How to spot a Fake Canon Flash.

I found it rather interesting that their are so many counterfeit stuff being sold. Canon 580EXII being one of them.

http://petapixel.com …n-flash-learned-hard-way/

China. There is nothing they won't copy.

Fake Canon flash

My apology if this has been posted before...

http://petapixel.com …n-flash-learned-hard-way/

Seems like a re-badged YN560EX to me...

virsago_mk2 wrote in post #16268753
Seems like a re-badged YN560EX to me...

Nope. The Yongnuo doesn't look that similar. This is an deliberate attempt at cloning a Canon. The YN doesn't even have a wheel on the back.

http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=Mz1LsXwATig

If all of this is true, this means that I did purchase a fake 580EXII from B&H.My serial# is A98*** And yes I did recently start getting the message from the menu window. but the flash still works perfectly on and off the camera. I wonder if this might have something to do with the firmware update. I hope that there is no validity to this post, because I would hate to think that B&H would be selling fake products. If mine is a fake, I must say it is a Darn Good One as far as build quality. The scary part is that you never know what you are buying nowadays.

I do a lot of experimenting late night when I'm dead tired!!! And I honestly think that when I supposedly had issues with the Flash Control Menu. I think that my flash might have been turned off! LOL!

Google search : https://www.google.com …580exii&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

The Canon 7D Kid wrote in post #16269577
=The "Canon 7D" Kid;16269577]If all of this is true, this means that I did purchase a fake 580EXII from B&H.My serial# is A98*** And yes I did recently start getting the message from the menu window. but the flash still works perfectly on and off the camera. I wonder if this might have something to do with the firmware update. I hope that there is no validity to this post, because I would hate to think that B&H would be selling fake products. If mine is a fake, I must say it is a Darn Good One as far as build quality. The scary part is that you never know what you are buying nowadays.

Google search : https://www.google.com …580exii&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Read the comments below the article, alpha numeric serial is fine, plenty of people commented and said they have that.

I think the key is does HSS work with your flash?

After further research I'm convinced that mine is not a fake. Maybe that guy was trying to sell some fake ones. I do have a friend of mine that bought one at some Mom and Pop camera store in Miami a few months back. I'm going to get with him and do a curiosity comparison. He said he only paid $300.00 for it.

Also, My Flash Control Menus work just fine. So the only thing that would make me skeptical in regards to the article is the Serial#. Which means nothing to me. It could easily just mean when or where it was manufactured. I will let you guys know if I see any difference with mine or my friends 580EXII.

After reading the thread twice, and reading a majority of the comments, the letter in the serial number doesn't seem to be a definitive way to tell, as a number of those who commented have letters in the serial number and were purchased from reputable retailers.

The only consensus seems to be the HSS (high speed sync) feature, if it works, then it's legit, if it doesn't then it's fake. The commenters claim the HSS feature is too expensive to replicate at a lower price point.

Maybe if we have everyone post up whether their HSS works, and if they have any letters in their 580 EXII serial number.

I can't recall if I got mine from Adorama or B&H, but my serial number has no letters, and the HSS works.

I think the more definitive determining factor is the glue pattern on the rubber. In the article, when the Canon techs saw the lack of the 'gridded glue' :

If HSS isn't/doesn't work, it could be just a broken flash (although it could also be one indicator of a countefeit).

My friend dropped off his flash, and the only difference that I noticed was that his Serial# was all numeric. his backlight was a tad bit brighter. At first doing a manual flash I noticed that mine was way brighter, but after going in and making the settings equal they seemed to be the same. Build quality on both were IDENTICAL! If one of these are a fake (Which I highly doubt) It's a darn good one. I'm too scared to put his on my 7D to see if the menu works! I'll have him try it on his camera body and see if he can access the menu okay! That article should go on snopes.

Well along with kin2son, I noticed the majority of testable statements on there, all pertained to the HSS.

All the posts there by people in China or who have purchased from the retailer in question there, say that the Chinese retailers will only be honest about HSS, will never admit to a counterfeit under any other scenario, and that none of the fake ones have a functional HSS.

Sure the HSS could be broken on a legit Canon flash, but then you just have a broken legit Canon flash.

Peeling back the rubber and checking the glue just doesn't seem as definitive.

The Canon 7D Kid wrote in post #16269577
=The "Canon 7D" Kid;16269577]If all of this is true, this means that I did purchase a fake 580EXII from B&H.My serial# is A98*** And yes I did recently start getting the message from the menu window. but the flash still works perfectly on and off the camera. I wonder if this might have something to do with the firmware update. I hope that there is no validity to this post, because I would hate to think that B&H would be selling fake products. If mine is a fake, I must say it is a Darn Good One as far as build quality. The scary part is that you never know what you are buying nowadays.

I checked with CPS and they confirmed that alpha-prefixed serials are fine.