550EX vs EF500DG Super

[KevC]

Alright.

It's time to make my decision.

The Speedlite 550EX can be had locally, used, for $100 more than the Sigma EF500DG Super (brand new, after shipping, duties, taxes).

Is the 550EX better than the Sigma? Oh, and the 550EX also comes with a sto-fen omnibounce, lol.

Worth the $100?

[Bruce Watson]

Possibly. The Omnibounce is about $30 Cdn. shipped and is certainly useful.

I have the Sigma (several of them actually) and have also owned/used a 380 and 420EX.

The Sigma has the same feature set, slightler lower GN, does not have provision for external power pack and some would say a slightly lower build quality.

$70 difference is a year's warranty and the slight differences noted above.

But unless the Canon was heavily used, warranty should not be a big issue.

Maybe you buy it, and then when you want more flashes in your setup at a later date, you can go for the Sigma, as they will work together?

[Persian-Rice]

Hey KEV :D

The Canon is slightly better, but it being worth the $100 is debatable. I would buy the Sigma over the Canon any day, especially if I am on a tight budget.

Cheers

[KennyG]

I have a 550EX, a pair of 420EX and the new Sigma. The Sigma works fine, but it is a long way from the build quality of the Canon 550EX. If you are going to use it a lot and maybe want to use an external power source, then go for the Canon. I don't think the Sigma will stand up to much use/abuse.

[CyberDyneSystems]

As Kenny says,. probably the biggest difference is build quality,.

I decided to get a used 550ex for the onboard flash for it's robust-ness, with the intention that if I wanted to build a fleet of off camera slaves,. I would turn to the Sigma's for that purpose.

[KevC]

Hm. External power source and build quality. Sounds like enough to warrant the purchase. And if I ever do sell it off, it should retain it's value better than the Sigma, no? Well... the 580EXs are replacing it.. sooo I duno.

External power source is what makes me interested though. I can use it sorta like in a studio setup? Shooting it into an umbrella?