Flash questions

bartoszwozniak

bartoszwozniak

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Bartosz Wozniak
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Hello guys, I am about to buy a flash for myself, and I am struggling to understand some things regarding them. I am a Beginner myself, I have been taking pictures for around 1 year, but I am very keen and always looking to improve. I am VERY limited on budget. Here are my questions:

1. What flash should I go for??
- A brand new Yong Nuo 460 II (manual one, I dont really mind manually setting the power)
- Second Hand Nissin Di622
- Second Hand Jessops 360AFD
- Any other suggestions??

2. Why do people use off camera flash cords, when you can buy remote triggers for just as much money, or sometimes even less?? Is there a catch??

3. Just how reliable is Optical Slave?? I would have thought that it might be a little bit late, not very reliable?? Whats your opinion.

Thanks very much in advance, and I would really appreciate your answers.
 
bartoszwozniak said:
Hello guys, I am about to buy a flash for myself, and I am struggling to understand some things regarding them. I am a Beginner myself, I have been taking pictures for around 1 year, but I am very keen and always looking to improve. I am VERY limited on budget. Here are my questions:

1. What flash should I go for??
- A brand new Yong Nuo 460 II (manual one, I dont really mind manually setting the power)
- Second Hand Nissin Di662
- Second Hand Jessops 360AFD
- Any other suggestions??
Click to expand...

Nissin is the best of those. More power and features. Well made.

2. Why do people use off camera flash cords, when you can buy remote triggers for just as much money, or sometimes even less?? Is there a catch??
Click to expand...

Dedicated camera cords retain full auto-TTL operation. Only the most expensive radio triggers can do that (eg Pocket Wizard £400-plus).

3. Just how reliable is Optical Slave?? I would have thought that it might be a little bit late, not very reliable?? Whats your opinion.

Thanks very much in advance, and I would really appreciate your answers.
Click to expand...

Optical slaves are very reliable and have zero delay compared to most radio. But they can get swamped in bright light and won't do long range. No problem indoors.
 
Nissin is the best of those. More power and features. Well made.
Click to expand...
This is also the most expensive one :( I am not sure how much second hand ones go for on here??

Dedicated camera cords retain full auto-TTL operation. Only the most expensive radio triggers can do that (eg Pocket Wizard £400-plus).
Click to expand...
Well, that wouldn't really be a problem if I bought the Yong Nuo flash, its manual anyway :)

I am still tending towards the Yong Nuo, simply because of its price. I think that it would do its job very well (I dont really need it for fancy stuff) and it wouldn't tear me apart financially.
 
You seem to have got it sorted then ;)

TBH if you are going to the trouble of setting up a remote flash shot, then manual operation is not too much more trouble. Many people actually prefer it as once it's set, it won't change unless you change it. Auto-TTL is really useful when you haven't got time and need to get it right first shot.

With the YN 460-II it has an S2 slave mode that ignores the camera's pre-flash so you don't even need a radio trigger - just slave it off the pop-up flash.
 
My only problem is, that I might want more "directional light" sometimes, which means, I will not want to use my pop up flash at all, so I will probably end up buying a trigger and receiver (probably a Yong Nuo for £19)

Thank you very much for your help!
 
bartoszwozniak said:
My only problem is, that I might want more "directional light" sometimes, which means, I will not want to use my pop up flash at all, so I will probably end up buying a trigger and receiver (probably a Yong Nuo for £19)

Thank you very much for your help!
Click to expand...

In which case, radio trigger is probably the way to go. YN RF-602 is favourtite for only a few pounds more.

Alternatively, you could always shield the subject from the pop-up flash with a bit of card so that only the slave unit can see it, but the light doesn't appear in the picture. Or, if you put a couple of dark red sweet wrappers over the pop-up (from Quality Street) it should trigger the slave okay but will be too dark to register in the image.
 
I have the Yong Nuo, its a good flash for the price, but it feels that it will not last a month of heavy usage. I guess the best of the 3 is the nissin but I would recomend you finding a used canon 420ex. I bought mine from this forum for £50
 
darkpokemon said:
I guess the best of the 3 is the nissin but I would recomend you finding a used canon 420ex. I bought mine from this forum for £50
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Unfortunately the Nissin flash doesn't work with wireless triggers without a firmware upgrade (requires return to the manufacturer) which may/may not cure the problem. I seem to remember a problem with the 420EX sleep mode and wireless triggers, but you'd need to doublecheck that...
 
I still think that I will end up buying the Yong Nuo, since it will be the best for my needs. I think that the 420 EX does not support manual ( I read somewhere ) and it is a little bit old now. As to the Nissin, if a deal comes along here, then I will probably take that, but if not then the YN it is.

Thanks!
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Unfortunately the Nissin flash doesn't work with wireless triggers without a firmware upgrade (requires return to the manufacturer) which may/may not cure the problem. I seem to remember a problem with the 420EX sleep mode and wireless triggers, but you'd need to doublecheck that...
Click to expand...

According to Kenro Ltd, Nissin's UK distributors, all new-stock guns are claimed to be okay on this. On older stock, retailers should be aware of the serial numbers that are affected.

Kenro will fix any affected guns FOC at their Swindon offices. That's what Natalie at Kenro told me anyway :)
 
HoppyUK said:
In which case, radio trigger is probably the way to go. YN RF-602 is favourtite for only a few pounds more.

Alternatively, you could always shield the subject from the pop-up flash with a bit of card so that only the slave unit can see it, but the light doesn't appear in the picture. Or, if you put a couple of dark red sweet wrappers over the pop-up (from Quality Street) it should trigger the slave okay but will be too dark to register in the image.
Click to expand...

Quality street will make you fat
 
also the pop up on canons is ttl only so will confuse most optical slaves.

yn460 has a mode that should work but I dunno if it will and am unsure how to test :p
 
My nissin di622 works ok with rf 602 triggers. Take these in to your cost considerations because a set with 2 recievers will cost you about £40. The cheap triggers I already had only fired the flash 1 time in about 20.
 
Ok guys - Thanks a lot, but I think that it will have to be the Yong Nuo flash. I feel that it is more within my budget and the Nissin, is not justified for the extra money. I think that the YN will do its job well enough.

Thanks for all of the advice!
 
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