is an expensive flash really needed?

I'm newbie starting photography carrer... I have one question that kill me every day and night. I have not much money (at least i can't make lots of money at this time). I just have 7D + 24-105f4 L. now i want a flash for better image.

I wonder Do I need an expensive flash like 580EX II (i have enough money) or I should buy a cheap one then save the money for another. My question is: a better flash should help me in which situation? or help me to give a exposure better? a color better? ..or...something else?... thanks for help me...!

I do shoot all purposes: from sport to wedding, event, portrait, landscape....

It's the features and build quality you pay for more than anything. For the simple purpose of creating light, any flash that has bounce and/or swivel capabilities will do. (If it can only point forward it's no better than the popup). There are a million threads on this exact topic if you want more in-depth information. Check the stickies. Specifically this one: https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=138907

thanks. if i just use flash right now for studio lighting, do I need a 580 EX II ? or YN 565 cheaper? Thanks. Is it diffirent to the color and light of my image? (if the same setup)

If it is just for studio and you don't need ETTL get a Yongnuo 560. About $80. The 565 is good but no HSS if you need it.

I would imagine in a studio setup you wouldn't be using TTL much, manual would give consistent lighting shot-to-shot. You could get YN560/560ii and get a nice solid build in a manual flash at a great price. Optical slave mode works great, audio recycle beep, and zoom head.

ezella wrote in post #13655873
thanks. if i just use flash right now for studio lighting, do I need a 580 EX II ? or YN 565 cheaper? Thanks. Is it diffirent to the color and light of my image? (if the same setup)

If thats the only reason you use a flash, you need to learn how to use a flash. You probably dont need a 580exII regardless, a 430ex would do just as well.

ezella wrote in post #13655826
I'm newbie starting photography carrer... I have one question that kill me every day and night. I have not much money (at least i can't make lots of money at this time). I just have 7D + 24-105f4 L. now i want a flash for better image.

I wonder Do I need an expensive flash like 580EX II (i have enough money) or I should buy a cheap one then save the money for another. My question is: a better flash should help me in which situation? or help me to give a exposure better? a color better? ..or...something else?... thanks for help me...!

I do shoot all purposes: from sport to wedding, event, portrait, landscape....

I recently picked up a YN565EX for a buddy that has a T3I. I recommended the flash to him based on the fact that he is new to the DSLR world, learning, and on a budget. The flash arrived this week and I played with it for a few days, and my initial impression is that it is a great flash for the money. It does not have all of the features of the 580EX II(No High Speed Sync), but it certainly covers the basics for a reasonable price. I compared the output with my older 580EX and it blows the older model away. I like the fact that the YN565EX has two optical slave modes, and a external sync port. If you are shooting manual, there are cheaper options, but if you would like ETTL, it is a reasonable alternative to the Canon 580EX II. I have not had a chance to test the wireless slave mode, but will hopefully get around to that this weekend.

Regards,

110yd

I think you need at least one E-TTL flash you can use on camera for events and wedding receptions. You can also use it for studio work. You can do portraits with one flash and a reflector.

I recommend this tutorial on bounce flash techniques with on camera flash:

http://neilvn.com …hniques/4-bouncing-flash/

Your Canon flash choices would be the 580EX II or 430EX II. The 430EX II puts out about 2/3 f-stop less light and cannot act as a master in the Canon wireless system. Also the 430EX II head only rotates 180 deg in one direction and 90 deg in the other. The 580EX rotates 180 deg in both directions.

The cheaper alternative is the YN-565. It is around the power of the 430EX II, but it cannot do HSS.

I'm not a big fan of HSS, but it can be useful sometimes, like some sports photography situations where you need faster shutter speeds. It just robes your flash of a lot of power (2 1/2 f-stops), so you need multiple flashes to make up for the lost power in bright sunlight. Since these need to be 580EX and 430EX, this gets expensive fast.

please save and get the 430EXII - HSS is mighty useful if you are shooting with the bright sun. Definitely helps with the California sun especially for close portraits where the loss of power is not noticeable. But yes a 565 is also a decent option.

starkyrulz wrote in post #13660760
please save and get the 430EXII - HSS is mighty useful if you are shooting with the bright sun. Definitely helps with the California sun especially for close portraits where the loss of power is not noticeable. But yes a 565 is also a decent option.

why not use flash in manual mode at max sync speed? No issues of power drop by going to HSS. If one doesn't like smaller apertures that come with shooting in the sun slap some ND filter on your lens.

bobbyz wrote in post #13660813
why not use flash in manual mode at max sync speed? No issues of power drop by going to HSS. If one doesn't like smaller apertures that come with shooting in the sun slap some ND filter on your lens.

There are some situations where you need the very fast shutter speed. Photographing skate boarders in bright sunlight is an example. At max sync of 1/250 s you still get a little motion blur. If you can go to 1/1000 or 1/1600 s you can get ride of the motion blur.

If you want to use f/2.8 or wider in bright sunlight to get shallow depth of field, you can do that either using HSS and a higher shutter speed or with a neutral density filter. I prefer the neutral density filter, because you can use any mixture of flashes and strobes and not just the most expensive Canon and Nikon flashes. Bright sunlight is where you really need a 600 w/s studio strobe, not a flash gun doing HSS and losing 2 1/2 stops of flash power.

yes ND filter one that completely escaped my mind - need to invest in one of those and a polarizing filter.

I love this forum

No one needs an expensive flash. I think most people would say that for studio it is best to have one that allows as many manual settings as possible. Outside the studio some sort of automatic flash is useful, but it can be an old or old-fashioned one to start with. There are many other factors too, all explained in other posts.

the speed light Nikon SB-28 is usable for offboard strobe, and it is low price with excellent build! I recommend it way easier than the non canons! i used it on my Canon 5D MKII tethered, with no problems! its around less than $100 USD ON eBay. you should get a few of these for IR wireless slave mode flash also, SYK-3 Wireless Optical Slave Trigger for Hot Shoe Flash


http://www.ebay.com …gCbx=1&_udlo=44​&_udhi=166

http://www.ebay.com …ashes&hash=item​43ac58e20a

SYK-3 Wireless Optical Slave Trigger for Hot Shoe Flash here----> http://feedback.ebay.c​om …ack&ftab=Feedba​ckAsSeller

This image was made using three YN560s mounted on RF-602 triggers.
Two flashes had Gamilight soft boxes and were about 24 inches from the orchids.
The background was lit with a single YN580 firing at the white. Background was about 24 inches behind the flowers. The main and fill were set to about 1/32 power. Background was also 1/32.

Camera was 5DII with 24-105 at F8 ISO 100.

Point here is that you can make nice studio lighting setups with inexpensive manual Speedlites.

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