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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 708 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
408 of 414 found the following review helpful:
Low light focus Jan 02, 2009
By Neil
I use this external flash unit with my Canon Rebel xTi. The flash does a great job calculating the amount of light it needs to release to expose the photo, making grossly over exposed or underexposed photos a thing of the past. The ability to bounce the flash off of medium height white ceilings gives you great looking photos to the point where I now prefer using my flash instead of relying on high ISOs, fast lenses and low aperature numbers. Although flash photography is a tricky subject, the casual shooter can leave this flash in automatic mode and get wonderfully exposed photos. However, in my opinion, the BEST PART of this external flash is that it enables you to focus MUCH faster than the built in flash and this is reason alone to pick up the Speedlite 430EX II. Previously, when shooting in low light settings, the camera/lens would struggle to focus and the flash would emit several highly annoying test flashes. The Speedlite has no problem finding and focusing on your subject in low lit catering halls and dark rooms and it does so without the annoying test flashes. Great product!
345 of 350 found the following review helpful:
Indoor miracles Aug 20, 2009
By Canon man
I had been holding off on purchasing an external flash for my XTI for months, making up all sorts of excuses as to why I shouldn't own one. It's too big, I'll never use it, $200+ for a flash of light is obscene and on and on the excuses went. My wife surprised me by getting me one for my birthday and after using it for 6 months I couldn't be happier. How did I ever live without this thing?
I take a lot of pictures indoors of my son. He's a 9 month old boy that's not quite ready to be outside all the time. I've got the 50mm 1.8 but it just isn't fast enough in the dim lighting of our home and the on camera flash is worthless. Ever since I got this flash I'd say that 80% of the pictures I take indoors and outdoors are taken with this flash. Below is a list of all of the pro's and cons I could come up with.
Pros:
- Fast recycle time. I can take several burst shots in 1 second and the flash fires each time. You won't miss many pictures because the flash isn't ready (like with the built in flash).
- TTL is awesome. This flash is much smarter than I'll ever be. Shots are almost always perfectly exposed.
- Lots of manual controls, easy to override TTL.
- Very powerful.
- On rechargeable double A's I get 400-500 shots easy without recharging.
- High speed sync lets you take pics at any shutter speed with a flash (although the distance the flash travels is greatly reduced).
- Tilt 90 degrees /Turn 180 degrees lets you bounce of ceilings or off a wall behind you.
- AF assist is much less invasive than the horrible on camera flash assist and it really helps you focus in low light. Just a red light is send out instead of the crazy electricity storm the XTI sends out for AF assist.
- Well built. Sturdy metal foot, nice locking mechanism.
- Rear sync lets me get sharp pictures indoors with any lens I own at 1/30 of a second or even less at times.
Cons:
- The buttons are hard to push if you have big fingers.
- It's big and adds weight to the camera.
- It can't control any other flashes you may own. This flash can only act as a slave.
- Flashes are addictive, I wish I had a second or a third...
If you're thinking about the 580exII:
- The 580ex II can act as a master flash over other canon flashes without losing TTL.
- It's more powerful(58m vs 43m at ISO 100).
- The batteries last from 100-700 pics.
- It can swivel 180 degrees both ways instead of just one way and it can tilt downwards slightly.
- It's dust and water resistant
- Included bounce tab (you can just use an index card).
- I'm sure there's other things I'm missing...
- It's a lot more expensive.
- It's a little bigger and heavier.
Since getting this flash and taking around 10,000 pictures with it I can honestly say it's been the single best investment I've made towards improving my photography to date. The uses for a flash are endless. Even outdoors you'll start seeing shadows you never noticed before that you'd like to lighten up with a flash. Oh and I'm not kidding about wanting to own more than 1. After getting an umbrella and a radio trigger you quickly realize how nice it would be to have a second or even third flash to make things just perfect. Stop procrastinating and just get it. You'll be happy you did.
202 of 203 found the following review helpful:
"The" Upgrade for your Canon Camera Jul 03, 2007
By A. Swanson
I read a quote where someone said they'd rather have a good flash than another lens. Bingo! And this is a GREAT flash. I didn't own the original 580, so I can't comment on that. I do however own the 430EX and this is a terrific upgrade from that already very capable flash.
The 580 - in case you don't know - is capable of serving as the master in a master/slave relationship with other Canon flashes. It can, when used in ETTL mode, configure and determine the flash needs of up to three sets of flashes. You can set ratios, create sets and program everything from this one flash.
