Flashing

neoboy

neoboy

neoboy

Soldato
Joined
16 Mar 2004
Posts
13,812
Location
UK
Well as I been slowly but surely moving with my photography I found the onboard flash on my 20D rather poor for obvious reason (power and can't bounce). Now still being new at this most of the flash terminology flies right over my head, I just want something with more power and ability to bounce it.

I know there are plenty of Yonguo units out there but I can't really tell them apart since I don't understand their features and build quality along with warranty all the way back in China/HK in case things go wrong. Now my budget is rather limited as well but I just spotted Canon Speedlite 270EX on sale for £72.99 delivered from a reputable seller. It is very basic but has everything I need now as a novice along with build quality (metal hotshoe mount) and UK warranty. I do know, however, that I could get myself one of the top YN units for that price so wonder whether money would be spent more wisely there?
 
Personally I would get one of the midrange yongnuo flashes. They dont cost the earth so its not going to be a huge investment and itll allow you to get used to some of the other functions in a flash other than on or off which could lead you to getting a pricier canon speedlite at a later date. With the savings from the 270EX you could add a few extra pounds and maybe get a set of wireless remotes to go with the flash to try some off the camera flash stuff.

Also read this......http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/ It'll give you some good advice on learning what flashy stuff does what :)
 
Do you need the wireless remotes to use off camera flash?
Doesn't it connect via a cable, or get triggered by the camera via infra red?
Im still learning about flash before getting one, so thought Id ask..
 
edgedemon said:
Do you need the wireless remotes to use off camera flash?
Doesn't it connect via a cable, or get triggered by the camera via infra red?
Im still learning about flash before getting one, so thought Id ask..
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you can use a cable if you wish but practically speaking a wireless remote is more versatile and it allows you to keep two hands on your camera as well instead of holding flash in one and camera in the other or bring a mate to be your flash gimp :p
 
To get an idea of how one flash unit compares to another in terms of specifications take a look at this site - http://speedlights.net/compare-speedlight-specs/?model=YN468&model2=430EX+II - It gives a side by side comparison of most of the popular speedlight units. Also as Derek has mentioned, the strobist site is a great place to start. The 'Lighting 101' Series on that site is very informative. I only purchased my first flash around 5 weeks ago (YN-465) along with the Yongnuo wireless trigger and i didn't have a clue where to start but someone here on the forum pointed me in the direction of Strobist (actually it might have been you Derek :) ) and it helped immensely.
 
I was in the same boat as you so ordered myself a YN-468 from hongkong for just under £60inc and a wireless trigger set for £25inc from the Classifieds : Trade Sales on talk photography. I think it will be more than enough for getting into flashing.
 
Well I was concerned about the reliability of YN flashes so went completely off the tangent and bought myself a second hand Sigma EF-530 DG ST unit off TP for under £60.
 
neoboy said:
Well I was concerned about the reliability of YN flashes so went completely off the tangent and bought myself a second hand Sigma EF-530 DG ST unit off TP for under £60.
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I have a Sigma flash and I can't fault it, they are brilliant for the money, especially second hand as they seem to be needlessly underated by people.

Enjoy.
 
a1ex2001 said:
I have a Sigma flash and I can't fault it, they are brilliant for the money, especially second hand as they seem to be needlessly underated by people.

Enjoy.
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Had I not bought a Canon 550EX a few weeks ago (also due to dissatisfaction with the 20D's flash), I would agree and would advise the same thing.

The 550EX is awesome, however. If a little big.
 
Took delivery of the Sigma this morning and seems a cracking piece of equipment particularly for the price I paid for it. Build quality is great and makes amazing different to all my pictures over the inbuilt flash, particularly when bounced. Even has a zoom and inbuilt diffuser I can use so really chuffed. Not much in terms of manual control (only full or 1/16 power) and it is a big unit so with batteries my set up becomes quite heavy. Makes a pretty loud noise when recharging too but I think it's cool so don't mind it :p
 
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