Canon 430ex Flash

[marks]

Hey everyone, I found a 430ex on craigslist for 140.00 obo. I don't have any flash unit for my XSi except for the built in and was wondering what you all think about the 430ex. From what I've been able to find online it seems like a nice unit, just not as nice as the 530 of course. Any help or input on build, quality, price, etc... would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Mark

p.s. I don't do much indoor work at all, mostly outdoors, but would like to have the ability to take some nice indoor photos.

[BCampbell]

430ex II is a great first time flash. Most people then step up but keep the 430 as a second or slave unit.

That sounds like a "too good to be true" price, though. I would steer clear; if it's in proper working condition, it was probably stolen.

[marks]

It does seem like a very low price, I agree. Just to be clear though, it's just the EX, not the EX II... I'm supposed to talk to him at 4ish today and I'll try and get a feel for him and the unit. Thanks for the info on the flash unit.

[inkista]

It's a little low, but not outside the realms of possibility for a 430EX. They were going for $200 new when the 430EXII came out. Before the MkII, they also sold for $250 new.

Just check that it's physically ok, and still fires on your camera's hotshoe. You don't want the tilt/swivel to be broken, the battery door to be missing, or any of the buttons to be non-functional. I'd suggest downloading the manual from the Canon website (the PDF will be under Drivers and Downloads and for some weird reason you may need to use IE to download it--I've had Firefox bomb out), and picking a few functions to see if you can set them on the flash back--especially being able to put the flash in Manual and adjusting the power level manually.

Be aware that the MkI cannot be controlled via the camera back (only the MkIIs can), and that the swivel is 90° to the right and 180° to the left, so it's not broken if it doesn't go all the way around.

The 430EX is a good flash, but not quite as capable as the 580EX. Still, a great choice for on-camera flash work. If, however, you have Strobist ambitions and aren't planning on using the flash on the hotshoe at all, you may prefer spending that $150 on a new LumoPro LP120 instead, and getting a two-year warranty. The LP120 has a PC port, an optical slave, and a 1/8" monojack for off-camera triggering. The 430EX, not so much--you've only got the hotshoe.

[BCampbell]

My mistake, I thought it was an EXII, that's a fairly reasonable price.

[pahowes]

Just a thought: An alternative is the Nissin Di622. It retails for around $150 and is rather similar to the 420EX-II. It doesn't have any manual controls, but the in-camera controls work just fine. The optical slave works with Canon's wireless system, but it will not work with a PocketWizard FlexTT

Or, for $250 you can get the Nissin Di866, which is similar to the 580EX-II and has full manual controls on the back.

[marks]

Thanks for all the quick responses. I did decide to go ahead and pick it up. It works great, came with the original box, soft bag, aftermarket diffuser and stand. It's like new condition. I priced them on ebay and it was def. priced low, I could turn it for about 175 or so.

However the coolest thing is that when I went to meet him I realized he and I used to race motorcycles together and he has been doing photog. for the last 10 yrs or so. He's got a ton of contacts and people in the area he said he'll introduce me too, so I think it worked out great.

Thanks again for all the help everyone,

Mark