Looking for a speedlight suggestions?

I hv never used speed light.
been doing landscape photography with my 60D and 18-55,55-250 and 50 1.8
Now , i want to improve the indoor portraits..
as i hv said. i hv never used any speed light.
looking for something cheap.
Found Yongnuo YN-560 on ebay for 58$..
How's it.
Shall i go for it?
are there any other budget options?
and will the single speed light improve the portraits a little?
i dont have any other studio equipment at all.

I'd recommend going for an ETTL capable flash for your first flash. Try the Yongnuo YN-468.

ANd check out Neil Van Niekerks book about on camera flash..Great book..

Something with ETTL and manual would be my suggestion as well.

Yongnuo has several flashes in this category that are fairly in expensive (468, 565, 568)

Honestly, flash isn't that hard. Your 60D can use the pop up flash to trigger some of Canon's speedlights, and this will give you a HUGE amount of flexibility later on. If you are serious about flash, I strongly recommend you get a flash that will work like this. The Canon flashes do, as well as some of the third party ones.

Nightdiver13 wrote in post #15477838
I'd recommend going for an ETTL capable flash for your first flash. Try the Yongnuo YN-468.

+4 if you only have one external flash make sure it's ETTL capable

^ +5
IF you go for the ETTL-capable flash unit, you keep open your options and have scope at some future date to further expand your capabilities. If you choose manual-only, you will still have the capability to light your indoor portraits. What you would lose would be the ability for future expansion.

Really, it's a matter of:

• Buy MANUAL. Fulfil current requirements, spend less, close the door to future expansion without another purchase.
  
• Buy ETTL-capable. Still fulfil current requirements, spend more, keep the door open for future development if the need arises.
  

I recently bought Canon 580ex II (paid 300 euro, used has scratches but works just fine) and I also have Yongnuo yn560 II (paid 70 euro on ebay, new from the factory).

Here is a little comparison:

I guess the rule applies: you get what you pay for. Yn560 is a great manual Speedlite, looks just like 560ex (they ripped of the design almost completely), it has a sturdy feel to it, actually feels pretty similar to 580ex in hands. But I do hear a lot of people complain about them failing - mine works fine, so far.
580ex II is Canon's professional workhorse, designed to endure harsh abuse - so it is highly reliable. While yn560 is a cheap knock-off.

Yongnuo is just a little bit less powerful than 580ex, which is good. Where it outperforms the Canon, is the hands on control - every parameter is directly accessible by the buttons (keep in mind that yn560 is a manual flash, while 580ex is packed with features).

I bought 580ex because I wanted a reliable flash that could withstand environmental hazards and also needed ETTL, because most of the time you just don't have the time do it manually.


On the other hand, if you are in a situation where you can take your time to adjust the parameters in manual mode, I would say that YN-560 II performs as good as 580ex II.
I use YN560 (with 580ex) for controlled shoots, with Cactus transivers.

If you could get warranty for it (because there is a chance it will just die), I would say go for it.

I have a 460 II for over a year and have had no trouble with it

thanks guys for your replies. it really helped me alot. will try to buy canon's 580exII.