YN568EX flash review

pixmedic · Aug 30, 2013

Already have a few OEM Nikon flashes (sb600's and sb700's, and some leftover sb24's)
I was in the market for a few extra flashes, mostly for spares and some OCF.
I decided I didn't need (read:want) to shell out the big bucks for more sb700's, or the sb900's so I started looking at third party flashes.
Ive always heard good things about the yongnuo's, so I started my search there. Since these are just spare flashes, i probably could have gotten away with slightly older and much cheaper versions, but I wanted TTL and HSS so....the 568EX was it. not terribly pricy at $170 brand new from an Ebay dealer. shipped from new york with free shipping.

a few things i noticed right away. the color. unlike my nikon flashes which are a glossy black to match the cameras, the yongnuo is a matte black. not really a big deal, its just something I noticed when I put it on the camera. the backlight is orange, not green. It has a pull out diffuser and bounce card like the sb700 does, but they will probably never get used. the menu controls are pretty simple, and easy to use, although you have to hold the power button down for two seconds to power the unit on or off.

at full power, the recycle time on this flash is easily equal to my sb700, if not a bit faster. (i believe its a slightly more powerful flash than the sb700 as well) you can set the flash to one of three modes. manual, multi, and TTL. you have to set the HSS in camera and it is automatically recognized by the flash. for Nikon, this is 250(FP) or 320(FP) under the flash sync menu. once set, the flash will automatically adjust to whatever shutter speed you set it to up to 1/8000. the flash also automatically displays the f/stop your camera is set to, and changes the instant you rotate the aperture control dial.

another interesting discovery...this flash recognizes a Nikon commander flash. if I have a commander flash on the camera (sb700, sb800, sb900) the YN568EX can be set off camera and triggered by the commander flash without a radio trigger. it also has a built in receiver so when i get the yongnuo TTL triggers, i don't need the 568ex on a trigger for it to be fired.
I haven't gone through ALL the features yet. the channels are easy to set, and you can set 4 channels in 3 groups.
I field tested it on the D7100 and ran through a bunch of shutter speeds without any issues with the flash firing or recognizing f/stop or shutter speed.

Just from the initial tests, I would say that this is exactly what I was looking for in a spare/off camera flash. and i could easily see myself just grabbing it for on camera use. As much as I cant praise this flash enough for what I paid for it, it DOES have some cons...
no PC port, so no firmware updates. (just a 2.5mm jack port)
no wireless TTL master mode.
no port for external power supply.

none of those things bothered me in the least. I would not want to put anyone off from getting an OEM flash (we have plenty of them) but for $170 brand new and shipped, i am very pleased, and would recommend this flash to anyone that wants to get a flash, but doesn't have the money for an OEM unit or is looking for extra flashes. of course, if you don't need/want TTL or HSS, you can get an older model a lot cheaper.
I will definitely be ordering more of these. :mrgreen:

JacaRanda · Aug 30, 2013

It was definitely a good choice for me also (565 ex), and I just posted on a thread that for my uses the 430exii was a waste of money for me.

pixmedic · Aug 30, 2013

JacaRanda said:
It was definitely a good choice for me also (565 ex), and I just posted on a thread that for my uses the 430exii was a waste of money for me.

i really looked at the 565EX since it did TTL...but on ebay from the US (i dont buy from overseas) the prices were close enough to the 568EX that i figured i would just get the newer model.

TCampbell · Aug 30, 2013

JacaRanda said:
It was definitely a good choice for me also (565 ex), and I just posted on a thread that for my uses the 430exii was a waste of money for me.

Just out of curiosity... why do you think the 430EX II was a "waste of money"?

That's generally regarded as an excellent mid-range flash and a solid work-horse.

JacaRanda · Aug 30, 2013

TCampbell said:
Just out of curiosity... why do you think the 430EX II was a "waste of money"?

That's generally regarded as an excellent mid-range flash and a solid work-horse.

I should have been clearer. The functionality and build quality etc. are indeed solid. A couple of the buttons on the 430 are a bit of a nuisance to push (not a big deal). My disappointment comes from the price I paid which was more than twice the cost of my Yongnuo.

astroNikon · Sep 13, 2013

Any idea of the 568 is compatible with a SU-800 controller?

Last month I ended up getting a SB 600 simply because I'm new to off camera flash and all the technical stuff confused me. Granted I got a supposedly barely used SB600 for $20 less than the 568 but I was leaning to the 568. I also noticed that my SB 700 and 600, when set up at the same distance when I was testing them in a Product white box setup the 700 I set for 1/128 and I had to set up the 600 at 1/32 for eliminating shadows - which shows an output difference. Both fresh batteries. Going forward and looking at wireless triggers really added to the confusion. But the price of the 568 is very tempting for owning multiple ones, and I could always sell the sb600.

