I've been testing 2 new Yongnuo 565EX flashes, and they're really working out very well for me. Here's my experience with them so far:

• They only cost around $185.00 each. Huge plus! That's about $240 less expensive than the Canon 580EXII, and even about $85 less expensive that it's little brother, the 430EXII.
• They have a guide number reported to be 58, like the expensive Canon 580EXII. Without extensive testing, this seem to be about right from what I'm seeing here.
• Like both Canon flashes above, the Yongnuo works with Canon's ETTL system.
• Like the 580EXII but not the 430EXII, it has a pc sync port, which I find useful for some of the things I do with it. That was another plus for me.
• Color-wise, I'm not seeing any tint or temperature problems or off coloring of any kind at all from them. I do use a gray card for setting up my shoots, but even before I sync up my white balance with it in Lightroom, I'm not seeing any weird color issues with the naked eye.
• The recycle time is about 5 seconds for the Yongnuo vs 3 for the Canon 580EXII. That wasn't a plus, but both drop to almost nothing at all when I use my power packs with them, so it's not been an issue for me. Less expensive 3rd party power packs are said to work just as well for a lot less money, btw. I plan to test that soon.
• Associated with above, they beep when ready, so you know it. That's a plus from my point of view. You can turn off the beep if it annoys or distracts.
• The flash duration, from what I've read, is somewhat longer (in microseconds). I was afraid this would be detrimental to the high speed photography I sometimes do, as I need very short flash durations, but so far, it hasn't been an issue at all, capturing macros of water and milk drop splashes without a blurring problem that I've been able to discern as any worse than my 580EXII flashes at the same settings.
• Build quality seem very good, with a couple of small caveats: The shoe doesn't use the flip lock mechanism of the Canon, but uses a screw-wheel instead. That really hasn't been an issue at all for me. Also, the head is fully articulating in every way as the Canon, but doesn't have the little click stops/locks the Canon does. It has a button on the side like the Canon uses to disengage those click stops, but on the Yongnuo it doesn't seem to actually do anything except look like the Canon. On the click-stop action, I don't know if that's really good or bad, but it hasn't been detrimental to me in any way either, at least not yet.

All in all, I'm VERY satisfied with the Yongnuos, and have to recommend them, especially for those looking to use ETTL as part of their photographic lighting tool kit.

 

[bazooka]

My recommendation really depends on what you are using them for.

 

[mangtarn]

yongnuo 565 EX is pretty much a carbon copy of the canon 560EX except much cheaper. im gonna pick one up myself in the near future.

 

[KmH]

Visit Strobist.com and PlanetNeil.com for on and off camera strobed light (flash) information.

 

[SnappySue]

The yongnuo sounds like a winner! I will check it out. Thanks for all feedback! I plan to use it mainly for portraits.

 

[Tiberius47]

Check out the link in my signature for using manual flash.