Canon 580 EX or the Sigma EF 500 Super

[22littlereasons]

I've seen a few threads about flashes but not sure about this comparison. I don't have a flash now but I am in the market to purchase. Which way should I go. The sigma is more cost effective than the Canon. Anyone with experience with both? Recommendations please.

[Cadwell]

I have a 580EX and my friend owns a Sigma EF 500 DG Super. The Canon is slightly more powerful, sligthly better built and more compact. The Sigma has most of the features of the Canon for half the price.

If money is no object and you absolutely *must* have the best get the Canon, otherwise the Sigma is an exceptional deal.

[Bruce Watson]

I have a 580EX and my friend owns a Sigma EF 500 DG Super. The Canon is slightly more powerful, sligthly better built and more compact. The Sigma has most of the features of the Canon for half the price.

If money is no object and you absolutely *must* have the best get the Canon, otherwise the Sigma is an exceptional deal.

I would concur having owned two Sigmas for the past year. They do everything pretty much as well as the Canon (no external power pack option), are maybe a little flimsier, but much, much cheaper.

If you buy Sigma and decide it isn't what you want for everyday use, then buy the Canon too and have a two flash IR setup, they will work together.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Bruce has a great recomendation...

If you have any thoughts of doing a dual or multi off shoe wireless flash set up down the road,. Grab the Sigma first. If it is not everything you ever wanted in a flash,. then it becomes your off camera slave for the new 580EX you get down the road.

[lmelendez]

I have a question....

Can you trigger 420EX (slaves) with the Sigma EF 500 Super? Can you set groups and everything??

Thanks!
Leo.

[Cadwell]

I have a question....

Can you trigger 420EX (slaves) with the Sigma EF 500 Super? Can you set groups and everything??

Thanks!
Leo.

You can certainly trigger a 420EX slave. I've never tried playing with groups though.

[lmelendez]

Thanks Cadwell, that answer is gonna save me a lot of money :)

[Shamhat]

Hi, newbie reviving ancient thread, sorry. But at least I searched...

My husband has a 20D and has requested a flash, "probably the 580 EX." I looked up a comparison with the relevant Sigma at http://photonotes.org/reviews/sigma-ef-500-super/ and noticed a bunch of technical diferences, followed by an observation that you could get two of the Sigmas and use one as a slave. This is very intriguing to me as I would personally prefer two flashes to one. In fact, I wonder if he really needs a big flash, or just a couple of little ones. I'm afraid that he needs to upgrade the built-in flash because it doesn't seem to have any kind of diffuser, but he could have just not bought it yet.

Some details:

+ He will never be shooting weddings.

+ Weight of the camera is an issue for him; weight of the bag is not.

+ I don't know what he actually plans to use this for. When I asked, he made that sad puppy face and said, "You're right, I don't really need a flash." However, I would be thrilled to get him to move from landscapes and flowers to people.

So, my question: in what situation would the 580-EX (or the Sigmas) be absolutely necessary, and two smaller flashes inadequate? Any chance I could get him just a slave and a macro ring, and stick with the built-in?

Thanks!

[DavidEB]

I have a sigma 500 super and a 420EX.

the sigma will indeed fire as master and trigger the 420EX. most of the time it works fine, occasionally the 420 fires at full power and blows out the image. I just go thru the setup procedure again and it generally works, so I've always assumed it's my error. PaceAce has informed me he thinks that problem is in the sigma. It's only an occasional glitch, and I'm overall happy with the combo.

I use the two-flash setup for macros and still life (pottery). my flash bracket (home modified) holds one flash above and the right and the other flash to the left, up near the front of the lens. I sometimes do portraits with the sigma bounced off the ceiling and the 420EX behind the subject pointed at the backgound. I use groups & ratios.

Without any doubt, I would start with the 420EX (or maybe the new 430EX) which is cheaper and can always double as your slave later. The only reason I can see for getting at more complex flash first is if you need higher guide number or some very fancy special features (includes sigma 500 super, and all canons in 500-series).

[Wilt]

>>in what situation would the 580-EX (or the Sigmas) be absolutely necessary, and two smaller flashes inadequate? Any chance I could get him just a slave and a macro ring, and stick with the built-in? <<

Depends on what you mean by 'two smaller ones'. The 580 has a guide number of 190 (ISO100), allowing one to get to 95' with lens at f/4 and ISO400. The Sigma would get to 80' at f/4. If he needs the power for indoor sports, that 15' could really matter. And if shooting indoor sports, two flashes is not a useful thing to own; two flashes are better for group shots, or more static settings (like bride and groom cutting cake). The key is what he needs it for. (On the other hand, 'need' is often very different than 'want'!)

