Are cheap and cheerful slave flashes any good?

Are cheap and cheerful slave flashes any good?

Author
Discussion

vexed

Original Poster:

376 posts

170 months

Friday 12th December 2014
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Hi all
I'm interested in getting a cheap (up to £50) slave flash to use with a Canon 1200d. Are the cheap bits of kit any good or would it be a frustrating waste of a few quid? It would be used for family portraits and maybe playing with other objects...

SlidingSideways

1,345 posts

231 months

Friday 12th December 2014
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The Yougnou (?) ones are supposed to be ok. At that price they won't be ETTL though so you'll need to set them manually.

The_Jackal

4,854 posts

196 months

Saturday 13th December 2014
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Another vote for the Yongnuo 560 II.
Their radio triggers work really well too.
If you look carefully you can find them for Hong Kong prices posted from a UK warehouse on eBay.

Colin RedGriff

2,526 posts

256 months

Saturday 13th December 2014
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You can pick up cheap older Canons for that sort of money. I use a 540ez with remote triggers and my 50D and 6D, the TTL doesn't work but I set them manually for family portraits.

Berz

406 posts

191 months

Saturday 13th December 2014
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I've got a Neewer TT520 which was about £25. It's manual (no E-TTL) but that's fine for me as it doesn't get used often.

Missus has a Canon 420EX which does do E-TTL but doesn't do manual, so if you use cheap triggers that don't pass E-TTL it fires at full power :\

I've bought her the Neewer NW680/TT680 for Christmas which does both manual and e-ttl. It's not as good as the Yongnuo units but that is reflected in the price.

laam999

538 posts

168 months

Sunday 14th December 2014
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Last Christmas I bought my girlfriend the Chinese equivalent of a 320ex ii (I think that's right I'm drunk) honestly, it's about £75 and mine was 350. I'd buy hers again any day. Ettl and all features except the af assist isn't ad accurate as the canon. Still at the price difference hell of a bit of kit.

vexed

Original Poster:

376 posts

170 months

Sunday 14th December 2014
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Thanks, all really interesting insights and I've looked at the models mentioned. I suspect i shall be using the flash remote from the camera. I'm trying to work out what my options are. The 1200d is yet to arrive. Am i right in thinking there is no wireless option as standard? So if I would be triggering the slave flash off the onboard unit. Does using E-TTL remotely require extra wireless addons to the flash and the camera hotshoe?
Budget creep is going to punish me here I suspect.

RobbieKB

7,715 posts

182 months

Sunday 14th December 2014
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To balance this discussion a little:

My 430EX II decided to start malfunctioning and I couldn't afford to replace it (and couldn't find anywhere to fix it). I heard good things about the Yongnuo Speedlite YN560-II and so I bought one brand new as they're cheap. It arrived and it wouldn't turn on no matter which batteries I used. I sent it back and they sent me a new one. It was brilliant the first time I used it. The second time I used it was as my primary flash on a job and it said it had low battery and turned off after maybe 4 uses. I thought it was bizarre but I always carry many batteries so I opened a new pack and stuck them in to find it was saying the same thing. Of course it was out of their 30 day return period too. rolleyes

Simpo Two

85,149 posts

264 months

Sunday 14th December 2014
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RobbieKB said:
I used it was as my primary flash on a job and it said it had low battery and turned off after maybe 4 uses.
If there's money at stake buy proper stuff; the work is supposed to pay for the kit wink

RobbieKB

7,715 posts

182 months

Sunday 14th December 2014
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Simpo Two said:
RobbieKB said:
I used it was as my primary flash on a job and it said it had low battery and turned off after maybe 4 uses.
If there's money at stake buy proper stuff; the work is supposed to pay for the kit wink
What I said there was a bit misleading. I was armed to the tits with studio lighting but I wanted to have a flash gun just in case I needed it. I tried it for an idea I was having and it died so I went back to plan A. hehe

I don't do much paid work so I have to use man maths for kit at the moment!

anonymous-user

53 months

Sunday 14th December 2014
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I've had 2 Yongnuo manual speedlights for about 2 years and they have been great.

Don't get me wrong, they are pretty cheaply made, but if it's manual speedlight stuff you want for lighting cars etc they are fine.

