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07/31/2012 02:54:20 PM · #1 |
| I have been in the market for an external flash for my canon 50D and was most likely going with the 580EXII...but then this came out. Has anyone used one/compared them? I am mostly a natural light girl, but there are times when I want a good flash I can bounce or place off camera and I am photographing an event next month that I want to be prepared for. I don't know much about these speedlights as I have never used them before -so any thoughts or recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! :) |
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07/31/2012 03:44:03 PM · #2 |
It isn't really worth any extra money unless you plan on buying several. It's advantage over the 580 is a built in radio trigger. For that matter, unless you are going to buy more than one, the 580 doesn't really give you much advantage over the 430.
If you are going to buy several, that is a different story since you know have a wireless radio based system with TTL. |
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07/31/2012 04:59:32 PM · #3 |
FWIW, there are differences in the power output of the three. And there's a surprise in there too...
- Canon 430EX II, Guide Number of 43m @ 105mm zoom setting
- Canon 580EX II, Guide Number of 58m @ 105mm zoom setting
...are we seeing a clue to model naming? Read on...
- Canon 600EX-RT, Guide Number of 60m @...wait for it... 200mm zoom setting
So in fact, if you zoom the 600 back to 105mm, it has to cover 4 times the angular area, and *should* then have a guide number well under 60m, specifically 30m if there's no funny business going on in the specs. That actually makes it quite a bit less powerful than the older 580EXII, which is quite a surprise!
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07/31/2012 05:47:50 PM · #4 |
Originally posted by kirbic:
FWIW, there are differences in the power output of the three. And there's a surprise in there too...
- Canon 430EX II, Guide Number of 43m @ 105mm zoom setting
- Canon 580EX II, Guide Number of 58m @ 105mm zoom setting
...are we seeing a clue to model naming? Read on...
- Canon 600EX-RT, Guide Number of 60m @...wait for it... 200mm zoom setting
So in fact, if you zoom the 600 back to 105mm, it has to cover 4 times the angular area, and *should* then have a guide number well under 60m, specifically 30m if there's no funny business going on in the specs. That actually makes it quite a bit less powerful than the older 580EXII, which is quite a surprise! |
Wouldn't the lighting power double, not halve since you are halving the distance the lighting power should double. (I think, so correct me if I'm wrong.) |
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07/31/2012 07:35:43 PM · #5 |
The larger the zoom, the smaller the area you need to illuminate. So your guide number goes down as your zoom setting decreases.
But it looks like the 600EX just blocks some of the light at 200mm instead of focusing more light on a tighter spot. Even at 105mm zoom it still has a guide number of 58. They probably used the exact same internal strobe as the 580EX II. |
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07/31/2012 07:38:11 PM · #6 |
| I would agree that you probably don't need either the 600EX-RT or the 580EX II if you don't plan on getting a bunch of them. The 430EX II is great as a single speedlite. I bought the 580EX II, but I almost never run it at full power. |
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07/31/2012 07:57:26 PM · #7 |
The 600 is a great flash, but is overly expensive unless you fully expect to purchase the radio transmitter that accompanies it. It's an awesome system, but be aware that you need to purchase the commander to use it. If you don't plan on doing this you should avoid the 600(and really, there are cheaper radio transmitters that are extremely reliable (you can get two PW3's for less than the cost of the ST-E3-RT), though to get power control via radio they will be more expensive than the Canon offering).
If you plan on using TTL or hypersync frequently, then the 580 would be a great do-it-all flash with plenty of power. If you don't intend to use TTL, spend your money elsewhere on a manual only flash, since you can purchase 3 of them easily for the cost of a 580. One caveat, is that to use the off-camera functions of a 580, you need to purchase either a radio transmitter, optical slave, the ST-E2, or a camera that supports the IR commander mode (like the 7D). It's a good flash, and it ought to be for that price, but be aware of its triggering limitations and factor that into the total cost if you want to do off camera. |
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08/01/2012 10:01:10 AM · #8 |
| Thanks for all the input! Still not sure what I am doing, but I appreciate the responses and have more to research/think about! |
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