Chinese flash guns?

[Big Worm 1]

I want to get a flash gun for my Canon 550D and a friend suggested I check ebay. I had a look and there appear to be a lot of chinese ones, such as below

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yongnuo-YN560-II-Flash-Speedlit...

Does anyone have experience of these things? Worth a try, or cheap rubbish, bearing in mind the difference in price compared to a Canon one?

[anonymous-user]

Totally and utterly depends on what you want them for.

If you use your camera in mostly Auto type modes, and If you want them to work WITH your camera's own light metering etc so that they are varying their power and sync etc to the shots you are taking and all that kind of stuff, then generally no. You need something more expensive that talks to your cameras metering, software, and TTL type bits.
So basically if you just want to attach a flash and start snapping perfect photos of people without fiddling with settings, leave the Chinese flash alone!

But.. If like me, you want a fairly powerful but simple manual flash for strobist/creative/studio type lighting then in my opinion, they simply can't be beat for the price

I've got 3 of the Yongnuo 560's and also the Yongnuo RF603 wireless flash triggers and they are brilliant.

I've used the 560's loads on the camera for shooting nightclub type events where I shoot in manual all night and they do the job great, big light output when you need it, great range of power settings, quick recycle, good on batteries.

Use them a lot remotely on light stands for lighting cars at night and suchlike, again, very pleased with them.

It cost me about £120 all in for 3 flashes and 3 wireless triggers from Yongnuo and after a years use I'm still happy. Wouldn't even get 1 bottom of the range Nikon flash for that... Well maybe the SB400 but I don't use mine anymore because the 560's suit me better for what I do.

Just bear in mind they are a Chinese product... They might work for years or they might stop working after a few weeks. But at £25 a go, it's worth a gamble in my opinion

ETA: you can buy more expensive Chinese units that work with your cameras metering, but I can't comment on these as I haven't used them.

Edited by NinjaPower on Monday 7th January 00:44

[The Jolly Todger]

This is worth a read:

http://strobist.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/test-drive-...

Initially he loved it and then saw the high number of failures. You could get lucky though.

[anonymous-user]

The Jolly Todger said:

This is worth a read:

http://strobist.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/test-drive-...

Initially he loved it and then saw the high number of failures. You could get lucky though.

I would suggest that is definitely a consideration. As I said in my post they are ultimately a Chinese products and may last a few weeks or a few years!

I've had 3 for just over a year now with no problems, but I'm a hobby photographer, they get used quite lightly.

If I was a press or pro photographer I would be spending more and buying Canon/Nikon, but it all comes back to what you want them for

[The Jolly Todger]

I weighed up the same decision and decided that despite the fact I can't really justify the price of an SB-700 I also can't really justify the price of one of those Chinese versions if it has a very high chance of failing.

I also looked at this one that has decent reviews and, as it comes from Amazon, should offer a slightly better chance of help if it goes wrong.

I've also heard that the Jessops flashes are decent.