smithy said:
Haha don't burn your 430EX! As I said in the rest of my post, my choice was financial. If I bought a 430EX for $400 and sold it for 60% of what I paid for it, I still would have lost $160. My Yongnuo was $180 new, so I think we can consider it disposable...paul13walnut5 said:
Canon doesn't have to do a complete change to their flash system to "trip up 3rd party manufacturers." With my 40D I was having excellent results with my Sigma 500 flash. Then I bought my 7D and it no longer would work. Some of the Sigma 500 flashes could be rechipped to work but mine was the older model that couldn't. I still use it with my 40D kit and it is an excellent slave flash so it wasn't a total loss. Just a demonstration that change can be incremental and my 580EX II replacement works with my wife's 30D and my 40D.smithy said:The odd thing is that my inexpensive Yongnuo flash has all of those things on your list... obviously there's no guarantee it'll work on future bodies, but I doubt Canon would completely change their flash system to deliberately trip up 3rd party manufacturers. They'd have to release firmware upgrades for their entire back catalogue of digital camera bodies to support the new system too, which would be costly.
However, there is no doubt that a 430EX II would make a *superb* first camera flash, and for US$259 (in the USA), why not? In my country the 430EX costs more than US$400, which is why I chose the Yongnuo ($180).
dks14 said:
You've made a very valid point. I also have the Sigma 500DG Super (purchased in 2004), but it doesn't even work on my 40D, so I've been using it off camera.Old Sarge said:Canon doesn't have to do a complete change to their flash system to "trip up 3rd party manufacturers." With my 40D I was having excellent results with my Sigma 500 flash. Then I bought my 7D and it no longer would work. Some of the Sigma 500 flashes could be rechipped to work but mine was the older model that couldn't. I still use it with my 40D kit and it is an excellent slave flash so it wasn't a total loss. Just a demonstration that change can be incremental and my 580EX II replacement works with my wife's 30D and my 40D.smithy said:The odd thing is that my inexpensive Yongnuo flash has all of those things on your list... obviously there's no guarantee it'll work on future bodies, but I doubt Canon would completely change their flash system to deliberately trip up 3rd party manufacturers. They'd have to release firmware upgrades for their entire back catalogue of digital camera bodies to support the new system too, which would be costly.
However, there is no doubt that a 430EX II would make a *superb* first camera flash, and for US$259 (in the USA), why not? In my country the 430EX costs more than US$400, which is why I chose the Yongnuo ($180).
I actually intend to get a Yongnuo unit for slave purposes so I am not trying to discourage anyone from using them. Read a lot of good reports on them but people should be aware that a simple change from Canon might make them of little use in the future unless you want them as off camera slaves.
If I remember correctly, always problematical at my age, I originally bought the 500DG Super for my rebel or my 20D. It worked fine on the 40D. But it failed completely on-camera with the 7D so I bought the 580EX II for a replacement. Some of the 500DG flashes could be rechipped but my didn't qualify for some reason....which escapes me now (see memory=problematical above).smithy said:You've made a very valid point. I also have the Sigma 500DG Super (purchased in 2004), but it doesn't even work on my 40D, so I've been using it off camera.Old Sarge said:Canon doesn't have to do a complete change to their flash system to "trip up 3rd party manufacturers." With my 40D I was having excellent results with my Sigma 500 flash. Then I bought my 7D and it no longer would work. Some of the Sigma 500 flashes could be rechipped to work but mine was the older model that couldn't. I still use it with my 40D kit and it is an excellent slave flash so it wasn't a total loss. Just a demonstration that change can be incremental and my 580EX II replacement works with my wife's 30D and my 40D.smithy said:The odd thing is that my inexpensive Yongnuo flash has all of those things on your list... obviously there's no guarantee it'll work on future bodies, but I doubt Canon would completely change their flash system to deliberately trip up 3rd party manufacturers. They'd have to release firmware upgrades for their entire back catalogue of digital camera bodies to support the new system too, which would be costly.
However, there is no doubt that a 430EX II would make a *superb* first camera flash, and for US$259 (in the USA), why not? In my country the 430EX costs more than US$400, which is why I chose the Yongnuo ($180).
I actually intend to get a Yongnuo unit for slave purposes so I am not trying to discourage anyone from using them. Read a lot of good reports on them but people should be aware that a simple change from Canon might make them of little use in the future unless you want them as off camera slaves.
Since you're intending to get one, you'll be pleased to know that the Yongnuo is a big step up from the Sigma in terms of build quality and features.
anthonyd said:I've had the 430 ex II for a few years now and I'm satisfied with its performance but _NOT_ with the buttons. They are tiny and unless you are changing the settings through the camera, it's a major pain in the butt.
I also own an ancient Sunpak flash which I always use in manual mode with Yongnuo remote triggers. It has a slider for 1/32 - 1/1 output power which you can change in a split second and it just works. Here is a picture showing it in action (at 1/32 power) through a little handheld umbrella (although the picture itself was a failure, since the subject moved way too close to the light).
and here is a more successful result with the same setup:
The point I'm trying to make here is that you can't go wrong buying an external flash. After you get used to using more than ambient light even the crappiest flash will be able to give you nice results.
