Advice on dedicated flash please

hk3948

hk3948

hk3948

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Joined
25 Oct 2004
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510
Hey guys. So off on holiday soon. Using a 550d with a 15-85mm canon. Using the in built flash leaves a horrible arc of shadow in each photo. That in itself is enough for me to want a dedicated flash
I've had a look around but there really is too much choice and the canons are quite pricey.
I'm a casual photographer and guess I just want something that has a decent amount of power. A slave feature would be great and I also like the remote shutter release that comes with some of the canons I have seen. I've been thinking about the 320ex but even that is more than I thnk I need to spend. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Cheers:p
 
PistolPete said:
Get a 3rd party flash, such as a Yongnuo YN467 or similar.
Very similar to the Canon products, yet much cheaper to buy.
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Would second this, I've had a Sigma flash for a few years it has never let me down and was much better value for money than a canon equivalent.
 
Yongnuo YN-565 is the latest TTL flash, but a little bit more expensive than the YN-465/7/8. Very decent power though and probably worth the extra.
 
Razor-BladE said:
Yongnuo YN-565 is the latest TTL flash, but a little bit more expensive than the YN-465/7/8. Very decent power though and probably worth the extra.
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Yeah, I'd recommend the 565EX - ETTL on and off camera, decent enough power, nice quality plastics - just make sure you buy from a company that offers warranty as YN aren't the best at testing stuff before they ship it :-) ThePhotoGadget have been excellent for me service wise.

I wouldn't be bothered about being able to trigger the camera from the flash, it's a bit of a gimmick and you can pick up an infrared remote for less than a fiver anyway that will do the same thing.
 
One of my friends has just bought me a Yongnuo YN-565EX flash as a thank you gift (I am completely blown away by it!). I really am a beginner when it comes to a flash photography but so far it seems like an awesome flash. Reviews suggest it's pretty much as good (actually better in some areas, and not as good in others) as the Canon 580EX. Performance and build quality are spot on!
 
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The yongnuo 565EX is a nice piece of kit. Its a copy of a canon 580EX II and has most of the features. I owned and used one with the canon 5D mk ii and it worked flawlessly. Brand new, they can be had for £95-£100.

Btw, when you say you have an arc on your photographs, you aren't using a lens hood are you whilst using that flash?
 
Another vote for the Yongnuo 565ex here. The only draw back I have with it is the lack of high speed sync but I rarely use flash outdoors anyway so it is not really an issue.
 
Guitarman0 said:
Another vote for the Yongnuo 565ex here. The only draw back I have with it is the lack of high speed sync but I rarely use flash outdoors anyway so it is not really an issue.
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That's a surprising omission to be honest. I've often used fill flash outdoors and that would be a show-stopper for me.
 
I use a pair of YN 560s for my 'studio' work, I love them. If you're doing studio work (i.e. don't need ETTL or iTTL) I'd recommend those as they have the same flash internals and body as the excellent Canon 580s, at about 20% the price. The YN565 adds the auto-exposure and if you need one for when you're walking around, I'd recommend it as long as you remember to bounce. Then if you ever get into studio stuff you can just pair it with YN-560s so your lighting is consistent from all :)
 
I'm a fan of YN, but they certainly don't have the same "internals" as the Canon 580s :) Plastics aren't far off the same quality though, they do feel very "solid".
 
Ok. I basically am after a high powered flash that also has hss and doesn't cost too much. Doesn't seem like any of the yn range have hss
 
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