I take a look at the budget manual flashgun from Yongnuo
What I liked:
+ Excellent price/bang per buck - For a manual flash for off camera work (main use) it is unbeatable value.
+ Good build quality, solid plastics and firm construction with no obvious creaking, very respectable at this price point. Buttons are solid plastic (not rubber) and feel decently made and responsive
+ Fast recycle times on the flash about 2.5 seconds at full power
+ Powerful output, more than enough power here for your needs, and a lot more power than say an SB700 or 430EXII Canon flash (and a lot cheaper too)
+ Has a pc sync socket and a port for adding an external power pack
+ Comes with a decent padded case, and stand
+ Metal hinge on battery door feels solid and has not caused any problems to date
+ Easy to use and set up with a logical layout and large back lit LCD
+ Audio beep confirm/power saving modes and fine tuning of output in 1/3 stop increments
+ Built in WA panel and white card
+ Has a multi strobe flash output (can be adjusted for no. of flashes and frequency - depending on power output
+ S1 and S2 modes allow for no pre flash suppression and pre flash suppression - range is excellent indoors and out
+ Metal hoe shoe base (not Sony version though has quick release on that model)
Weaker areas:
- This is a full manual flash only, it is NOT a TTL dedicated flash so bear that in mind if you are thinking of picking up a bargain flash, there are some limitations with this flash (you have to set the power yourself and it does not integrate with the camera's metering at all, the only thing the camera does is fire the flash when shoe mounted) Yongnuo and other makers do offer dedicated TTL flashes depending on what system you are using.
- Does not support dedicated wireless flash for any maker, is not HSS (high speed sync) capable
- Stand has a plastic thread not metal for tripod mounting
- There is no AF assist on this flash (not a huge issue but bear in mind if you are shoe mounting the flash)
- Zoom head motor is somewhat unrefined in sound, rather odd sounding motor but so far has not caused any problems
- LCD doesn't have great viewing angles (ie tripod mounted hard to see it above/below a dead on view)
28 авг 2015
