Speedlight Quality

[SnapHappyMum]

I'm still a newbie to photography and I want to buy a flash for the top of my camera, I believe they are called a speedlight?. Anyway, I don't have a lot of spare cash and was wondering if "you get what you pay for" applies to these. Will a cheaper one be considerably less quality than a dearer one?

Thanks for any help.

[Ambrosia76]

I bought a sunpak 2800 for my canon for less than $50 from amazon and so far I have been fairly happy with it. But you should get a cord or remote trigger and use it off camera you will get better results with it.

[homank76]

The biggest reason is that a recent Canon or Nikon brand flash will be full compatible with your camera's TTL flash mode. This is like "auto flash" and allows you to shoot without having to worry about flash power settings. It is very helpful when shooting events or other situations where your flash to subject distance is constantly changing.

The other feature that most cameras will support is high speed sync mode. Some of the lower end bodies don't support it, but most of the higher end bodies will. This is another feature that you have to stick with TTL compatible flashes.

Lower cost flashes may not be as well built, be as powerful, or as convenient as more expensive models. One thing that most manufactures do is to only allow 180 degree rotation in both directions on their highest end flashes. It can be very limiting if you flash doesn't rotate 180 degrees in both directions. That is just one example of why the more expensive flashes can certainly be worth the extra money.

[SnapHappyMum]

Awesome. Thanks for replying Ambrosia.

[SnapHappyMum]

Thanks Homank. That's given me food for thought. I want one now but maybe I'll wait and save some money for a better one? Knowing my luck the cheaper one will be crap then I'll kick myself! Thanks again.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by SnapHappyMum

I'm still a newbie to photography and I want to buy a flash for the top of my camera, I believe they are called a speedlight?. Anyway, I don't have a lot of spare cash and was wondering if "you get what you pay for" applies to these. Will a cheaper one be considerably less quality than a dearer one? ...

Homank is right in that an OEM flash will have better compatibility with your camera, but there are a bunch of "it depends" issues, here.

The Nissin DI-866, for example, can do i-TTL/e-TTL and high-speed sync, and costs considerably less than OEM flashes with the same power output. It also has built-in optical slave modes that can ignore preflashes, a color LCD, and is fully compatible with the proprietary wireless systems of Canon and Nikon, and is also firmware upgradeable for future compatibility.

But. It may not work well with other 3rd party toys, like PocketWizard TTL units. And build quality/copy consistency is probably not up to OEM standards.

There's also the fact that if you go Strobist with cheap manual radio triggers, you may not be able to use TTL at all.

It kind of depends on what you want a flash for. If you plan to put it on top of your camera and use it in a run'n'gun situation, then a TTL-capable flash is probably your best bet, and if you can afford it, an OEM top of the line one is going to give you the most features. But if you're planning on doing off-camera studio-like set-ups, maybe a simple manual flash with optical slave capability is your best bet of bang-for-the-buck.

The problem here is a lot like the chicken-and-the-egg problem of buying your first lenses. Until you use 'em, you don't know what you want, and what's worth the cash to you. My general take is that with your first flash, going for an OEM (i.e., Canon/Nikon) speedlight for your first flash, which you can use on-camera with all the bells and whistles AND off-camera is probably your best bet in terms of features, future compatibility, and 3rd party accessory compatibility. But when you want to get into off-camera lighting and a second flash, then you can look at substantially cheaper options in the all-manual world, like the LumoPro LP-160 or the YN-560.

However, if a 580EX/430EX or SB900/SB700 is out of your pricerange, then looking at speedlights from Nissin, Metz, and Sigma may be worth looking at, if you're aware that there may be a compatibility & function vs. cost compromise going on.

[flytyer57]

I'm not sure of how true it is, but some aftermarket flash units may damage your camera. It has something to do with the voltage used. I'd give a link to where I read that, but it's been over a year since I bought my 580EX and haven't had to look for another, or reasons to buy which brand.

[inkista]

It's not so much 3rd-party speedlights, as vintage ones that you have to look for. There's folklore going around that the flash hotshoe on a Canon dSLR has to be 6V or under, but this is really only true for the first generation of Canon dSLRs, and it's very unlikely you have one of those models. Anything that's newer than the original dRebel (300D) has a voltage limit on the hotshoe of 250V [see Chuck Westfall article for more details], and most modern flashes, 3rd party and OEM, have sync voltages in the range of 10V or less.

However, older flashes, like the non-HV version of the Vivitar 283 can have sync voltages considerably higher than 250V or even 300V. One page to see what someone's measured a speedlight's sync voltage at is: Photo Strobe Trigger Voltages.

[ccting]

;D you can adjust the voltage by using transformer.. ;Dlol

[inkista]

Yes, but the freaking Wein Safesync costs about half as much as a low-cost flash. Smarter to just get a flash with a lower sync voltage.