Canon 580 EXII vs 430 EXII

[PeteNaples]

Good evening all,

I am thinking of feeding my GAS.

Currently I have 1 x Canon 430 EXII and 1 x Canon 580 EXII.
For sale locally is a 580 EXII at a reasonable rpice.

I'm considering getting it and parting with the 430 EXII.

That would mean the pair can work wirelessly together in master/slave. Either can be master whereas the 430 is slave only.

I can't think of a good reason not to. I tend to reach for the 580 first.

The only thing, for some reason my elderly 1S MKii won't trigger the 580, works perfectly with the 430.

 

[cuthbert]

The other thing to consider - just to confuse you further - is looking at Godox flashes like the V1. They offer a much better trigger system (built-in 2.4GHz wireless), and the recycle times are way faster thanks to the lithium battery compared to the Canon flashes running on AAs.

I still have a couple of 430EX IIs, but honestly, the Godox V1s are just so much better that I rarely use the Canons anymore.
That said, if you can afford to keep all of them, go ahead and grab the 580. Then add a decent trigger system - if you go with a Godox triggers and receivers, you can mix and match your EX IIs and Godox flashes, which gives you loads of flexibility for off-camera setups.

 

[PeteNaples]

Food for thought!

I've got the Canon wireless trigger someplace now I think about it

 

[cuthbert]

The Godox triggers are a million miles better and much more reliable than the old optical Canon ST-E2 which I have had and was always a PITA, especially if you wanted to use it outside. It’s also really useful that you can tweak the power settings from the trigger without having to dive in the menus which makes set up a bit easier…

… but it is an investment and takes a while to build up your kit…. But I would say from being invested in the Canon speed light ecosystem the 3rd party options are just more solid, imo - and well worth thinking about!

 

[swanseamale47]

I've never found the Canon "wirless" control system be be easy to set up, Nikons (or the D3/D4) were miles simpler. Godox or even Yongnuo are much easier for OCF.