But since I knew the sb600 was compatible with the SU-800 I opted for the sb600. But going forward for a 3rd flash if it is compatible with the su800 I'll get 2 of them and sell the sb600 (and keep my sb700).

Thanks for the review

pixmedic · Sep 13, 2013

astroNikon said:
Any idea of the 568 is compatible with a SU-800 controller?

Last month I ended up getting a SB 600 simply because I'm new to off camera flash and all the technical stuff confused me. Granted I got a supposedly barely used SB600 for $20 less than the 568 but I was leaning to the 568. I also noticed that my SB 700 and 600, when set up at the same distance when I was testing them in a Product white box setup the 700 I set for 1/128 and I had to set up the 600 at 1/32 for eliminating shadows - which shows an output difference. Both fresh batteries. Going forward and looking at wireless triggers really added to the confusion. But the price of the 568 is very tempting for owning multiple ones, and I could always sell the sb600.

But since I knew the sb600 was compatible with the SU-800 I opted for the sb600. But going forward for a 3rd flash if it is compatible with the su800 I'll get 2 of them and sell the sb600 (and keep my sb700).

Thanks for the review

I do believe the yn568 is compatible with the su800. As for triggers, i ordered 4 yongnuo 622n triggers and posted a review on them.

astroNikon · Sep 13, 2013

Thanks
If I understand correctly the YN568 have built in radio receivers
Thus if I got 2 YN568s
I would need 1 transmitter for the camera
and 1 receiver for the SB-700
Then I would be all set with 3 radio rec'd flashes with my SU-800 ?

PocketWizards had a neat info-video on their products with a SU-800 which got me interested in the entire thing. And I was having issues with my sb600 flash outdoors while doing the August Selective Color. I couldn't get the 600 to flash outdoors in bright sunlight even 6 feet away from the SU-800 (the sb600 works flawlessly indoors though). The sb700 was 12 feet away and never had a problem. Luckily I still eliminated enough heavy shadows with the sb700 to make it look half decent.

MOREGONE · Sep 16, 2013

pixmedic said:
it also has a built in receiver so when i get the yongnuo TTL triggers, i don't need the 568ex on a trigger for it to be fired.

I cannot find where the product description states the 568EX has the built in receivers to be used with their new triggers. Do you have any more info on this? This would be great option for me if it does. I thought the YN 560-III was the only flash they released so far with the receiver built in.

astroNikon · Sep 16, 2013

MOREGONE said:
pixmedic said:

it also has a built in receiver so when i get the yongnuo TTL triggers, i don't need the 568ex on a trigger for it to be fired.

Click to expand...

I cannot find where the product description states the 568EX has the built in receivers to be used with their new triggers. Do you have any more info on this? This would be great option for me if it does. I thought the YN 560-III was the only flash they released so far with the receiver built in.

You are right. I was getting them confused.

The 2.4ghz 460TX
YONGNUO, photographic equipment, camera accessories, flash light, camera remote control, speedlite, photo equipment, LED photo light, flash trigger, camera wireless remote control, TTL cord

But he 568 is a much nicer flash for compatibility. It is probably a matter of time before the 568 has a radio receiver model. I think i will wait a bit longer to see.

pixmedic · Sep 16, 2013

My bad, i think i got my info mixed up from another models review. Some of the reviews i read were for the canon model too. .

Easy enough for me to test though when i get off shift tomorrow.

pixmedic · Sep 17, 2013

so...no.
the officially tested answer is no.
the YN568EX flashes DO NOT have a built in radio receiver. (for some reason I thought they did)
this is probably why I got 4 YN622n radio triggers.
ANYWAY....still a great flash and great triggers for a fraction of what their OEM and PW counterparts cost.

astroNikon · Sep 17, 2013

pixmedic said:
so...no.
the officially tested answer is no.
the YN568EX flashes DO NOT have a built in radio receiver. (for some reason I thought they did)
this is probably why I got 4 YN622n radio triggers.
ANYWAY....still a great flash and great triggers for a fraction of what their OEM and PW counterparts cost.

Thanks for testing and checking that.

Now I want to check if the 460RX can be fully controlled by a Nikon SU-800 with a Yongnuo transmitter. I'm realizing that alot of off camera flash is mostly heavily controlled. At least I'm having fun with my SU-800 and learning that the "flash" of my SB 600 and 700 are diffferent, even if equidistance from an object. It is a different setting on each to balance out the light and remove shadows.

Patriot · Sep 18, 2013

Thank for the reviews! I was thinking about getting one for my camera. I already have the yongnuo YN-622n transmitters. They work like a charm. Better than spending $400 on pocket wizards.