Canon EOS 5D Mk II - Flashgun recommendations?

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Koukouvaya

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Hello all

I've around £200 (give or take 50) to spend on a versatile flashgun for my Canon. Mainly it'll be portraiture stuff, and be used directly on subjects (haven't started with reflectors or really fiddling with light yet!)

anyone got any personal recommendations at models and things i should be looking out for? :)

many thanks
 
I have a nissin di866mk2 amd a canon 430ex2. Both of which cost £200. Both can be controlled via the camera which is useful (though mine are usually off camera) the nissin had loads of features that the canon doesn't. If I was to add a third flash it would be another nissin 866.
 
canon 430ex or 580ex...

there are so many benefits to just buying the real deal from the beginning. Learning this cost me too much money. Nissin flashes, for example, often don't like to play nicely with radio triggers.
 
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I've had absolutely no bother with my nissin and triggers...I have heard of some who have bother with the 622 but not 866.

The nissin nocks the spots off my 430ex2 hands down. It will act as master and control my canon too which is a bonus.

If you can afford a 580ex2 then it will be the best choice but bang for your buck the nissin 866 is unbeatable IMHO
 
Just get a 580ex II and be done with it. for the £200 mark you should be able to grab one :)
 
Thanks to all for your advice. Very much appreciated. :)

After some consideration I've decided to go for a 580exII secondhand. Personal experience tells me that keeping hardware consistant the same manufatcurer saves compatibility headaches down the line. Nissin was tempting though!

Supplementary question - do all these flashguns respond well to rechargeable batteries at all?
 
Cris_L said:
I have a nissin di866mk2 amd a canon 430ex2. Both of which cost £200. Both can be controlled via the camera which is useful (though mine are usually off camera) the nissin had loads of features that the canon doesn't. If I was to add a third flash it would be another nissin 866.
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:agree::agree:

i have the nissin , great flash for the money.
 
Supplementary question - do all these flashguns respond well to rechargeable batteries at all?
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yes, much better than they do alkalines.

The ones you want are from 7dayshop, either the 'good to go' own brand ones, or the eneloops.
 
If you want to get into some really nice portraits then you better off with off camera flash and for £200 you should easily be able to get two Yungnew 560s which are just as powerfull and robust as the 580EXII just without the ETTL, grab a couple cheap softboxes and trigger set and then experiment :).

Yongnuo 560 Flash £45.99
Softbox kit £36.99
2xLight stands £21.95
RF-602 triggers £43.48

By far not the cheapest but with a bit of shopping around you could do it and would give you a much better start then just using 1 flash gun on axis and £10 change :).
 
If you do consider the Yungnew 560s, please first check out some Strobist sites and see the amount of post regarding problems with this flash and the poor customer service some people receive.
 
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Kemble3 said:
If you do consider the Yungnew 560s, please first check out some Strobist sites and see the amount of post regarding problems with this flash and the poor customer service some people receive.
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That was all IMO and I tend to put them in the buy cheap get cheap but there not bad from my experience, it would be nice to have a couple of 580s but at 4-6x cheaper they are a much better choice :).
 
Kemble3 said:
If you do consider the Yungnew 560s, please first check out some Strobist sites and see the amount of post regarding problems with this flash and the poor customer service some people receive.
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but...but... they are £50!!!

The second batch with the metal foot seem to be reliable, reading around very few bad stories. I have one, its just excellent value for money. I also have 430exII, they both produce light :)

re the OP's question. the canon 430exII comes in at budget, the metz 50-af2 or the nissin are fine as alternatives.
 
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if you're buying ONE flash, ferchrissakes get a real one that can TTL. The strobist bunch will slaughter me for saying this (til they see how many speedlights live in my bag...) but it is essential (imo) to have a flash that you can put on your camera and for it to just -work-. This means a decent, TTL capable flash - you don't want to have to be changing flash settings the whole time as you walk around a room or move the flash head.
 
itsdavedotnet said:
yes, much better than they do alkalines.

The ones you want are from 7dayshop, either the 'good to go' own brand ones, or the eneloops.
Click to expand...

Bit of a delayed response on my part bbut I've ordered myself some of the 'good to go' ones, and will post a little review with how i find them to work with the flashgun

Ta again to you and everybody for the all the input, i don't think i even want to think about strobing yet ;)
 
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