Help Me Pick Out First Flash

AlanU wrote in post #5582295
The head swivels any direction you want compared to a 430EX.

My 430's head swivels 360-degrees around and up to 90-degrees up....unless I'm not understanding what you meant...

I just bought 430EX as my first external flash - mostly kids' pics in the house, so I figured it should be enough for this use (the intent was to get better focusing in low light & less reflection of flash off the skin). I am just a newbie but there's one thing I found already - if I bought the 580 (which was some 60% more expensive) I probably would've hated it. The 430EX is, for my taste, quite large and heavy yet everybody says it's light and compact compared to the 580. So, try both, if you can, hauling around a heavy camera may get tiring after a couple of hours. So far my only complaint about the flash is the design of the buttons on the back, not too easy to set.

bishop13 wrote in post #5582390
My 430's head swivels 360-degrees around and up to 90-degrees up....unless I'm not understanding what you meant...

Taken from the digitalpicture.com

"While the Canon Speedlite 430EX Flash head moves up/down from 0 to 90°, left from 0 to 180°, and right from 0 to 90°, the 580EX allows an additional -7° down and a full 0-180° rotation right. "

Thats what I meant. Not a big deal.

The initial cost of the 580EXII hurts but for a good portion of hobbyists it'll be more than enough. I guess if thats not enought a metz or quantum is something to look at.

Save a buck or two with the rebates. Flashes in the US are still significantly cheaper than CDN prices. A US price is 389 while most CDN camera shops sells them for 489. Spending an extra 100 bucks for a 580 EXII is worth it IMO.

2 biggest differences in 430 vs 580 beyond power:

1. Recycle time. 580 much faster (if that's important to you).

2. 430 can only be used as a slave (if that's important to you).

Completely depends on your application. If you are just doing 'around the house' type shooting the 430 is excellent. If you have intentions of eventually "building" a speed light group consisting of 2 or 3 speedlights then starting with the 580 is the only way to go as it will save you money in the long run.