Extra flash on an SX50

Enjoying my SX50 - seriously complicated trying to fathom out all the options.

Anyone added a flash ? The on camera one is okay but not very flexible. I tried with my old Canon flashes which work well but double the size of the kit, which seems to lose the point of having a bridge camera! Any small flashes with a directional head that people like ?

I think the 430EX II is the best Canon option. At least it is capable of 0-90 degrees of elevation and 270 degrees of rotation. None of the lower options do either. Perhaps another brand offers something useful.

Canon Speedlite 270EXII Flash. It doesn't rotate but it will tilt up 90 degrees.
I have use this flash on the sx50 and it works great.

Actually the only Canon Speedlite that doesn't offer bounce is the Speedlite 90EX, designed for the EOS M. The Speedlite 320EX offers 90 deg. vertical and 270 deg. horizontal rotation. The 270EX and 270EX II both offer 90 deg. vertical elevation. All are significantly smaller than the 430EX II. The 270EX II and 320 EX also act as wireless E-TTL slaves when used with a master like the 580EX, 600 EX, ST-E2 or ST-E3

Thanks. Didn't realise the 270EX had vertical tip - it's mostly bouncing off ceilings that I like. Back on the list !

I have the 270EX; got it for my SX1. I'm tempted by the 270EX II since I'd like the remote capabilities. I don't particularly want the 90EX even though I have an M, since I have the ST-E2 if I want to use a master, but a small slave is always handy.

Canon Direct has a refurbished 270 EX II for $115.59 with free shipping. I sure like mine.

Link

I know absolutely nothing about flash networks can someone post a block diagram of how it might go together or provide a link to such.

dick

Canon talks about it (with E-TTL wireless using Canon Speedlites) on pp. 15-27 of the Speedlite 90EX manual. Getting into off-camera multiflash will run you at least $300 (master/controller and slave flash units; you can't use the built-in flash in combination with other E-TTL flash units, although you can use it if you want to set and adjust the lights positioning and output for correct exposure manually).

Interestingly, the Speedlite 90 seems to offer the capabilities of the ST-E2 E-TTL controller, plus allowing three groups of off-camera flash, for about $200 less than the ST-E2.

430 EX works great on my SX50.

Jon wrote in post #16490496
Actually the only Canon Speedlite that doesn't offer bounce is the Speedlite 90EX, designed for the EOS M. The Speedlite 320EX offers 90 deg. vertical and 270 deg. horizontal rotation. The 270EX and 270EX II both offer 90 deg. vertical elevation. All are significantly smaller than the 430EX II. The 270EX II and 320 EX also act as wireless E-TTL slaves when used with a master like the 580EX, 600 EX, ST-E2 or ST-E3

Actually the predecessor (220ex) to the 270ex has a fixed head as well. I just parted with one and they are very nice flashes btw. It worked flawlessly with an sx1 and sx10 that we have and perfect size.

The 220ex has a true focus beam and uses four AA batteries as well.

A comparison can be found HERE.

Ralph

Since the 220EX is long discontinued, I didn't include it. I also omitted the 550EX as a master since it's equally long-gone.

Jon wrote in post #16501923
Since the 220EX is long discontinued, I didn't include it. I also omitted the 550EX as a master since it's equally long-gone.

I wasn't trying to start a debate Jon but simply correcting a statement you made that is factually incorrect. I'm in the same boat as the OP and am familiar with many of these flashes.

BTW, the 220ex isn't that long out of production (4yrs) and I would assume you didn't mention the 550ex, much less it's Master ability, because it would be ridiculously large & heavy (having owned many) on a PowerShot series camera.

The OP's criteria was... "...Any small flashes with a directional head that people like ?"

The 220ex works flawlessly on the PowerShot series camera and is still readily available. I sold ours simply because I want to give the 320ex a shot. The OP may want to consider that as well due to it meeting his specific criteria.

It is more powerful than the 270ex (I & II) and has both swivel as well as tilt ability. HERE.

God Bless,
Ralph

Still scratching the old head - and came across a METZ 44 in the dandruff ... Canon dedicated, looks an okay size, good power, swivel and tilt , price is okay in comparison to Canon units. Of course probably doesn't have the slave function but that's not needed in this case. Hmmm . Christmas isn't far off

NixEre wrote in post #16502992
Still scratching the old head - and came across a METZ 44 in the dandruff ... Canon dedicated, looks an okay size, good power, swivel and tilt , price is okay in comparison to Canon units. Of course probably doesn't have the slave function but that's not needed in this case. Hmmm . Christmas isn't far off

Metz is my preferred flash! You get a professional grade flash with most often better features at a lesser cost.

The Metz 44af-1 does have slave mode, btw. The Canon 320ex has that ability in addition to HSS. The Metz 44af-1 doesn't have HSS though and that is a killer for me. I think the Metz may be slightly larger than the Canon 320ex as well, which would be another negative.

Good luck,
Ralph