Third Party Accessories - What to Buy, What to Avoid

[FatDaddyJones]

Most photographers, whether professional or hobbyist, are price conscious and want to get the best deal for their money. The best value for some means buying the most inexpensive item. For others it means the best quality no matter the price. I think that most of us fall somewhere in the middle, wanting to balance price with quality.

When it comes to OEM Canon accessories compared to third party options, I'm sure that some have found Canon accessories to be superior in quality, while others have found 3rd party equipment to be sufficient, if not equal in quality for much lower cost. There are also many horror stories of knock off equipment and bad service from third party manufacturers.

If anyone has a recommendation on a third party accessory (battery, grip, flash, caps, hoods, etc.) that you have found to be a good value and good quality, I'd like to hear it. If there are any ones that are better off avoided, I'd like to hear that too.

 

[tortilla]

I can recommend the Yongnuo YN-560 II flash. Flash intensity cannot be controlled by camera but it is quite powerful and build quality is very good. The 600 EX has more features, but the Yongnuo only costs about €60 - €70.

 

[aprotosimaki]

I have a pair of cactus v5 triggers. No ETTL but the price is right. They are less than robust but I have had no problems using them. From time to time my off camera flash does not fire but reseating the triggers/flash sorts this out. If you are on a budget, I recommend them.

 

[Loswr]

I use mostly Canon OEM where available. Particularly, batteries and the battery grip. I'd have no problem using a 3rd party flash for manual output. I'd also stay away from 3rd party lens hoods - not so much for the chance of a worse fit (Canon hoods are hit and miss depending on the lens) but because the Canon hoods have flocking on the inside, whereas the smooth, reflective inner surface of a 3rd party hood can actually add flare instead of reducing it.

 

[RLPhoto]

Just recently bought a CB-mini bracket, And its fantastic.

 

[alexanderferdinand]

Borrowed a 17-40/4 from my local dealer, the worst CAs I've ever seen in the corners.

Then bought the 16-35/2,8 II; maybe a lemon, corners soft even at f8.

After more then a year I tried the Tokina 16-28/2,8 (first non- Canon- lens after 25 years.
A week later I sold the 16-35/2,8II.
This is now 2 years ago, and I'm still happy with my decision.

 

[Efka76]

I use Meike battery grip for my Canon EOS 7D and Hahnel spare battery. Very happy with quality of these products. Also, one of lenses is Tamron SP 24-70, which is one of my favourite.

 

[distant.star]

.
I've had good experience with Vello wired and wireless shutter releases. The prices are so dramatically lower than Canon's, I couldn't not try them. In some cases I could buy four or five of the Vello units for the price of one Canon. No failures so far.

You probably don't need to be told Tiffen filters are poor. I made the mistake of leaving one of their UV filters on a used lens I bought -- really screwed up some night photography for me.

 

[brad-man]

Borrowed a 17-40/4 from my local dealer, the worst CAs I've ever seen in the corners.

Then bought the 16-35/2,8 II; maybe a lemon, corners soft even at f8.

After more then a year I tried the Tokina 16-28/2,8 (first non- Canon- lens after 25 years.
A week later I sold the 16-35/2,8II.
This is now 2 years ago, and I'm still happy with my decision.

Couldn't agree more. I still like my 17-40 for it's light weight, the fact that it's weather sealed, and decent sharpness, but I whip out the Tokina for when it counts. I have 15 Canon lenses, 6 of which are "L". However, the last three lenses I have purchased are the Tokina 16-28 f/2.8, the Sigma 35 f/1.4 DG and the Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 Di VC. Canon has no match for any of these lenses. You can argue the EF24-70 2.8L ll will beat/match the Tamron, but no IS and an overly aggressive price tag rules it out for me...

 

[FatDaddyJones]

I've got a Yongnuo wireless remote which works great and for a great price too.

One item I wouldn't recommend is the knock-off LensPen. The one's I've seen and used don't have the same cleaning compound and actually leave smudges on the lens rather than cleaning it.

 

[paul13walnut5]

I am a stickler for genuine canon flash, I have third party other things, but for speedlite I think it needs to be canon, so many extra functions and features that integrate seamlessly if you keep it all canon, for me flash is so full of pitfalls and brickbats that the simpler the better.

I do have an off brand ringflash, but it's a purely manual affair and was very cheap.

I have third party lenses, sometimes it makes sense to stick to canon, other times the third party manufacturers plug a hole in canons range, such as the Tokina fast UWA 11-16, the bright standard 30mm f1.4, I've also owned the Bigma in the past (Sigma 50-500)

I find with sigma there is more sample variation, I got a 17-35 f2.8-4 which was horrible, swapped for 17-40 (eventually swapped for kit 18-55!! now using Sigma 18-50 f2.8)

I bought a lensbaby, thought I would use it lots, haven't really.

