What flash should I get for my 60D?

[omar]

I never thought about needing a flash. I've seen looads of youtube videos and think I'm right in saying that I need a flash

What should I get?
Are there any specific models that I should go for?

I've seen on eBay cheap ones for £30
Will these suit me in the beginning? Or should I save my pennies and invest in proper gear?

Thanks


Omar

 

[Ido]

Are you planing on using it on/off camera?
What is your budget?

Your 60D has the ability to trigger a remote slave with its own pop up flash (not as good as RT, but it's good enough for starting out)

 

[Marsu42]

I never thought about needing a flash. I've seen looads of youtube videos and think I'm right in saying that I need a flash

The current 430ex2 is a good flash, it supports high speed sync, is versatile and has a nice size. Look for a Canon rebate or a used unit, I've used it for a year as my single flash on my 60d - you cannot go wrong with this. With the 60d, you can use the 430ex2 off camera as an optical slave.

The tricky bit comes later - you'll want more than one flash, and for outdoors you then have to decide between the very expensive Canon rt system (430ex2 is optical only, not radio) and 3rd party flashes & radio triggers - my advice is to buy Syl Arena's book Speedlighter's Guide and then figure out what lies ahead.

 

[CTJohn]

I never thought about needing a flash. I've seen looads of youtube videos and think I'm right in saying that I need a flash

The current 430ex2 is a good flash, it supports high speed sync, is versatile and has a nice size. Look for a Canon rebate or a used unit, I've used it for a year as my single flash on my 60d - you cannot go wrong with this. With the 60d, you can use the 430ex2 off camera as an optical slave.

The tricky bit comes later - you'll want more than one flash, and for outdoors you then have to decide between the very expensive Canon rt system (430ex2 is optical only, not radio) and 3rd party flashes & radio triggers - my advice is to buy Syl Arena's book Speedlighter's Guide and then figure out what lies ahead.

+1 on Syl Arena's book - "Speedliter's Handbook."

 

[omar]

430ex2 looks good
What's rt?

+ what's wrong with cheap flashes from eBay? How much better is the real thing?

 

[mwh1964]

Get the 600ex-rt. it is fantastic. You won't regret.

 

[RC]

Agree with those who recommend Syl Arena's book. Don't buy any flash yet. Get his book and read it, visit his site watch his tutorials on the 600EX RT and ST-E3-RT so you are familiar with Canon's RT system. If you are not sure if or what, then there is no need to rush into anything just yet.

Then you can decide if a single 430EX II is sufficient, or if it's worth investing in Canon's RT system, or if a cheaper 3rd party unit will suffice.

 

[Omar H]

430exII has worked fine with my 60D.

Being able to work it remotely without any additional gear is also a nice feature.

fairly inexpensive for a first flash. If you have not used them in the past, get this one, it can still work for you if later you decide to keep acquiring equipment to complement what you have already.

Regards,

Omar

 

[bholliman]

The current 430ex2 is a good flash, it supports high speed sync, is versatile and has a nice size. Look for a Canon rebate or a used unit, I've used it for a year as my single flash on my 60d - you cannot go wrong with this. With the 60d, you can use the 430ex2 off camera as an optical slave.

The tricky bit comes later - you'll want more than one flash, and for outdoors you then have to decide between the very expensive Canon rt system (430ex2 is optical only, not radio) and 3rd party flashes & radio triggers - my advice is to buy Syl Arena's book Speedlighter's Guide and then figure out what lies ahead.

+1 buy and read Syl Arena's Speedliter's Handbook first. Then pickup a speedlite.

I would also recommend the 430EXII, but the 600EX is even better if money isn't an issue. As others have pointed out, you can optically trigger an off-camera slave (like a 430EXII or 600EX) using your 60D's built in pop-up flash. This set-up will work pretty well as a starter setup and you can build by adding additional speedlites and triggers later.

 

[Marsu42]

I would also recommend the 430EXII, but the 600EX is even better if money isn't an issue.

Not necessarily - the 600rt on the 60d is rather unbalanced and large, no fun to hold for extended times - I'm always amazed how light the camera feels when I switch my 600rt for my old 430ex, esp. at the end of a flash bracket. Plus the larger flashes aren't as easy to store, so to have at least one smaller flash around is a definitive plus for me.