Sad to see 430 exII

I think it is unfortunate that canon has decides to make the same mistake with the 430 they did with the 580 and take away the dedicated switch for slave/slave off. Or is there some advantage to this change that has eluded me? Could they not make a weather proofed switch?

It bugged me at first but it's a couple pushes of a button either with your camera (Mark III/40D) or the flash.

I was also confused to see this switch but I am sure they have their reasons. Either way, its going to sell. I like the new mount though.

Because the switch can be accidentally switched very easily. I've done it more than a few times, the first few times I had trouble figuring out what the heck was going on. I think it is a good move to make it harder to set.

Do you really need to go into slave mode in a few milliseconds and back out a moment later?

DDCSD wrote in post #5894150
Do you really need to go into slave mode in a few milliseconds and back out a moment later?

Well yes. Really what I like most about a dedicated switch is being able to pick it up and not have to turn it to slave mode if it was off for a while. My 580 defaults to slave/master off I don't think that can be changed in the custom functions, at least not how I read them. I mostly like to use it in slave mode.

I hate to lose a hardware switch for a menu driven one in all but one circumstance (that being a dedicated direct to print button).

Do any of you already have this flash? I am shooting with a S5 and was holding out for this flash to come out to get one. It seems that the literature says it is for the EOS and G series, but I have seen no mention of S.

Its funny, Nikon added a dedicated switch for master and slave to their SB 900 and Canon took the dedicated switch away from their flashes. I have a 580EX and recently bought a used Nikon SB-80DX and apart from power the SB-80DX is a much better flash than the 580EX. Its much easier to change settings using the D-Pad then using the scroll wheel on the 580EX.
Its really embarrassing to see that the SB-80DX has a metal foot, PC sync socket and a omnibounce and the 580EX has not. I love Canon lenses and Cameras but they really need to step up on the Flash department.

The 580 EXII has a pc sync socket, it's hidden underneath the weather sealing on the left side of the flash. It also has a metal foot with a very good mounting system, which I'm happy they went with - the rotating circle they used to use for their tightening of flashes was too flimsy, and could break fairly easily. I don't want an Omni-bounce with my Canon flashes, as I'm happy with a bounce card attached with velcro for my purposes. If I want an omni-bounce, I'll either make one myself, or purchase one for $20.00.

The 580EX II is no slouch, and neither is the 430. I've tried using Nikon flashes, and I'll be blunt - their wireless system with Nikon Commander just requires too much babying to really get it to work. The flash itself is good, but I don't care for too much on the bells and whistles, I want a flash I can control quickly and readily, and add modifications as I see fit.

@zansho: I wasn't talking about the 580EX II but the 580 EX I, a flash that came out late 2004 and has less features than the SB-80DX that came out in 2002.

Quad wrote in post #5894573
Well yes. Really what I like most about a dedicated switch is being able to pick it up and not have to turn it to slave mode if it was off for a while. My 580 defaults to slave/master off I don't think that can be changed in the custom functions, at least not how I read them. I mostly like to use it in slave mode.

I hate to lose a hardware switch for a menu driven one in all but one circumstance (that being a dedicated direct to print button).

Once the 580EX II is set to slave mode, it'll keep that setting even if turn off the flash as long as you keep charged batteries in the flash. The setting will even be retained between changes of batteries as long as it's done within a couple of minutes.

At least an external power connection was added to the 430 EX II. The Original 430 EX had no way of hooking up a power pack. Plus the improved locking mechanism should work a lot better.