Which flash to buy?

[Lizzy84]

Hi I am having a little trouble on deciding on a flash for my Canon 70d. I mainly shoot landscape, macro, and sometimes wildlife. I would like a good all rounder flash. The Canon Speedlight 600EX 11 RT Was recommended to me by someone in a camera store although they are quite pricey and not really affordable for me right now and as I am just starting out I am not sure I want to spend that kind of money yet!

Would I be better going with the 480EX 111 or another brand?

Thanks in advance

[Gazza]

Giday Lizzy, I have the YONGNUO YN568EX & YN568EXII (no idea how to pronounce that?...) which are a cheaper alternatives to using something with CANON written on the side.
They both can be used off camera as well. I'm sure there'd be a tutorial out there somewhere on how to set your camera settings to make that work,

Food for thought....


Cheers -

[Hamster]

Take a look at the Godox Ving. First flash taking a dedicated Li rechargeable.

[Lizzy84]

Thank you Gazza I will check them out.

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you, I haven't heard of that brand before but will do some research on it.

Take a look at the Godox Ving. First flash taking a dedicated Li rechargeable.

[Plays With Light]

If you are on a budget, I second Gazza's suggestion of the Yongnuo brand flashes. Amazing value for money there! You can get two of them for less than one Canon equivalent! Especially if you buy on Ebay, out of China. I've never had a problem with mine.

[Mark L]

G'day Lizzy.
What Gazza and Alex said is the way to go.
I have the Yongnua 568EXII and it does everything you'd want.

[MissionMan]

Another vote for Yongnuo. I use their stuff on Fuji and it's great.

[Hired Goon]

One brand I do not recommend is Metz ... I bought a Metz 64 AF-1 flash for my Nikon D750 and it developed a fault ... sent it back to the Oz distributor for repair under warranty in August last year and it is now 5 months later and still has not been returned to me. A good little flash in terms of functionality but if something goes wrong you run the risk of not seeing it again for who knows how long. Stick to buying a flash from retailers/distributors that stand behind their products.

[wmphoto]

Another vote for the Yongnuo's. I used to run 4 of these shooting around 200 shots a week. Over the course of 3 years I only had 1 fail on me. For the price of them I can live with that.

I would also get the occasional misfire (fail to fire) more than others report with genuine Canon, but again given the number of shots I would take it was never a concern.

[bricat]

I recently purchased a canon 580 EX ii from fleabay for I think $260. or thereabouts. Was near brand new. Did wait a long time to get this and missed out on quite a few before I won. Was picky from whom I purchased and required all the boxes etc that came with a brand new purchase. Great flash but haven't used it greatly yet.

[Lizzy84]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. The Yongnuo seems like the best way to go. I will have to find one compatible with my 70d.

Cheers,

Liz

[Mark L]

The Yongnuo seems like the best way to go. I will have to find one compatible with my 70d.

Cheers,

Liz

That would be any Yongnuo with Canon mount (or Yongnuo for Canon). https://www.google.com.au/search?q=Y...LsHr8AeEybToDg

[Brian500au]

Hi Liz, looking at your interest in photography I wonder if you will get value from a flash. You do landscape (flash not needed), wildlife (can be used but not needed) and macro (speciality flash). The biggest use for a flash is as a fill flash when you are doing portrait work. if you are really only wanting to experiment with flash then I would suggest you buy yourself two Yongnuos and a couple of cheaper light stands as this will allow you to really play with flash and see a serious difference.

If you buy a flash because everybody has one or you need one because the guy at the camera store told you you need one I think you might be better putting your hard earned dollars into some other gear.

If are wanting a flash to do a bit of fill flash for portraits then I would highly recommend a small pocket size flash like the 220EX canon for around $160 or you might be able to find an equivalent in the Yongnuo range. The bigger the flash the less likely you will carry it with you and therefore not use it.

[Lizzy84]

Thanks for the info Mark and Brian. I occasionally take portrait shots but it is usually only portraits of my children. I would like to learn more about portraiture in the future although at the moment am focusing on learning mainly Landscape, Macro and Wildlife.

[Bercy]

I must admit I mainly use 2 Canon 220EX flashes which I bounce off white umbrellas. I have had these for ...gee it must be more than 10 years. They have been faultless, whether used frequently when shutter happy and mothballed for a while. I agree with Kel (Brian) a great choice. I am pleased to see the Yongnuo getting a good rap. I did b a no bland radio transmitter and it was useless, and then bought the Yongnuo kit which worked well - so for what that's worth it looks like the quality control is good. If you like to take some impromptu portraits I think a good flash with a diffuser is a reasonable thing to have in your bag, but I would not think over-powered high end stuff is needed.