New and cheap or Used and, er cheap?!

[topcatproduction]

If you were an amateur and wanted a pair of manual flashes, with no intention of being a professional photographer in the near future and for very mild use, would you buy a pair of new £25 each YF-460 flashes (pretty disposable!) or a pair of used (history unknown) £50 each 540EZ flashes?

[watt100]

If you were an amateur and wanted a pair of manual flashes, with no intention of being a professional photographer in the near future and for very mild use, would you buy a pair of new £25 each YF-460 flashes (pretty disposable!) or a pair of used (history unknown) £50 each 540EX flashes?


I've found the Yongnuo YN460 flash is very good - it can tilt, rotate, has a diffuser and white card and easily adjustable power settings and can be triggered as an optical slave by the pop-up flash.

[bizzum]

I just got the YN-460 in the mail today. Although I have not had a chance to use it except to make sure it fired, i was VERY surprised at how well it was made for the price. I was, to be honest, expecting a cheap POS, but it is not at all. Feeling it in my hand, the build quality did not seem too far different than my Sigma 530 Super.

I really do not think you can go wrong with these for the price.

[topcatproduction]

Been watching some 540EZ flashes on ebay and they are generally going for about £60 + delivery, which makes them 2.5 times as expensive as the YN-460's, and from what I can see apart from the build quality they have pretty much the same controls etc. They are also 10 years old and the rest!

[pressureworld]

I used 540 EZ's for strobist work and I loved them. They are very durable and used to be the Canon flagship flash. The power ouput is nearly that of the 580EX plus the resell value is solid. I sold most of the one's I owned for my Alien Bees and recieved all my money back.

[topcatproduction]

If they do break are they repairable?

[SwitchBlade]

I bought a 540EZ from MPBPhotographic for £50, I like the extra control of the zoom head. Also it's built like a brick, gone down a few times from 6'+ from a lightstand and only has a few dents to the plastic.

[MT Stringer]

I've owned 2 540's in the past. They worked great. I sold both, and now I have bought another!
If it breaks, that'l be the end of it.
Mike

[topcatproduction]

Also how much difference is there in weight between the 540EZ and YN-460?

[Psychobiker]

Another supporter here of the YN460...for the price, it can't be beat.

[kronuz0422]

im not using neither of the two, i just want to give my opinion on 3rd party flash options. im currently using a Nissin Di622 Speelite and im very satisfied with its performance, its perfect for my shooting style when i need an external flash. the built quality is very nice, doesnt feel cheap at all unless one looks at its price tag but the materials used where very nice in my opinion and feel of the unit.

[Psychobiker]

Light is light, and GN is GN.

6500K @ GN30+...happy out.

[cdifoto]

The cheaper the better so you can toss them together in a bag, use the crap out of them, then pitch 'em in the trash if/when they die from overusage or falloverinthewindage.

[topcatproduction]

Well- I went against the grain and spend a whopping £24 on the YN-460 and well happy!!!!! Much better than I was expecting, pretty well constructed for the price and a nice finish :D:D:D

[Muskydave22]

I had a 540ez, bought it for $25 at a local camera shop, then used if for a few months and sold it on this forum for around $110. Not a bad investment I guess :)

dave

[DocFrankenstein]

I don't know the flashes you're talking about, but vivitars can be bought as low as 40 bucks a piece used.

[topcatproduction]

Not in the UK, and they are not common either :rolleyes:

[Psychobiker]

Well- I went against the grain and spend a whopping £24 on the YN-460 and well happy!!!!! Much better than I was expecting, pretty well constructed for the price and a nice finish :D:D:D

Quoth for truth. J28 is amassing a veritable collection of them. He's dead chuffed as far as I know.