Starter flash for Canon 550D

[Elines]

I have searched this thread on 'starter flash' and not found advice covering my situation - no doubt it is on here somewhere but I have not found it.

I have decided to try the world of speedlites (flash guns to me - just to indicate to you where I am coming/starting from) but I can't afford the £100s of pounds for Canon stuff. Looking on Amazon (because prices are generally good and it contains reviews) as a starter, it seems that Yongnuo and Neewer products generally have good reviews and are much cheaper than proprietary brands.

Would these be a good starter for a newbie to flash like me?

If I were to put some on my Christmas list:

1. what would be good for a starter, for example TTL or not/slave units/what features is it really worth having?
2. what other stuff by way of cables, remote switches etc am I likely to need?
3. how do I make sure it is all compatible both with my camera and with each other?

I probably need some fairly specific pointers in terms of models as I just get confused looking at the specs - a bit of a foreign language to me.


I like doing studio/still life and want to do more portraits. At the moment I make do with builder's 450watt halogen lights/250 watt halogen security lights on stands, but really need to move on - if the price is right and if I can justify it to myself.

All help and advice gratefully received.

 

[JohnN]

I'm no studio expert, not by a long shot, but the Yongnuo are highly regarded, I have a couple and they've never faltered.

Also look to their triggers too, I use the Yongnuo C622 (if I recall correctly) and they're excellent

Sent from my KFOT using Talk Photography Forums mobile app

 

[Elines]

Thanks JohnN - I seem to be in the right general area - any other views and advice please

 

[Kris]

One YN568exII and two YN622c will give you an excellent beginning and to start learning.

I thought the 550d had a master capable pop up flash, but it doesn't. So you might as well go radio from the start.

 

[Elines]

Thanks - this is just the sort of specific advice I was looking for - I'll now check out what it means

 

[Kris]

Master capable pop up - Pop up flashes on certain Canon cameras can remotely control an off camera flash using optical pulse codes. I know the 60d, 7d and I think 600d (and all subsequent models) can do this, and means you don't have to buy a master transmitter (either flash or trigger) to start with off camera flash. It's very handy to have and I still use it, but relies on optical pulses for communication and that brings with it certain disadvantages compared to using a radio based transmitter.

Radio triggers - use radio transmissions to trigger (with varying degrees of control) a remote flash, and as such are much more reliable than optical pulses. Reliable radio triggers were expensive until maybe four or fie years ago (especially ones that offer advanced controls such as TTL, manual, zoom, SCS), but are now in the ascendency and are the sensible choice from this point forwards.

.....

Do not confuse TTL Master flashes with TTL radio triggers. They use different means of controlling a remote flash.

TTL optical master flashes - are flashguns that are capable of sending optical pulse codes to remote slave flashes to control them. You therefore only need two compatible flashguns, e.g. one 580exII as the master on camera and one 430exII as the slave as the remote. I know, Canons new flashgun (600ex) is a radio master and a flash too, but still.

Triggers - are little devices that sit on top of your camera, and one under your remote flash, and form a radio communication 'bridge' between the camera and remote flash. You therefore only require one flash for the remote, assuming you do not want fill flash coming from the cameras position (which can be handy).

Using cheap old flashes - until three years ago, this was the main way to go. You used a simple dumb trigger (that can only send a FIRE NOW signal to the remote) from your camera, and the remote flash was in manual mode and would fire when told to by the trigger. This means you have no local control over the remote other than fire now, and if you want to change a setting, you had to walk over to it.

Nowadays, very advanced triggers have come down in price, but require modern flashguns to communicate with. This is a good thing. The recommendations for trigger and flashguns I gave total no more than £150, and is far far more versatile and worth every penny, especially if you are only starting out now and don't have a lot of legacy equipment (like me).

 

[Brian_of_Bozeat]

In my opinion anyone starting out with speedlights would benefit from reading the strobist 101 tutorial by David Hobbie.

http://strobist.blogspot.co.uk/2006/03/lighting-101-start-here.html

Loads of very sensible advice there and all in simple language too. Once you are familiar with the terms and what you want to do you will be in a better position to decide for yourself.

Good luck.

<edited to add>

The Yongnuo wireless triggers and flashes are what you will want in the end.

 

[Kris]

In my opinion anyone starting out with speedlights would benefit from reading the strobist 101 tutorial by David Hobbie.

http://strobist.blogspot.co.uk/2006/03/lighting-101-start-here.html

Loads of very sensible advice there and all in simple language too. Once you are familiar with the terms and what you want to do you will be in a better position to decide for yourself.

Good luck.

Definitely, but be aware that some of the equipment recommendations might appear a little dated - e.g. I have not used a cable to fire a remote flash in ten years, and would never recommend using one.

 

[Elines]

Kris/Curly

Thanks for taking the time and trouble to expand on your initial extremely helpful post.

I now have a very clear idea of what I need to get and why.

If Santa is very kind to me I may be able to put up some resulting pictures in the New Year hope so anyway.