Under $200 Speedlight Roundup

With summer in full swing, and lots of outdoor photography to be done, you may be thinking about getting an extra speedlight or two for outdoor work. If you're on a budget and want something that will work on or off-camera, here's a list of speedlights to chew on: six speedlights under $200 that you can put to use!



Neewer (Godox) TT560 Around $40

The least-expensive speedlight in this set is also the least powerful. It does, however, have manual control with a good range of settings, a useful 2-mode built-in optical slave, and decent power levels. For fill, hair, or edge lighting in a multi-flash setup, for a ridiculous price, this is a viable option.

Pros:
-Around $40. For a speedlight that works.
-Decent power (GN 38 meters @ ISO 100, 124 feet @ ISO 100)
-Tilt/rotate flash head
-8 stops manual power control
-2 slave modes, normal optical slave, optical slave ignoring TTL pre-flash
-Works on Canon, Nikon, Pentax, or any other standard hot shoe camera/trigger

Cons:
-No zoom for flash head
-No PC sync socket or external battery pack connector
-Plastic (but locking) hot shoe
-No automatic modes of any kind (including TTL)




Vivitar 285HV Around $80

The venerable Vivitar 285HV lacks a motorized zoom head, as well as a swiveling flash head, but makes up for those shortcomings with a reliable non-TTL automatic flash mode (which can be used on or off camera), good power, and a reasonable price. I own and use two of these, and am very happy with them. Note that Vivitar's manufacturing is now being done by an entirely different company, and there may be some quality control issues with these newer units. The specifications are the same as always, though, so make sure to purchase from a good company (links to Amazon and Adorama are below, both reliable) with a good return policy!

Pros:
-GN 140 feet @ ISO 100 (44 meters @ ISO 100)
-Zoom/Tilt flash head (3 manual zoom steps)
-4 stop manual power adjustment
-Automatic (non-TTL) modes, 3 f-stop choices
-Sync socket (proprietary), external battery pack connector
-Locking hot shoe
-Works on Canon, Nikon, Pentax, or any other standard hot shoe camera/trigger

Cons:
-No optical slave
-Plastic hot shoe
-Manual (non-motorized) zoom head, limited to 3 positions
-Limited manual settings, missing 1/8 power (1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/16)

Vivitar 285HV at Adorama


Yongnuo YN-560II Around $85

For a few dollars more than the Vivitar 285HV, the Yongnuo YN-560II gives you a motorized zoom flash head, both tilt and swivel, a locking metal hot shoe, useful 2-mode optical slave built in, and more manual power options. For an off-camera second or slave flash, this is one of the top two contenders in this list, the other being the LumoPro LP160 (below).
Pros:
- Exact same form factor as Canon 580EXII (so accessories fit)
- Metal Locking Hot Shoe
- PC Cord sync port, external battery pack connector
- Guide number 58 (meters @ ISO 100 -- 190 ft @ ISO 100)
- Tilt/rotate/Zoom Flash head
- 8 stops manual power control
- 2 slave modes, normal optical slave, optical slave ignoring TTL pre-flash
- Works on Canon, Nikon, Pentax, or any other standard hot shoe camera/trigger

Cons:
- No automatic modes of any kind (including TTL)
- LCD display can be hard to read
- Lightweight build quality





Sunpak PZ42X Around $145

The Sunpak PZ42X, available in both Nikon and Canon TTL-compatible versions, is a good combination of on-camera TTL automatic flash and off-camera manual flash features. It offers decent power levels (more than the Vivitar 285HV, less than the Yongnuo YN560II), and a very good 7-stop range of manual power settings. It lacks an optical slave or a PC socket, so for off-camera use radio triggers will be a necessity.

