Any Flashes Comparable to the 430EX II and the 580 EX II?

Not having a camera Speedlight, I've been resorting to using the pop up flash with a diffuser on it and while it's better than nothing, I really feel that I need to get a better flash unit that I can bounce or use off camera. The trouble is, like so many others and also being retired, I don't have the funds right now for one of the Canon brand flashes.

Are there any other cheaper brands of flash units that have good range or guide numbers and are ETTL capable?

I have a Yongnuo YN-468 and it hasn't let me down. It doesn't have the power that the canon flashes do, but the ETTL works well enough. You won't be able to do ETTL off camera, however. Just a suggestion. I believe it's around $95

The Metz brand has some with your specs and Nissin also offers some. Vivitar has several digital camera specific flashes for what seems like great prices. I used Vivitar on my film cameras but it stayed with the film camera

Why not buy an older model of Canon flash. This way it will work with your gear for sure. The 3rd party gear is reverse engineered so if you change bodies it may not work. I made this mistake once by buying a Sigma lens. Saved lots of money compared to the Canon model. However when I upgraded my camera body it no longer would auto focus. Sigma no longer supported the lens. It was 5 yrs old. I sold it for basically nothing because it did not work with any of the current bodies. Learned my lesson. Ended up buying the Canon lens in the end. So I paid more in the long run.

You can look for a 550EX flash. They are a terrific unit and usually reasonable used. The 430EX also is very reasonable. Not sure what your budget. If you mentioned your budget you would get better answers.

A used Canon 420EX is only about $125. They do most everything a 430EX does except they don't have a manual mode. If you upgrade to a T3i, 60D, 7D, or (? some future model) they will even do slave flash.

Metz is a superior flash to the OEM Canon flashes, but Canon has proprietary signals in their cameras that guarantee OEMs work the best and work with future camera models. The marketing plan works - get a Canon flash.

BestVisuals wrote in post #11918728
Metz is a superior flash to the OEM Canon flashes, but Canon has proprietary signals in their cameras that guarantee OEMs work the best and work with future camera models. The marketing plan works - get a Canon flash.

I honestly don't know of the Metz units are superior to Canon OEM models, but they've been manufactured for at least4 decades. I used some of their old "potato masher" units back in my medium format days. They're durable, well built and powerful - with the attendant price.

i bought a nissin di866 flash. i think its supose to be simliar to the 580 in terms of power.

integlspwr wrote in post #11919269
i bought a nissin di866 flash. i think its supose to be simliar to the 580 in terms of power.

The OP has said that he can't really afford $284 for a 430EX. I doubt he would be interested in a $329 Nissin di866. $229 for a Nissin di622 is cheaper but still not cheap.

At $65 the YN465 is probably one of the cheapest ETTL flashes available right now. http://photography.sho​p.ebay.ca …=15&_trksid=p32​86.c0.m282

The Metz units, at least the few I've had, had more power and more features for less money. Their biggest feature is the wink light (secondary flash tube) that few flashes have. There were several other features that were impressive.

sapearl wrote in post #11918757
I honestly don't know of the Metz units are superior to Canon OEM models, but they've been manufactured for at least4 decades. I used some of their old "potato masher" units back in my medium format days. They're durable, well built and powerful - with the attendant price.

try this flash..

http://cgi.ebay.com …ashes&hash=item​4cf56ae34f

BestVisuals wrote in post #11919422
The Metz units, at least the few I've had, had more power and more features for less money. Their biggest feature is the wink light (secondary flash tube) that few flashes have. There were several other features that were impressive.

Agree with you on that "wink light" Best .... wonderful little feature.

You could bounce to your hearts content and not worry about racoon eyes and other unsightly shadows with that little splash of extra light thrown in. The slide out card on the 580ex and other flash add-ons try to mimic the effect, but I've always felt they fall a little bit short.

You can look at the Sigma DG 610 Super.
More powerful than the 580ex ii, and it's about the price of a 430ex ii.