Canon 550EX [used] vs Yongnuo YN600EX-RT II [new]

[Kit.]

550EX will work on even newest camera, just wont measure light according to latest standard.

Flashes don't measure light (or at lest not in E-TTL. They did it in A-TTL). They just pre-fire in their group. Then the camera measures the light and tells the group how strong it should fire.

Groups D and E are radio-only and likely aren't supported by 600D even with an RT master.

 

[Jim Saunders]

Groups D and E are radio-only and likely aren't supported by 600D even with an RT master.

I agree; a quick tinker with my 40D indicates that a YN600EX-RT II will trigger other RT lights given a couple of caveats:

ETTL and manual modes work but only for lights in groups A, B and C;
Multi I'm not sure works properly; and
Group works but only for manual mode for each group and only for A, B, C although it does allow different power settings.

The YN-E3-RT on legacy mode may be a partial workaround but that's another story. In any case I maintain that few extra bucks for RT triggering is worth it even if your current camera only partially supports it.

Jim

 

[canonflashgeek]

Acording to me, Yongnuo YN 560 III is latest version of YN 560 series. It comes with lates updates like 2.4 GHz wireless radio receiver,zoom range of 24-105mm, full bounce and swivel lighting by moving unit to -7 to 90-degree tilt and 270-degree.
It has high flash intensity, contains battery input. It has built in receiver, S1 and s2 pre flash cancellation. You can get great feauters.

 

[Maru]

I would say...dont use Yongnuo ...2 of my flashes broke battery door {which is common if you see in internet} and they simply declined to change or give me a part {so that i can figure out how to do it myself} ..so now they are going in trash... i am a dad and normal person so think how much time i charge the battery {and hence open the battery door for getting battery}... i have a basic canon 430EX...it never ever gave a problem in last 10 years....

Get used/discotinued/new Canon or something else..Yongnuo support was very rude

This is my personal experience..experts here can give some actual facts

 

[VegasCameraGuy]

Rather than the Yongnuo, you might consider Godox or Flashpoint as you have a lot more compatible accessories and they are interchangeable with Canon and overheat also. Before I switched to Godox, I was using the Yongnuo with the Godox battery pack and it worked well except it overheated all the time and stopped working until it cooled down. Of course that would fit in with the R5. LOL That's what got me to switch is the overheating issue. Check the details for the maximum number of flashes before it overheats. Godox/Flashpoint will typically let you get almost 100 flashes in quick succession before it overheats and the Yongnuo would crap out at 10-20 (I don't remember the exact number). I do a lot of model photography and having the flash overheat right in the middle of things is a pain. Certainly the Godox/Flashpoint (they are the same) are more expensive but it's a one time purchase. If you just blew $7K on a R5 and lens, moving up to Godox will mean that you only have to eat dog food for another month.

 

[Bennymiata]

If you can afford it, get a Godox V1. The round head makes beautiful light, and the flash can be charged via USB.
The accessory pack that you can buy has some very useful things in it that connect magnetically too.
Since getting one, I've basically stopped using my Canon flashes.

 

[VegasCameraGuy]

I'd recommend skipping the Yongnuo and moving to Godox or FlashPoint (same units). They are interchangeable (signal wise) with Canon and you don't have to do anything special to use them. For model photography when I typically shoot 1,000+ pictures in a session, I use the Godox AD-360 with the external PB-960 battery pack. Setting on AP at f8, the flash will throw out enough light to blind anyone within 20 feet and I get 1-2 second recharge times. Technically, it's supposed to give 500 flashes at full power but from experience, it will go a lot further than that as normally all flashes under TTL are not full power. I usually replace the battery at around 500-600 flashes to hold the recycle time down when it starts taking more than a couple of seconds to recharge. The battery part of the external pack just slides off and you can switch out the battery packs in less than a minute without disconnecting anything.

I've got two Yongnuo 660's (I think) but the problem with them is that the flash rapidly overheats and shuts down like an R5 in video mode. There is nothing worse than hitting the shutter release and the flash refusing to fire. It's been a while but the flash will shoot less than 20 flashes at full power in short order before overheating. My AD-360 is rated for about 80 full-power flashes before taking a coffee break and I've never had that happen during a model shoot.

If you insist on the Yongnuo, you can buy an adapter cable to connect to the Godox PB-960 battery pack ($150) and get instant recharge and rapid overheat! LOL I think the Yongnuo is a great flash especially since they are dirt cheap. If you don't have an occasion to require multiple flashes in short order, it's a good choice. I initially tried the Yongnuo a couple of years ago with the flash trigger and it was good but in actual practice, I couldn't stand the overheating problem. The Godox/Flashpoint is completely compatible with Canon EOS cameras and you can do anything that you can do with the Canon flash in TTL mode.

My setup when I do flash photography is a Godox AD-360 firing into an umbrella with the PB-960 hanging off the tripod. Using the Godox Xpro-C wireless trigger on the hot shoe, I can instantly change the lighting without wires right on the camera. On location with a lightweight tripod, it's easy to move around and being able to shoot at f8 minimizes out of focus and DOF issues. I normally shoot at ISO 100 and f8 on my R5 (1/200th shutter) and even firing into the umbrella, I can light up a room with no trouble. The AD360ii with a power pack is $500 and can work for both studio and fieldwork. You just spent $6-7K on an R5 system, what's another $500?

 

[VegasCameraGuy]

If you can afford it, get a Godox V1. The round head makes beautiful light, and the flash can be charged via USB.
The accessory pack that you can buy has some very useful things in it that connect magnetically too.
Since getting one, I've basically stopped using my Canon flashes.

I've looked at buying one of those but haven't pulled the trigger yet. I bought a Flashpoint Zoom Li-on R2 TTL On-Camera Flash Speedlight (V860II-C) to use as a small flash and really like it. With the popout batteries, it's easy to replace batteries and keep shooting. I typically use my AD360 which is 360 watt-seconds and reminds me of the old days with my Metz 202 potato mashers. That's the one thing I dislike on the AD360 is that it is heavy. If they would pull the capacitors and put them in the battery pack like the Metz, it would be much easier to use.