[ShortBusCandid8]

This is my first post here. You folks have a fine, highly informative board here and I thank you for letting me be a part of it. Have any of you been able to get the Sigma to work with wireless E-TTL ratios? The Sigma does just fine as an on-camera E-TTL flash, but I've tried all combos of Sigma EF-500 Supers and Canon 580EXs and as soon as you put a Sigma in the mix with ratios on wireless E-TTL, instant blowout of the photo. I have a Canon 1D MkII and recently purchased 3 Canon 580EXs, and they're plug and play for wireless E-TTL, ratios and all. I have 3 Sigmas and couldn't get them to do ratios like that either. Even tried the Sigmas with the ST-E2 to no avail. I've been investigating this subject for about a year and have yet to hear of a Sigma wireless E-TTL ratios success story. It'd be really cool if somebody could prove me wrong, I'd love to keep 2 Sigmas and return two of the 580's, just cuz of the difference in price, but as it stands now, the two Sigmas are headed to ebay soon and I'll use 580EX flashes. I'll offer myself up for any Sigma/Canon experiments anyone wants to perform as well.
Thanks!
-Shortbus

[Shamhat]

Thanks for your replies! Hmm, indoor sports--exactly the sort of reason for a large flash that doesn't apply to him.

It seems that the general consensus is that I should get at least one Canon flash. The 430 is $279 and the 580 is $379, so I'm not sure that it's worth saving the money--unless the cheaper one is also lighter. He did choose a cheaper lens over an L because it was too heavy.

I guess it's one of those and the Sigma at $225. Or maybe I should check Ebay...

[Jon]

This is my first post here. You folks have a fine, highly informative board here and I thank you for letting me be a part of it. Have any of you been able to get the Sigma to work with wireless E-TTL ratios? The Sigma does just fine as an on-camera E-TTL flash, but I've tried all combos of Sigma EF-500 Supers and Canon 580EXs and as soon as you put a Sigma in the mix with ratios on wireless E-TTL, instant blowout of the photo. I have a Canon 1D MkII and recently purchased 3 Canon 580EXs, and they're plug and play for wireless E-TTL, ratios and all. I have 3 Sigmas and couldn't get them to do ratios like that either. Even tried the Sigmas with the ST-E2 to no avail. I've been investigating this subject for about a year and have yet to hear of a Sigma wireless E-TTL ratios success story. It'd be really cool if somebody could prove me wrong, I'd love to keep 2 Sigmas and return two of the 580's, just cuz of the difference in price, but as it stands now, the two Sigmas are headed to ebay soon and I'll use 580EX flashes. I'll offer myself up for any Sigma/Canon experiments anyone wants to perform as well.
Thanks!
-Shortbus

Sigma had to reverse-engineer E-TTL since Canon doesn't license it. Like with lenses, Canon cautions that third-party products aren't assured of fully functioning with latest Canon stuff, and evidently Sigma's reverse-engineering on flash, like on their earlier lenses, leaves a bit to be desired . . .

[René Damkot]

I'll offer myself up for any Sigma/Canon experiments anyone wants to perform as well.

Well, I'm not surprised the Canon/Sigma mix won't work out. Did you try wireless ETTL with just the sigma flashes (so no 580EX / ST-E2)? I'ld think that that should work...
(no personal experience though)

[ShortBusCandid8]

Yes, I tried every 2 and 3 unit combination of Sigma Master/Slave and Canon Master/Slave combo, including Master Flash off and on. Again, the only time Wireless E-TTL would work was when I didn't do ratios. They worked as wireless E-TTL slaves just fine as long as there wasn't a ratio involved (ie Master and slave as ID 1.) It'd work okay most of the time with slave ID's as long as I left the ratio 1:1, but any variance was very unpredictable. Even when it did "work" (ie not overexposting to total whiteout) adjusting the ratios made no difference in exposure. I'd do massive FEC (-3) and underexposing on the camera in manual to try and get something besides white and it'd sometimes give a picture, but there'd be no ratios present, ie it was flat lighting. Using Canons ratios with 3 580's is exactly like it should be. I've been playing with those Sigmas for a very long time. They work fine as on camera E-TTL's, wireless E-TTL slaves (no ratios, ie all ID's set to 1), and as optical slaves, but I wanted ratios in the form of E-TTL because I have three teenagers and they scatter like cockroaches when they see the "poppa-razzi" coming...lol. Anyways, if anybody's got something they'd like me to try, or a suggestion about making it work, I'd love to hear it. A lot of people struggle with whether or not to buy the Sigma or the Canon and it's my belief that for the price the Sigma's functionally equivalent to the Canon on E-TTL except for ratios. The menus on the Sigma, once you've used them a few times, are easily navigated. The build quality's a little less sturdy on the Sigma, but I'll tell ya one thing, whoever designed the battery door on the 580 should be flogged...lol. I'm just thankful they didn't design the zipper's all I got to say...:lol:
Have a great day!
-ShortBus

[DavidEB]

ShortBus -- see my earlier post this thread. I have a similar issue as you, but not every time. For me, if I don't set ratios it fires the 420EX at full power but if I do set ratios then it mostly works. The times it doesn't work I just power down the flashes, go thru the menus from scratch and they then seem to work. but it's not flawless. (sigma 500 super + 420EX).

kind regards, also I share your appreciation for how helpful this forum is....