Canon Speedlite 430EX II for newbie

techno79

techno79

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I'm just getting into the DSLR scene and have just bought a used 550D with a 18-55mm kit lens.

I'm thinking of getting the Canon Speedlite 430EX II flash but cheapest I can find it is around £200 brand new. Is there any other flashes that I should consider for this price range?

TIA
 
I understand about wanting to stay mainstream, when I was initially looking for a flash I was looking at the Nikon ones but read a few reviews and decided that for the money it's a fantastic flash so took the plunge
Since then two of my friends have bought them after seeing mine
 
rserdetuk said:
I understand about wanting to stay mainstream, when I was initially looking for a flash I was looking at the Nikon ones but read a few reviews and decided that for the money it's a fantastic flash so took the plunge
Since then two of my friends have bought them after seeing mine
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Thanks for the reply. I'm completely new to SLR's so everything is very new (daunting and overwhelming). I think sticking to mainstream flash is my best option as more people will be able to help if I get stuck.

Even if there are better value for money flashes than the 430EX, might be worth me sticking with it until I get used to things. Then I can look at venturing out with other brands.
 
If the Canon is within budget, stick with that. Great gun.

If looking at third party guns, be aware that most of the cheaper ones don't have high speed sync - very useful for fill-in flash when it's bright.
 
HoppyUK said:
If the Canon is within budget, stick with that. Great gun.

If looking at third party guns, be aware that most of the cheaper ones don't have high speed sync - very useful for fill-in flash when it's bright.
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High speed sync? :shrug: I better get one of those Canon 550D for dummies book to brush up on the camera lingo.

I'm sure the manual has all the info but those kind of books are very good an explaining things to the layman.
 
techno79 said:
High speed sync? :shrug: I better get one of those Canon 550D for dummies book to brush up on the camera lingo.

I'm sure the manual has all the info but those kind of books are very good an explaining things to the layman.
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If you want a book, then Syl Arena's Speedliter's Handbook (Amazon £20 I think) is excellent for Canon users, but probably more than you need right now.

Or google focal plane shutter and how that works, but basically the thing is your camera cannot sync with normal flash above 1/200sec because of the way focal plane shutters work - all DSLRs have them.

Normally not a problem because it's usually darkish when you need flash, but if you're using it for fill-in outdoors (very easy technique and looks great (y)) the sunlight will be brighter and will naturally need to push the shutter speed above 1/200sec.

There are ways around it but simply switching on high speed sync is by far the easiest and fully automated. It's not a complete solution because HSS uses a lot of power and so range is reduced, but it's fine for portraits and small group shots at close-ish distance.
 
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HoppyUK said:
If you want a book, then Syl Arena's Speedliter's Handbook (Amazon £20 I think) is excellent for Canon users, but probably more than you need right now.

Or google focal plane shutter and how that works, but basically the thing is your camera cannot sync with normal flash above 1/200sec because of the way focal plane shutters work - all DSLRs have them.

Normally not a problem because it's usually darkish when you need flash, but if you're using it for fill-in outdoors (very easy technique and looks great (y)) the sunlight will be brighter and will naturally need to push the shutter speed above 1/200sec.

There are ways around it but simply switching on high speed sync is by far the easiest and fully automated. It's not a complete solution because HSS uses a lot of power and so range is reduced, but it's fine for portraits and small group shots at close-ish distance.
Click to expand...

I have a steep mountain to climb with all this new DSLR knowledge. If only technology was good enough to make all the right choices in a fully automatic mode.

Thanks for the info the fill-in flash. While I understand this, I'm sure there are tons of more bits of info that I must learn in order to get the best out of the camera.
 
HoppyUK said:
If you want a book, then Syl Arena's Speedliter's Handbook (Amazon £20 I think) is excellent for Canon users, but probably more than you need right now.
Click to expand...

I got this book last week with my new Yongnuo 565EX - the book is fantastic.

It takes you through the basics and helps you to understand all the different modes and settings of the speedlights and how they effect the image.

I also found strobist.blogspot.com/ quite useful.
 
If you want to stick with Canon, then IMHO the 430 EX II is the best value Canon flash on the market with almost all the power and all of the functions of its more expensive bigger brother the 580. Well okay, not quite, but I sold one 580 exII and use the 430 instead and I don't miss it all. :cool:

Hunt around and you'll get a good price. Like Kerso here in the trader section. I managed to get two together from somewhere else local to me for only slightly more than most people were selling the 580 at the time. :) Of course, buying two at the same time did help. ;)
 
tingting44 said:
how you getting on with your flash and dslr now mate? i should be getting my 430ex ii soon and can not wait, :)
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I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I'm using it like a point and click. I know there's a huge potential to get much better picture quality if I learn some of the auto functions but the quality on the fully auto mode is so much better than my compact point and shoot that I'm quite happy.

When I get time I may read up a bit more but for now, life is so busy that I think a DSLR being used as a point and shoot is a good compromise for me.
 
least your getting used to it my friend :D nothing wrong with that if you have not got the time to learn/use the manual functions, i was the same for a few months when i got my dslr mate all i seemed to use were the auto functions lol they are great and when you finally take the plunge and use the manual functions it just becomes 100x better when you get your head around things and not half as daunting as you think :)
 
i just had my self a 430EX II from digitalrev.com i payed £179 and i love im loving this flash great speed for when i do motorsports and anything else im doing would recommend it (y)
 
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