Flash for D60 - low light focusing

[aglang]

I've read that with the 550EX the D60 focuses much better in low light situations. Is this also true with the 420EX?
What are the relative merits of these two flashes with this camera?
Does anyone know how functional they would be on an Elan IIe? On a T90?

thanks!

Adam

[justme_dc]

Both The 550EX and 420EX have focus assist lights that vastly improve the low light focusing ability of the D60 and other canon cameras.
As to relative merits.... The 550 is bigger, more powerful and can work as a master or slave in a wireless TTL flash situation. It also has way more custom features than it's smaller sibling. The 420EX is smaller, lighter in weight and less powerful. It has a reduced feature set that may or may not be an issue for you. Also the 420EX will only fuction as a slave in wireless TTL situations.

The 550EX and 420EX are totally backward compatible with older canon cameras. Both flashes will work in the current E-TTL & the older A-TTL modes.

Canon is terrible about providing good info about the great flashes they make. I think that is fairly stupid of them.

If you can swing it I would suggest the 550EX. It's worth the extra money if you intend to shoot regularly with flash.

Hope this helps. Good Luck to ya.

[robertwgross]

Actually, Canon does supply some good information on the flash units, but it is in the little users manual that ships with the flash unit. That does not help the prospective customer much. I have a 550EX and the ST2E.

I agree that the 550EX is a little bigger and better, but it is also heavier. I have to shoot in places where I have to carry my entire camera rig in ten miles or so, and a few ounces here and there is a big factor. I need to get a smaller and lighter flash unit that is more powerful than the internal flash on my D60.

The 550EX's master or slave capability is nice, but slave mode does not do much good unless you have another flash unit or the ST2E to be the master.

When I set up to shoot a hummingbird on my patio, the camera with long lens is inside the house with the ST2E mounted on the hot shoe. The 550EX is outside, on the patio (inside a plastic bag) and aimed at the hummingbird feeder from a closer distance. The ST2E wirelessly couples to the 550EX, and it all works.

---Bob Gross---