Yongnuo flash question

[dalmorloson]

I'm thinking of getting a couple flashes for off camera set-ups. I have a Canon T2i. Will the Yongnuo flahes work if I trigger them with a cactus 5 system? If they will, are they worth buying or is it "you get what you pay for".

[i speak in math]

I've considered the yn560. It looks to be a great little flash for the money. There are some QA concerns which are exacerbated by the shipping to China for support but other than that, they look great.

They will work fine with cactus v5 or (I believe) when used as dummy optical slaves.

[inkista]

Pretty sure I've seen mention of that combo in Strobist groups.

With the YN flashes, you get what you pay for. The biggest issue the YN flashes have are build quality consistency. If you get a good copy, it's great. But there are a lot of folks who complain about early deaths of their flashes and having to ship to Hong Kong to make warranty claims (assuming they actually bought from Yongnuo, and not a 3rd party dealer who doesn't offer a warranty). The low price had to come from somewhere. There are a lot of happy YN flash users, but this is a known risk. Note how Hobby can't recommend the YN-560 for this reason.

If this is scaring you, and you don't mind paying a little more and giving up TTL function on-camera (depending on which YN you were considering), you might want to go to MPEX (they're in Columbus) and get the LP-160 instead.

Other folks are also saying that the Nissin flashes are working well for them with eTTL function (including the Canon wireless commanding system). But the cost is higher than with the YNs.

Highly recommend researching whatever flash you're interested in by doing a search on the Strobist group discussions on Flickr. I also like the reviews that are on speedlights.net. Most flash "reviews" don't cover the feature sets you're interested in as a Strobist. That site does, pretty comprehensively.

[dalmorloson]

Thanks so much guys for the info. I will do a little more research, but a lot of the things I've been reading assume knowledge of a lot of things that I'm not familiar with. I've read the 101 article on strobist and several other similar things, but as a very beginner even some of that stuff assumes that I understand certain things that I don't.
Basically what I want to do is set up a little home studio for portraits of my 6 children. I made a backdrop stand (I will post pics soon), and now I am exploring the lighting aspect. I want to start with a two-light set up with umbrellas and/or softbox. I've seen the studio lights advertised too. I assume that they are lights that are either on or off all the time. Is that right? Are they ok for this type of set up? What wattage is sufficient?
I know this stuff has probably been answered before, but I can't find it. I'm not being lazy. I will research as much as I need to, but I really need to start from the very basics and can't seem to find that info. Maybe instead of a 101 class someone should write a pre 101 "intro to lighting" for dummies like me (lol). Thanks again guys.

[ddr]

i emailed gadgetinfinity to ask about compatibility with the YN560 (which they sell on their website but only comes with 30 day warranty and the official ebay store is also cheaper) and they assured me that the combo is fully compatible

i also asked about the nissin di866 and they later emailed me back to let me know that they indeed are compatible

fairly good response (time)

[archersdad]

That combo works very well. If you decide on the 560, make sure you get the newer version. It now comes with an improved head zoom motor as well as a metal foot.

[Couldbe]

I have 4 of the YN560's and they have worked great so far. (10 months old)They do have the metal shoe and IMO are built quite well. The stated GN for the flash is not correct. The ouput @105 full power is 36GN. I also have 2 Metz 48's and their stated power isn't correct (lower)as well.I would buy others if needed. If you would like the 1 year warranty only buy from HGYONGUNO direct, others will not offer the full warranty.
Mike

[tyasa81]

i have 1 yn560... dropped it from a height of around 1.8m... the flash survived fine... and my heart doesn't skip as much as it would if it is my sb600 that fell instead, being that it's around 1/3 the price of an sb600..