Pros:
- TTL Automatic (Canon and Nikon versions available)
- GN 138 feet @ ISO 100 (42 meters @ ISO 100)
- 7-stop manual power levels
- Tilt/Swivel/Zoom (motorized) flash head
- Locking hot shoe
- Better than average build quality

Cons:
- No sync socket or external battery pack connector
- No optical slave
- Plastic hot shoe



Sunpak PZ42X at Adorama



LumoPro LP160 Around $160

Designed specifically for "Strobist" off-camera shooting and available only at Midwest Photo Exchange, the LP160 is a very good choice for all-manual off-camera flash work. It has good power levels, multiple sync connections, a motorized zoom/tilt/swivel flash head, and a built-in optical slave that can "ignore" TTL pre-flashes. It does, however, lack any TTL or other automatic modes, making it less useful than some of the others for on-camera flash work.
Pros:
- GN 140 feet @ ISO 100 (43 meters @ ISO 100)
- PC and miniphone (3.5mm) sync ports
- Tilt/Swivel/Zoom flash head (motorized zoom)
- Optical slave (normal, and "ignore TTL pre-flash" modes)
- 7-stop manual exposure control
- External battery pack connector
- Locking metal hot shoe

Cons:
- No automatic modes (including TTL)

LumoPro LP160 at Midwest Photo Exchange



Sigma EF-610 DG ST Around $165

I'm a big fan of Sigma flashes -- but a bit less so of the less expensive ST series than the Super series. The EF-610 DG ST model does very good on-camera E-TTL automatic duty, and off-camera E-TTL duty as well (for Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sigma, and other camera systems). It's not nearly as capable, though, as its bigger brother Super model when it comes to manual off-camera flash work. It lacks a built-in optical slave, and has limited manual power settings. A good choice for on-camera work at an affordable price, not as good as some of the others for off-camera work. It is, however, the most powerful of these under $200 models.
Pros:
- TTL (Canon, Nikon, Pentax, others) compatible, fully auto modes
- GN 61 (meters @ ISO 100, 200 ft. @ ISO 100)
- Zoom/Tilt/Swivel flash head
- Manual mode, 2 power levels (full or 1/16 power)
- Locking hot shoe

Cons:
- No optical slave
- No PC Socket
- Limtied manual power levels
- No external battery pack connector
- Plastic hot shoe



There are other speedlights in the under $200 price range, this list is by no means exhaustive. These six, however, are a good representation of the range of options and prices available, and give you lots of choices when looking for a new speedlight at a reasonable price that you can use either on or off camera. If you need some more summer light for your shots, pick one up and have fun!

Read more...

Farewell, Ziggy!

This past Sunday afternoon, on a portrait photo shoot, the unthinkable happened...Ziggy died. Who's Ziggy? My long-time associate, my partner in lighting, my trusted ally. My nine year old Sigma EF-500 DG Super Flash. Ziggy's tale is one of exploration, discovery, frustration, success, and a worldwide adventure. I bought Ziggy new in 2003, right after I "went digital" by buying a Canon 300D Digital Rebel. I had used Sigma speedlights before, and had been happy with their combination of features and price. At the time, Sigma's EF-500 DG Super model had full Canon E-TTL compatibility at about 1/4 the cost of comparable Canon speedlights, so I picked one up. When it arrived, I named it Ziggy (a play on "Sigma"). Yes, I name inanimate objects sometimes -- that's not weird, is it? :) That's Ziggy above, with a quick and dirty home-made diffuser on his head. Cute, huh?
Ziggy and I explored the new world of digital SLR photography together. Whenever I needed something lit, Ziggy got the call. He also went around the world with me on my business travels along with the Rebel, visiting England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Japan, China, and Australia. He never complained, he was always ready to work, and he never gave me any problems.