Alone, it's one powerful little beast! True, it's not a studio monolight, but try taking a set of those out to the park - or even the front yard - to get shots of the kids on prom night. This is a lot bigger than my 430, but not so big that it isn't part of my 'everyday' kit.
For those considering a lesser flash - if you ever intend to use multiple flashes or need a more powerful flash, that 430 or 220 will limit what you can do. If I could do it all over again, I'd certainly purchase the 580 first, last and everything in between.
527 of 541 found the following review helpful:
What an upgrade! (coming from the 420EX) May 26, 2007
By Pierrick Verilhac
I upgraded from a 420EX to this 580EX II. I got it just in time for a wedding photo shoot, and I must say I was NOT disappointed.
First, its battery life is outstanding. I shot shot more than 650 photos with the flash, most of them bouncing off the tall ceiling, with only ONE set of 4 AA batteries.
Compared to the 420EX, the advantages are huge. The recycling time is amazingly fast. It reminded me of the time the shutted lag difference I noticed when I switched from a compact digital camera to a digital SLR! You can even burst the flash for half a dozen of exposures (bounced off ceiling!) in 2 seconds (interesting for the garter throw!), to match the speed of the Canon 20D or 30D.
The quality of the TTL exposures is also singificantly better than what I would get with the 420EX. 95% of my shots were spot on, using full TTL mode. It is consistently excellent.
The fact that you only need to press one button to move the head of the flash in all directions was what sold me on the 580. What a pleasure to be able to switch from landscape to portrait and still be able to bounce the flash! This simple operation took 3+ seconds on the 420, and only 1 second on this one, which is the difference between getting the shot or missing it (or just giving up trying to get a vertical shot with the flash). The light reflector is also a nice feature, to get a catchlight in your subjects' eyes. However, it won't work if you shoot in portrait mode (will reflect off to the right side).
But the ONE feature that is worth the upgrade alone is the hot shoes quick release mount. Just slide the lever to the right, it clips right into position and is securely mounted on the hot shoe. It is of course just as easy to unmount the flash.
One other very nice feature is the direct access to "second curtain flash", simply by pressing a button on the flash. No need to go wandering into the Cn functions of the camera body!
On the down side, the flash is a lot bigger and bulkier than the 420EX, although not that much heavier. It is a little more difficult to fit it in my camera bag now. It is longer, wider and deeper. The only way to really be able to tell is to have it in your hands. Comparative photos won't really do a good job at showing the difference in size. That said, I had it mounted on my camera the whole day, for more than 8 hours, and it never bothered me.
I haven't even scratched the surface of everything that this flash can do, manual mode, etc, since I got it 2 days before the wedding and didn't have time to explore its features. I can't compare it to the 580EX mark I either, since I am coming from the 420. But if you're in the market to upgrade your flash, don't look twice, and get the mark II right away.
To sum things up, I would say that this flash is worth every penny, and well worth the price premium compared to the 420EX. It beats it hands down in every single category, has an outstanding battery life, and is completely silent (I forgot to mention that). I am not a professional, just an enthusiast, but I can definitely justify its cost, at my level. In other words, you don't need to pair it to a 5D or a 1D Mark III to notice how much better than the 420EX it performs.
306 of 312 found the following review helpful:
430EX II Dec 30, 2008
By C. Calder
"Engineer"
The Speedlite 430EX II flash is a solid unit. It contains most of the upgrades that its big brother received. A metal foot finally, with a twist-lock that holds it totally securely to the top of the camera, yet removes in less than a second when you want to take it off, are true values and make a excellent flash unit even better. Canon quality is demonstrated in every aspect.
I actually purchased this unit as a slave to my 580EX II, but don't under estimate this unit. It is somewhat smaller than its bigger brother but is still a powerful flash to have in your bag. It can be used as a standalone flash or a slave to its bigger brother. The guide number for the 430ex is 43 and 58 for the 580EX units. That being said, in most shots, you will not know the difference. The unit can be rotated both vertically and horizontal, and can be operated fully ETTL automatically or manually. It supports High-Speed sync which allows you to shoot using all shutter camera speeds and has built in wide panel.
I also purchased the DVD "Understanding the Canon Speedlite 580EX/430EX" by Blue Crane Digital. This is a great companion that I highly recommend.
This is a great unit that is built for reliability and will be a work horse in anyone's bag. You will not go wrong with it purchase. It's a great investment. Later, if you decide to move up, you can add the 580EX as a master and use your 430EX as a slave.
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