I would say for the more esoteric, get hands on in a shop or ideally hire before committing.

I bought a 24mm TS-E (mk1 as was available at the time) wanting to do lots of fake minature, but never really did, and so sold it. At a modest loss, to be fair.

I use calumet and energiser batteries, no issue. I use Hoya Green label filters, no issue. I use chinese intervalometers, no issue.

 

[Dukinald]

+1 on Yongnuo flash triggers (622 & 603).

I would definitely get a Yongnuo speedlite if I need another one.

I have very good experience with Meinke BG as well.

Like what Neuro mentioned about 3rd party hoods, they are a waste of money as most of the time fitment is as issue.

 

[jp121]

I bought 2 sterlingtek lp-e6 batteries. They are 2600mah.

They always report to the camera that they need to be replaced, when the camera is turned on. But after a couple of shots, the batteries report correctly to the camera.

 

[skitron]

Thumbs up for Yongnuo stuff.
Thumbs up for B+W filters.

 

[Don Haines]

I got the IoShutter remote control......lets me do LONG exposures and time-lapse....

 

[Richard8971]

As far as equipment goes, flashes (with a few exceptions) and lenses I always buy Canon brand.

Battery grips, batteries, extension tubes, remote shutter switches, tripod mounts, hoods and diffusers I buy aftermarket. If you buy them from a well known dealer (like Adorama.com, Accstation or Heavystar on eBay), I have yet to have a problem with fit and performance with any of these products and 99% of the time, no one will know if they are the Canon brand or not.

Buy top end equipment and save yourself some $$$ with the accessories. Sometimes it seems really stupid how much Canon wants for some of the stuff. Why buy a $40 dollar hood when I can get one from eBay for $6?

A friend of mine showed me his new Canon brand remote shutter switch that he had just bought. I asked how much and he said $80.00. I choked and showed him my eBay one (that looked and performed identical) that I bought for 5 bucks shipped. Ouch!

The Wasabi Power batteries (LP-E6) from Amazon are amazing. $30.00 + shipping gets you 2 batteries plus an A/C and D/C charger!

D

 

[Andy_Hodapp]

Sigma 105mm EX DG Macro F/2.8 was a great lens on my Canon T1i, though I upgraded to a Canon 5D Mk II and it has been missing focus, I need to adjust the micro adjustments for it. I also got a Yongnuo YN-560 II and just this week, about 90 days after I bought it, the flash went out, the flash made a loud pop sound and it started to smell really badly, so I guess the bulb broke or something. The flash was amazing up till that moment but I was in the middle of a payed photo shoot and I was not able to get my best results because of this. I use my flash with the Cowboy Studios FM radio trigger things and they work great, I don't need a system with ETTL because I shoot with a manual flash so they are great and really cheap. I also got some Wasabi batteries for my new 5D MKII and while I have not had them for to long, I love them, very cheap and very good.

I do have a question for all of you on here, what is the best third party grip for the 5D MKII? A lot of them seem not to have the rubber on the back which seems like something that would be a little annoying. I've also read the you have to remove the grip when you put batteries in it and that the grips can easily get stuck to the camera. I've also heard that the battery grips can suck a lot of energy from the batteries so if you leave the batteries in the camera, it will be out of charge in less then a week. I've been thinking about getting the Pixel battery grip but I haven't heard much about it.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Third party equipment is usually less reliable, and often is incompatible with new camera models. If you are making money on your photography, or need reliability, be careful.
Flashes tend to be the most problematic, and many, if not most failed to work with the 5D MK III. Current models are usually updated, but if you have a out of production flash, a upgrade may never happen. Lots of people get bit on this one.
As long as you wait 6 months after a new camera commes out, you will be able to find out what equipment works, and what will never work.

 

[crasher8]

Wasabi batteries are the only 3rd party that has worked well for me, charged to capacity in a Canon charger and has longevity.

 

[FatDaddyJones]

Last week I received a battery grip for my 5D Mark III from eBay, along with two batteries, all made by DSTE from China. The battery grip feels very solid and is identical in style and function to the Canon BG-E11, having the same buttons and side loading battery tray. It also comes with the AA battery tray. Communication with the camera worked flawlessly, and it reported that a BG-E11 was connected. The camera also reported individual battery information with the grip attached.

The DSTE batteries are 2600mAh and fully decoded. You can charge them in the original Canon charger, and they show battery information in the camera.

For $72 and free shipping, I would highly recommend this grip and also the DSTE batteries for those price conscious photographers who aren't afraid to use third party accessories.