Just bought a 430ex II, feel a little shortchanged..

Hi guys,

I'm new to the world of flashes on DSLRs. few days back I'd read through these pages with a considerably lower budget, thus I was looking at the Viv 285HV, Sunpak383 and understood that these are excellent flashes with a few compromises.

Then last night, when I mysteriously came into money I just blindly popped for a 430ex II. And a few minutes later it popped into my head that I should have looked at the Sigma 530DG Super. And then I did. And I could not help but get a little disappointed that it has a better guide number and a better price, about a $30 cheaper!

And now I'm not feeling the love for my EX430 II. I went through posts everywhere and it turns out there is absolutely nothing (maybe the dodgy ETTL) the 430ex II does that the 530DG cannot do.

I have always stuck to Canon branded stuff throughout, despite being a student with a shoestring budget, but I've always seen the advantages loud and clear. Please tell me I'm missing something.



Thanks.

Is the Sigma the same size as the 430?

Not to worry. You have buyer's remorse. If you had bought the Sigma, you would be posting about how it couldn't do a good job of eTTL as well.

I love my 580EX II, no problems with eTTL. It's a superb flash.

But go ahead and throw your 430EX II into the bin if you don't like it so much.

@Soundsgood: The 430 is smaller, but compared to the 580 it is only slightly bigger.

@40dude: I agree. I do have buyer's remorse, probably when I receive the unit, it should be gone.

Are there any quantifiable differences I'm missing out on though?

One feature better on the 430 is it assists AF on all 9 focus points (I own an XTi) while the Sigma does only the center point. Don't know how big a difference that makes.

See, you feel better already.

At the price of a 430EX II, if there was only $30 difference between them, I'd jump on the 430EX II. Canon will be compatible in all areas going forward, including ETTL and wireless communication.

I think you made a wise choice.

That was one of the pluses I noted for the Canon - compatibility when I upgrade in the future.

I think you made the right choice with Canon
Dont worry be Happy

I suffer from buyer's remorse all the time. Trust me, you made the right choice!

if you get an ST-E2 or a 580ex II, the 430EX can be controlled by them with ettl.
Not sure about the sigma (but I could be wrong).

I just ordered a Sigma 530DG Super to use as a 2nd flash. It has a built-in optical trigger (in addition to Canon eTTL) which may turn out better than using the Canon system for me.

If I hate the Sigma, will you trade your 430EX II for it?

You made the right decision to go with the Canon flash. I sold my Sigma flash long ago and never looked back.

Thanks guys I feel better now

I was deciding between the fast Tamrons (either 17-50 or 28-75) or this flash. I currently own a nifty and an 18-55IS and I have experienced both the aforementioned Tamrons. I have some experience with the 70-200 f/2.8L too and basically I'm hooked on to fast lenses. With the eBay cashback I could have had them for as low as 220 bucks. Plus their price would have remained stable over time. Its listed at $400 on amazon now.

What do you guys think about this choice?

I am pretty happy, even though the Tammy would have made me money in the long run, I still feel the flash will bring ALL my lenses to life. Before considering external flashes, I couldn't understand how people can stand f/4+ appealing. But somehow that seems to make more sense now. I can't wait for it to come.

I have the Tamron 28-75 , very good and sharp lens.
But for indoor photography... 2.8 is too slow, f/2 is too slow and even 1.4 doesn't really cut it (my place has dim lighting if you didnt guess already). I also have the Sigma 30 1.4 which is very nice, but again, when the light is low, you still need to bump the iso a lot.
Except for say the 85L, most fast prime are not that sharp wide open, and the shallow DOF in many cases is not very practical (one eye in focus one eye is not, or the eyes in focus but the nose tip is bokeh).

With a flash, I now use my slow zoom lenses (Sigma 18-200OS which is 6.3 at the long end), stopped down a stop or two and with iso 100 (200 if I feel like it) I get better results with better color that I ever got with fast primes.
I wish I bought the flash 2 years ago.
You made a very wise choice going with a flash.

Erez