In 2005, I moved up to a Canon 20D model, and Ziggy came along. I started doing early studio photos (like the one above of my two kids) -- lit by a newly-purchased AlienBees B400, and Ziggy. Yes, sometimes I used him as a slave, but he didn't seem to mind. He happily let other strobes take the lead, as long as he got to play. We learned off-camera Strobist style lighting together. He was always ready and willing to try new things!
By 2006, Ziggy had already popped his flash tens of thousands of times, with never a problem. That year was when I turned full-time pro, and Ziggy started getting a lot more of a workout. He also got some new friends, another Sigma EF-500 DG Super ("Chip"), and a Vivitar 285HV ("Dale" -- I bought the two of them at the same time). While I suspect he felt a little jealous, he always played well with the others. Together we did weddings, outdoor portrait sessions, beach shoots, macro work (image below), product shots, and more. Tens of thousands more flashes. Batteries came and went, but Ziggy was a constant.

He took some rough knocks now and then...on a beach shoot, with Ziggy mounted on a light stand and shooting into an umbrella, the wind picked up and lifted the stand, the umbrella, and Ziggy at least 15 feet in the air, then sent them all sailing down the beach, landing hard right at the water's edge. When I got to him, I was afraid he was gone -- the flash ready light was no longer on, and the umbrella was a tangled mess of bent ribs and torn fabric. But Ziggy was tough...his battery cover had simply slipped a bit, and all it took to revive him was to pop it back in place. I shot the rest of the session without the ruined umbrella, but with Ziggy!
Sigma introduced new models as the years went by -- adding E-TTL II functionality, more power, faster recycle times, etc. I kept up and bought Ziggy new friends, until last week I had Ziggy, Chip, Dale, Henry (a Sigma EF-530 DG Super), and Bruce (Sigma's latest, the EF-610 DG Super model). Bruce's guide number of 200 made Ziggy's 125 seem somewhat dated, but that didn't make him any less useful. And amazingly, he still played well in wireless E-TTL mode with all the Sigma models, over 9 years of changes.

Then, after literally dozens of weddings, many hundreds of portrait sessions, endless hours of experimentation in the studio, and much more (well over 100,000 flashes), I took Ziggy with me last Sunday. It was an outdoor session, and Ziggy was acting as key light, on a stand through a 36" shoot-through umbrella. We had done 50 or so shots, and just moved to a new location, when the shot above -- Ziggy's last -- was taken. On the shot after this, I heard a "pop" from him, and a review of the image on the camera's LCD showed Ziggy hadn't fired. Checking him out, I saw a bit of a brownish "burn" mark on his fresnel lens...his power was still on, the flash ready light glowed, but alas...his flash tube had flashed its last. Ziggy went out with a bang, both literally (it was a loud "pop!") and with the last image he helped me with.
Now, I'm only being a little bit facetious. I really do name my equipment, and when you work with things for many years you get to know them, trust them, integrate them into your thinking and planning. I knew Ziggy's capabilities inside and out, I knew what power levels to set him at, at certain distances, without having to do guide-number calculations or do test shots. How can you not become fond of hard-working, long-lasting gear that you've used for years, and that has helped you make a living and produce some great shots?
I'll miss my little buddy Ziggy. I estimate I put about 150,000 flash pops on a flash head rated for 100,000 pops, and I did it in harsh conditions, with lots of travel and bumps and falls (and flights on umbrellas!), and it just worked. Considering I paid $230 brand new for Ziggy and got just short of nine years of heavy use out of him, I consider him one heck of a bargain. How many items that you purchase nowadays last longer than they're supposed to? It's pretty rare. Ziggy rode along my original Canon Rebel 300D, a Canon 20D, a Canon 5D, a Canon XTi, and my current Canon 5D Mk II and T2i DSLRs. He worked great with all of them.
I'll be replacing Ziggy with another new Sigma EF-610 DG Super Flash from Adorama (or with a Sigma EF-610 DG SUPER Flash from Amazon). The Sigma flashes have been great for me, never giving me any problems and standing up to hard work and a bit of unintentional abuse for many years now. I highly recommend them.
And if you happen to get one that goes along with you on your personal photographic journey, and you get a little attached to it, don't feel silly about giving it a name. It's not weird, I swear.
Read more...