Mr Will

13,719 posts

205 months

Sunday 14th December 2014
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I've got a Yongnuo 468-II and it's been great. Has full ETTL when it's on top of the camera or I use it wirelessly in manual mode via a couple of radio triggers. Should just scrape in under the OPs budget too.

bernhund

3,767 posts

192 months

Monday 15th December 2014
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If I wanted to try some of this myself over Christmas, what exactly would I need to buy? I have a D7100 with SB910 flash at the moment, but if I wanted to set up a slave flash, do I need something to trigger it or is that built into the slave flash already?

Mr Will

13,719 posts

205 months

Monday 15th December 2014
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How you trigger it depends on what you want to do.

You can set the slave flash to go off when it detects the main flash, but that means that you have to have one on the camera to act as the master. It can also be unreliable if the main flash is not powerful enough, if there is something obscuring the slave's view of the subject or if other people are using flashes in the same room.

Next step up would be a sync-cable. Plug in to flash, plug in to camera - job done. Fine in a studio environment, not so great for just messing about at home.

Stepping up again we have simple wireless triggers. I highly recommend these. One clips on the top of the camera, the others clip on the bottom of the flashes. When the camera fires, the master trigger sends a radio signal to all the others telling them to fire the flashes. No limitations on line of sight and very long range. Can also do some fun tricks like triggering the camera from the flash, which is actually really handy for macro/product work. Main downside is a possible slight loss of sync-speed - I can only shoot at 1/200 using the triggers rather than 1/250 with a direct connection. I have 3 Yongnuo RF603 triggers which are cheap and effective - cost about £30 for the set (iirc) but there are more expensive options for pro- use from PocketWizards and the like.

Finally, we get to wireless ETTL triggers. Maintains full ETTL ability while using multiple flashes off camera. Divide flashes up in to groups and then control the power levels and balance remotely from the master. Very clever bits of kit, but with an increased price-tag to match.


Simpo Two

85,149 posts

264 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
bernhund said:
If I wanted to try some of this myself over Christmas, what exactly would I need to buy? I have a D7100 with SB910 flash at the moment, but if I wanted to set up a slave flash, do I need something to trigger it or is that built into the slave flash already?
The SB910 should support every function under the sun as part of the Nikon CLS lighting system. I don't use multiple speedlights but think you need to investigate 'commander' setting. It's very complex so get the manual out and make some coffee! Try to keep things Nikon if you can, it's one less step to go wrong. For starters: http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-nikon-sb-r200-c...

bernhund

3,767 posts

192 months

Monday 15th December 2014
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Thank you gentlemen. I might invest in the sb-r200 to be sure it's all compatible and reliable.
My daughter needs me to take some 'head shots' for her musical theatre uni course, so thought this could be the way to go. Any advice on distance from backdrop to avoid strong shadows? I'm hoping a flash each side will cancel one another.

Simpo Two

85,149 posts

264 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
bernhund said:
My daughter needs me to take some 'head shots' for her musical theatre uni course, so thought this could be the way to go. Any advice on distance from backdrop to avoid strong shadows? I'm hoping a flash each side will cancel one another.
No, you'll just get a shadow on each side. What you need is a diffuse light source - the quickest and decently effective way is to point your 910 skywards about 60 degrees and pull the white card out (if it has one, not sure) for a catchlight in the eyes.

bernhund

3,767 posts

192 months

Monday 15th December 2014
quotequote all
Simpo Two said:
bernhund said:
My daughter needs me to take some 'head shots' for her musical theatre uni course, so thought this could be the way to go. Any advice on distance from backdrop to avoid strong shadows? I'm hoping a flash each side will cancel one another.
No, you'll just get a shadow on each side. What you need is a diffuse light source - the quickest and decently effective way is to point your 910 skywards about 60 degrees and pull the white card out (if it has one, not sure) for a catchlight in the eyes.
Noted, thank you.

Pints

18,444 posts

193 months

Monday 15th December 2014
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There's a Yongnuo 568ex ii waiting under the Christmas tree for me. It gets good reviews so I'm hoping it'll do the job.

Digitalize

2,850 posts

134 months

Monday 15th December 2014
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I use the Yongnuo 560iii's, as they have the wireless trigger built in. For £50 or so they're brilliant if you know how to use a manual flash.