580 ex or 580 exII?

I've asked this before but was wondering if I would be sacrificing a signifigant amount of quality if I went with the 580 ex over the ex II? Any opinions?

Thanks.

The Small Flash and Studio Lighting forum is over there -->

troypiggo wrote in post #5945757
The Small Flash and Studio Lighting forum is over there -->

LOL

The II has some much needed upgrades. The two biggies that I would want are a PC cord port and a better hotshoe mount. I'd pay the freight just for those. It also has a better battery door.

I like the mount heaps more - locks on nicely and doesnt have the plastic winder,

as mentioned the battery door is heaps better - the 580 has one i swear im gonna crack off everytime i open it - needs to 'crack' past the point at which it gives way and opens.

Try this - http://www.the-digital-picture.com …eedlite-Flash-Review.aspx

It mentions a couple of the abovementioned items and also that it recharges about 20%faster- is silent on the recharge (you really notice that on the 580ex as it whines on recharge)

and as mentioned there too the newer one has menu driven switching between master and slave - which i personally find a PITA (pain in the you know what) whereas the older has a nice easy manual sliding switch at the bottom.

Try that review out - it goes over the differences pretty well... and bookmark the site - its full of info that will help fuel your camera spending for many years to come

The new mount and locking switch are very welcome changes. As much I loved the original 580EX, it had durability issues. I haven't had to mess with the Master/Slave, but I'd imagine pulling up the menu would be a pain if you had to do it constantly.

yeah i dont do it much but when i did it was a pain... you have to hold down the zoom button for 2 sec then toggle through an unco menu without navigation - ie slowly toggles through each setting then back to the start... i guess if you did it alot it would be a bit easier - and once your setup all good... just practice before you do it in front of a paying customer - otherwise you'll look the fool

580 V1 is MUCH easier to use as a master, it has a hardware switch instead of a soft switch. The other improvements are nice to have, but not essential to me (as a wedding photog who does a fair bit of off camera lighting).