Picking a flash?

I'm trying to decided what flash to buy to be used with the Canon 5D, I will use it allot for outdoor portraits of both humans and animals. My first thought is to get the Canon 580ex 2, that flash seems huge, so I thought about the 430ex2
What are your thoughts regarding either? Pro vs cons
If I get the 580ex2 I want to do it soon while its still on sale (rebate).
I see Adarama has the 580ex2 for $349.00.

Do most people always use flash for fill when shooting outdoor portraits?

Thanks in advance

I'm not Curtis N, but I'll give you an amatuerish take on this:

The 580 EX is the way to go if you really need high power or you need the enhanced control and ability to drive additional flashes.

The 430 EX has less power but has good manual control etc and is probably plenty for fill flash.

You can really save money and get a 3rd party dedicated flash unit from Sigma or even Promaster. These units will work OK with E-TTL but they are limited for manual work, some are limited in driving additional flashes and they usually force you to set FEC on the camera body.

The Canon units are more flexible and probably worth the extra money unless money is tight.

I usually use fill flash, even if it's just for catchlights in the eyes. The only reason to get the 580 is if you use it as the main light outdoors, or want the master function for multi flash setups, otherwise 430 will be fine.

or a Siggy 530 DG

Can the 430 be used as a main light outdoors?

k9trainer wrote in post #4297348
Can the 430 be used as a main light outdoors?

Sure it can. You'll have about 1/3 less range.

I'm a little confused by Tim's wording - perhaps he means using it off-camera outdoors with the ambient light as fill.

k9trainer wrote in post #4297348
Can the 430 be used as a main light outdoors?

Yeah, but it won't fire another Canon flash. Only a 5XX or ST-E2 will do that.

Just ordered the 580ex2, seems like a fair price ($349.) Now I will just need to learn how to use it to get the best results.
Thanks again for the replies

By the way what are the best batteries to get for this flash? I want to use rechargeable.

Rechargeables are the best in my experience. I shot a wedding the other day and the rechargies lasted much longer than regular Duracells. Next time I get hired for a wedding, I'm going to spring for a power pack, which will reduce my flash recharge times (drastically, I hope)

As far as brand of rechargeables, I just use the cheapest German brand (Hama) they work well.

k9trainer wrote in post #4301270
Just ordered the 580ex2, seems like a fair price ($349.) Now I will just need to learn how to use it to get the best results.
Thanks again for the replies

By the way what are the best batteries to get for this flash? I want to use rechargeable.

This makes me very sad: they're about £350 over hear in rip-off Britain.

Personally, I think the 580EX2 is brilliant. If I were to restart my current flash collection then I'd probably do what I did and go all speedlights even though it's a lot more expensive.

I use a 550ex and a 420ex

These were all that were available (except the miniscule 220ex) a few years ago. I won't change now but, if I were buying again - I would certainly go the 580ex or 430ex route.

Buying the 580ex gives you more power at a slightly greater weight and a higher price tag. It can be used as a master with a 430ex, 550ex, 420ex or another 580ex as slaves.

The 580ex and 430ex models have quicker recycycle times than the 550ex or 420ex and are also optimized to work with 1.6x bodies which gives greater concentration of light.

However, for close-up fill flash (and for that only), the very compact and lightweight 220ex is a unit to be considered.