Difference between Yongnuo flashes

[Equilibrium8]

Hi all

I'm using a Canon 450D and looking for a off-camera flash to use with it. The yongnuo flashes fit into my budget. I assumed that the higher the model number, the better it would be. But after looking through some reviews it appears they are different animals. However the reviews don't seem to go into details about the differences. Could anybody shed some light (oops, no pun intended) on the differences between the YN 460, 465 and 468?

Some things I found which confused me were:
1. "Radio triggering is the best option you have on the Yongnuo 468, there is no PC sync socket available... The advantage of the PC port is not reliability – PC sockets often don’t provide a very good connection. But the advantage is that the flash foot remains free so it can be mounted direct on a light stand e.g., without the trigger in between."
Is this limiting?

2. "no support for the latest TTL features (HSS, modeling light)"
Again, what limitations would this impose?

3. One forum had a post which said:
"- Yongnuo 465 TTL for daily usage.

- Yongnuo 460 II for Off Camera Flash."
But no further details about why...any idea?

Thanks!

[i speak in math]

The 465 appears to add TTL support for canon and nikon and replaces the optical slave with an auto focus assist beam. The 468 adds an LCD display, stroboscopic mode and flash exposure compensation.

The 560 is more powerful and adds a 1/128 power setting, has a longer (worse) flash duration at full power, PC Synch socket, and electric zoom head, but loses the TTL support.

[inkista]

Yongnuo Speedlites | Speedlights.net

Speedlights.net has the most thorough information on the Yong-Nuo YN models, with great detailed reviews and specs for reach. There are basically two "series" of YNs: those that are TTL-capable, and those that are manual-only. The YN-x60s (460, 460II, 560) are manual only. The 465, 467, and 468 are TTL-capable. With these three, the higher the number, the more features.

And by TTL-capable, the only function it can do is set the power automatically based on a preflash and metering. None of them are capable of high-speed sync or the Canon proprietary wireless signaling. For that, you still need OEM flashes, like the 430EXII or 580EXII. Yongnuo does make a clone of the ST-E2 strobeless master unit, but it only works with the OEM flashes, not with the YN ones.

Originally Posted by Equilibrium8

1. "Radio triggering is the best option you have on the Yongnuo 468, there is no PC sync socket available... The advantage of the PC port is not reliability – PC sockets often don’t provide a very good connection. But the advantage is that the flash foot remains free so it can be mounted direct on a light stand e.g., without the trigger in between."
Is this limiting?

The tradeoff is exactly as described. With a PC (or other sync connector like a 1/8" minijack), you don't have the trigger adding to the height of the flash head when you mount on a lightstand. With a radio trigger on the hotshoe, it goes lightstand->trigger->flash. If you have a separate sync port, you can take the trigger out of the "sandwich", and just put the flash directly on the lightstand, which lowers the head an inch, and can make it easier to hit the center of an umbrella or softbox.

2. "no support for the latest TTL features (HSS, modeling light)"
Again, what limitations would this impose?

Go find out what high-speed sync and CLS are.

3. One forum had a post which said:
"- Yongnuo 465 TTL for daily usage.

- Yongnuo 460 II for Off Camera Flash."
But no further details about why...any idea?

Because the 460II is a manual-only flash. TTL automatically sets the power level on the flash by sending out a "pre-flash" burst of light of a known brightness. The camera meters this burst, then sets the flash power to bring what it metered to what it considers the proper level for exposure. This is like shooting in aperture-priority mode: it's fast/automatic, and it's usually close enough, but it's inconsistent from shot to shot, because the metering will change from shot to shot, and it can be thrown off when the metering's thrown off.

A manual-only flash is like shooting in M mode--you manually have to go up to the flash and set the power level. You shoot. Then you check the shot, and you adjust and reshoot. This absolutely sucks for run'n'gun event shooting (like weddings), where you only get one chance to grab the shot. It's good, though, for studio conditions, where once you get everything set, you take a series of shots with the same settings. You have more control and consistency, but it takes longer.

Learning Strobist techniques and equipment is not a simple matter, or one that can be spoonfed. You gotta go out and do your homework. Google is your friend, as is the Strobist website, and the Strobist group on Flickr. I'd also recommend the neilvn.com Tangents website.

My one big word of advice is that if you aren't yet comfortable shooting in full Manual mode and thoroughly grounded in the basics of iso, aperture, and shutter speed and how your camera meters, you really want to get that under your belt first, before attempting flash.

[Equilibrium8]

Thanks for your replies!

Speedlights.net has the most thorough information on the Yong-Nuo YN models, with great detailed reviews and specs for reach

Thx. I did read through the speedlites site before posting, but wasn't clear on some points.

And by TTL-capable, the only function it can do is set the power automatically based on a preflash and metering. None of them are capable of high-speed sync or the Canon proprietary wireless signaling.

OK, that seems OK as I was thinking about getting the YN rf602 wireless, which apparently doesn't support the extra features anyway. So I will just be able to use it manually.

Go find out what high-speed sync and CLS are.

Thanks. Very informative. Does Canon have an equivalent to CLS?

Because the 460II is a manual-only flash. TTL automatically sets the power level on the flash by sending out a "pre-flash" burst of light of a known brightness.

So with the limitations of the RF602, they will be on par as far this functionality goes it seems.

Learning Strobist techniques and equipment is not a simple matter, or one that can be spoonfed. You gotta go out and do your homework. Google is your friend, as is the Strobist website, and the Strobist group on Flickr. I'd also recommend the neilvn.com Tangents website.

My one big word of advice is that if you aren't yet comfortable shooting in full Manual mode and thoroughly grounded in the basics of iso, aperture, and shutter speed and how your camera meters, you really want to get that under your belt first, before attempting flash.

Sure, I understand. But I wasn't really looking to try dig deep into flash photography yet, just basically get flashes to remove shadows and a bit of extra light without laying out for bigger lighting rigs.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by Equilibrium8

Does Canon have an equivalent to CLS?

Yes. So, reading up on CLS gives you a lot of the same basics. There are some differences between the two systems (more Nikons have masters in the pop-up flash, and they have a built in "dumb" optical slave mode, etc.) but overall the same basic function exists in both systems, and they're both near-infrared/light-based signalling, so suffer from the same line-of-sight and range in daylight issues.

So with the limitations of the RF602, they will be on par as far this functionality goes it seems.

Yes. The difference comes when you use one on the camera's hotshoe, or with a TTL-capable sync cable (one that connects hotshoe-to-hotshoe, not sync port to sync port).

[Equilibrium8]

Originally Posted by inkista

Yes. The difference comes when you use one on the camera's hotshoe, or with a TTL-capable sync cable (one that connects hotshoe-to-hotshoe, not sync port to sync port).

Thanks. I think I'll just get the YN468 for extra on camera flash for now, and have the options open later when I decide whether to go with cables or wireless (after I know what I am doing)