Canon flash question

Justiceiro

Hi Folks, I am ready to acquire a flash for my 20d. I know that I need to get an ex version for it to work.

My question is, what are the primary differences between the 380, 550, and 580 ex units? What makes one better than the other?

Are there significant savings to be had by going to 3rd party manufacturers?

Any thoughts?

nillaismydog

Justiceiro wrote:

Hi Folks, I am ready to acquire a flash for my 20d. I know that I need to get an ex version for it to work.

My question is, what are the primary differences between the 380, 550, and 580 ex units? What makes one better than the other?

Are there significant savings to be had by going to 3rd party manufacturers?

Any thoughts?

I don't think it matters much on brand. It's a personal opinion in most cases. Me... I'd rather go with the numbers and cheapest price. The flash that I got is a Quantary QDC 900WA. Sigma makes that brand especially for wolf, ritz and inkley's photo stores. From what the guy told me at the store it's kinda inbetween the canon 550 and 580. I bought it about 6 months ago for just under 200 so it was a pretty good deal in my opinion. You can always try it out and return it to the store if you don't like it. I double checked with them on that before I bought being a little skeptical myself, but have been very pleased with it and haven't had any problems.

Justiceiro

nillaismydog wrote:

I don't think it matters much on brand. It's a personal opinion in most cases. Me... I'd rather go with the numbers and cheapest price. The flash that I got is a Quantary QDC 900WA. Sigma makes that brand especially for wolf, ritz and inkley's photo stores. From what the guy told me at the store it's kinda inbetween the canon 550 and 580. I bought it about 6 months ago for just under 200 so it was a pretty good deal in my opinion. You can always try it out and return it to the store if you don't like it. I double checked with them on that before I bought being a little skeptical myself, but have been very pleased with it and haven't had any problems.

what I am really interested in is the difference in features between the 380, 550, and 580 EX. Is the 580 really $200 better than the 380?

Red Bull

nillaismydog wrote:

Me... I'd rather go with the numbers and cheapest price. The flash that I got is a Quantary QDC 900WA. Sigma makes that brand especially for wolf, ritz and inkley's photo stores. From what the guy told me at the store it's kinda inbetween the canon 550 and 580.

I wouldn't fully trust what any employee at Ritz/Wolf Camera says. I've had a few employees tell me things that aren't true about various lenses and other accessories. I've also heard them give other customers wrong information. I had one person (at Ritz) tell me that a Quantaray lens was a Sigma with their house name on it, yet the quality was much poorer and the focusing was a lot noisier.

nillaismydog

Red Bull wrote:

I wouldn't fully trust what any employee at Ritz/Wolf Camera says. I've had a few employees tell me things that aren't true about various lenses and other accessories. I've also heard them give other customers wrong information. I had one person (at Ritz) tell me that a Quantaray lens was a Sigma with their house name on it, yet the quality was much poorer and the focusing was a lot noisier.

I've heard several emplyees (at many different stores) say that sigma makes quantaray, so that one I believe. But in general I do agree with you about not listening to them so much I usually do the research myself based on the manufacturors websites and make my decision off that. But in this case (my opinion) I have found the flash to be excellent and I've used it for several weddings and receptions now. Either way you wish to go I'd go into a store and try the gear out yourself and see what you think. All I know is I saved a couple hundred and was able to buy other equiptment with the money I saved.

digismile

One of the key differences from any flash to another is its guide number. It is meant to indicate a flash's relative output power when using typically ISO100 fim or digital equivalent. A bigger Guide Number means more power, and more power means more light.

Although there are some feature differences from the 580EX to the lower models, the biggest difference is the amount of light and coverage you will get. Go to www.canon.com and you can see the specifications for each flash. Flashes not only differ in the total output power, but in their angle of coverage and even recycle time.

You really need to decide what you want to use the flash for. You may or may not need the extra power.

Regards,
Brad

jkelly25

As noted above, the Canon flashes have different guide numbers, which measure the power of the flash. I believe the first two digits of the number (38, 42, 55, 58) indicate the maximum distance in meters that the flash will reach at ISO 100, when fully zoomed. So the 380 is good for about 125 feet when fully zoomed. I have used the 380 for about 6 years on an Elan IIe and now on a 20D. It works well, can be found used at a low price, and may be all you need if you are not doing multiple flash setups, or need the power. The 380 head tilts up but does not swivel side to side. The 550 and 580 do swivel side to side, and can trigger or be triggered by another Canon 580 or 550 if you do a multiple flash setup, which I think will be done using the ETTL exposure system. I think the 420 ex has the remote capability as well. The 550 and 580 also have an lcd control panel, which the 380 does not.

I suggest you look at: http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/ which is a great resource for EOS flah info and includes a descripton of the flashes.

Joe

jvain

jvain

Justiceiro wrote:

Hi Folks, I am ready to acquire a flash for my 20d. I know that I need to get an ex version for it to work.

I purchased the 580ex a couple of months ago and couldn't be more pleased with it! *****