Cheap Flash for 550D

[Dr_Gonzo]

I've just bought a 550D and I'm looking to get a cheapish flash to fill in shots a bit better. I'm looking to spend around £100. Am I better to stick to Canon products, such as the 270EX, or is there any other make that would be better for my budget?

Thanks,

The Doctor

[Kermit power]

I recently spent the princely sum of £40 on a Yonguno (sp?) YN-460. It's Chinese, and not as smooth and slick as my Canon 580 EX ii, by a long shot, but then I could've bought 8 for the price of the 580, and it certainly works well.

If you're looking for a single flash, then I wouldn't recommend it, as it doesn't have eTTL (the Canon automated flash metering system), but for £15 more they have a model which includes this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Electronic-Speedlight-Spee...

It's more powerful than the 270, plus it's a fair bit cheaper, and it has a wide angle diffuser and catchlight screen which I don't think the 270 has. I'm also not sure that the 270 does full tilt/swivel?

[Scott330ci]

Kermit power said:

I recently spent the princely sum of £40 on a Yonguno (sp?) YN-460. It's Chinese, and not as smooth and slick as my Canon 580 EX ii, by a long shot, but then I could've bought 8 for the price of the 580, and it certainly works well.

If you're looking for a single flash, then I wouldn't recommend it, as it doesn't have eTTL (the Canon automated flash metering system), but for £15 more they have a model which includes this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Electronic-Speedlight-Spee...

It's more powerful than the 270, plus it's a fair bit cheaper, and it has a wide angle diffuser and catchlight screen which I don't think the 270 has. I'm also not sure that the 270 does full tilt/swivel?

Would you use it for a slave kermit?

[muppetdave]

Couple of useful comments here (from last week) Recent flash discussion

[Kermit power]

Scott330ci said:

Kermit power said:

I recently spent the princely sum of £40 on a Yonguno (sp?) YN-460. It's Chinese, and not as smooth and slick as my Canon 580 EX ii, by a long shot, but then I could've bought 8 for the price of the 580, and it certainly works well.

If you're looking for a single flash, then I wouldn't recommend it, as it doesn't have eTTL (the Canon automated flash metering system), but for £15 more they have a model which includes this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Electronic-Speedlight-Spee...

It's more powerful than the 270, plus it's a fair bit cheaper, and it has a wide angle diffuser and catchlight screen which I don't think the 270 has. I'm also not sure that the 270 does full tilt/swivel?

Would you use it for a slave kermit?

That's exactly what I bought it for.

I've not actually tried slaving it to either of my Canon flashes (it does so optically), but it works absolutely perfectly with cheap radio triggers. I've only had a little play so far, but it's fired just as reliably as my 580EX ii.

It does actually have one big advantage over the 580 when used as a slave as a result of its cheapness! Rather than having an LCD display, it just has LEDs to show the power setting, and they're pretty damned bright, so you can check your settings from across a fairly well lit room.

If you're being particularly fussy, it only steps down to 1/64 power rather than the 1/128 of the 580, and only does so in full stops rather than the thirds of the 580, but considering the huge difference in price, I could forgive it a lot.

[JABB]

I have a Opteka FL680AF-C ETTL canon flash which came with my 40D S/H. If you want something to try, this would be perfect. £35 posted?