Shopping for a flash. Looking at this one

C

captain birdseye

Senior Member
i would rather just bite the bullet and shell out for a new or refurbed nikon item than this outfit.
too many bits and pieces. remember "all that glisters is not gold".
look out for a well priced sb700 or used sb600.
 
Last edited:
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I have no experience with that particular brand but for the price you might want to consider either the Yongnuo 565EX or the 568EX II; both available on Amazon. I have a 565EX and I like it as much, possibly a little better, than my faaaar more expensive Nikon SB-700.
....
 
R

rocketman122

Senior Member
I have 2 SB800 1 SB700 and 1 SB900. and 3 3rd party flashes (and another on its way) and I dont see myself buying a nikon flash anytime soon.

565/568 fish recommended are excellent

also consider the shanny Sn600n as well. the SN600SN can be used as amaster flash in the CLS system but personally, that setup is not versatile and problematic to use. and off camera ttl is horrible, unless youre using an SC cable, but thats cumbersome. I prefer manual power control with the off camera flash.

I have the Sb700. I think its just too expensive for what it gives. let not even talk about the $550 SB910
 
W

WayneF

Senior Member
I am not familiar with that flash, but it does have high customer satisfaction reported at Amazon. However, as usual, some reports at Amazon (both praise and problems) may not know what they are talking about. :)

I feared at first that it did not zoom (it is never mentioned), but it has a zoom button, and the manual at
Manuals | Altura Photo says it zooms 18-180 mm.

I too am skeptical of Guide number 68 (meters) but the manual does say that. However, the manual also has a Guide Number chart which shows GN 36 (meters) at 105mm zoom, which would make it a lower powered flash instead of a higher power. Chart does not mention 18mm zoom, and 24mm says Guide Number 66 (feet), which compares to the small SB-400 in power. All of those numbers are suspiciously out of normal range, might just be cut and paste specs from some other source?

Suspicious of the warranty too. Says one year warranty if returned post paid to Altura, but no address (or country) is mentioned in the manual or on their web page. I would depend on the Amazon 30 day return.
 
S

skene

Senior Member
Yongnuo for budget minded reliability... Nikon if branding and warranty is important to you. Bolt, Nissin, Cactus, Metz for quality 3rd party options.
 
R

rocketman122

Senior Member
skene said:
Yongnuo for budget minded reliability... Nikon if branding and warranty is important to you. Bolt, Nissin, Cactus, Metz for quality 3rd party options.
Click to expand...


reliability with yongnuo is nothing to do with budget. there is a reason why they sell more than anyone. theyre very reliable and deliver wedding after wedding that I shoot. the 565 has know missfire issues with the 622n and I just decided to give away to my ladies daughter as shes a photography student. I dont know of bolt or cactus. they look nice but overpriced. but metz has just gone downhill and imo are just not rellevant. I had the 58 AF2 and sold that as fast as I could. the menu system is horrible and recycle time is 5 seconds at full power and thats unacceptable. they already files for insolvency and I think they will close shop in the near future. theyre simply overpriced and underspeced. anything over $200 is too much for a full specced flagship flash that has build and performance. for the prices yonguo charge, theres no need for warranty. you simply toss it and get another for $100. ive beat on mine for the last two years mercilessly and they say thank you may I have another. I shoot around 1500 pics a wedding with them.

the shanny flash recycle in 2 seconds at full power. it will happen when youll shoot people standing in front of you and bouncing the flash up, the flash will fire at full or almost full power and youll be glad the recycle was as fast as possible so you can shoot again. it happens to everyone. you fire and you hear that whine sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1BN68J8Owc

their newest mecablitz 64 AF1 still takes 4.4 seconds to recycle and costs a whopping $480. for that price bump the $70 and go nikon.

Metz Mecablitz 64 AF-1 E-TTL Flash for Canon EOS - Gadget Infinity
 
Last edited:
B

Bill16

Senior Member
I'm sorta looking to get some more flashes too, but I'd love to just stick with getting more of the same flash as I already have, the Nikon sb-800. The cost being so much has sorta put me off from buying more though. The Yongnuo flashes are selling at great prices, but I'm really wanting to stick with Nikon flashes though I can't say I have any great logical reasoning behind this desire!

So I guess I'm crazy, and unlikely going to be getting my flashes anytime soon. Sigh.........
 
R

rocketman122

Senior Member
Bill16 said:
I'm sorta looking to get some more flashes too, but I'd love to just stick with getting more of the same flash as I already have, the Nikon sb-800. The cost being so much has sorta put me off from buying more though. The Yongnuo flashes are selling at great prices, but I'm really wanting to stick with Nikon flashes though I can't say I have any great logical reasoning behind this desire!

So I guess I'm crazy, and unlikely going to be getting my flashes anytime soon. Sigh.........
Click to expand...

no youre not crazy. theres a perceived value when buying a name brand. ive been there. it wore off with me though and today I look for reliability AND price. if I dont get both then I dont buy. I believe theres more perceived value when I pay $100 and get a fantastic flash thats a workhorse. if the shanny/yongnuo flash were available at the time I bought my SB700/900 I would not have bought them. theyre good flashes but I think the prices are too high for what they give. like I said, after I get my shanny flash and check it in 4-5 weddings, im selling all my nikon flashes. I dont want any excessive gear in my bag.

martins review here is how I feel. at the bottom he has an update on it. btw, he mentions issues with the 622n in that you cant use the triggers to remotely adjust power. I dont have an issue with that since I hardly make adjustments. I know more or less what I need. I can always just bump up iso or close/open aperture anyway.

Shanny SN600n Flash Review

and watch how it recycles faster than the nikon SB910.
 
S

skene

Senior Member
rocketman122 said:
reliability with yongnuo is nothing to do with budget. there is a reason why they sell more than anyone. theyre very reliable and deliver wedding after wedding that I shoot. the 565 has know missfire issues with the 622n and I just decided to give away to my ladies daughter as shes a photography student.
Click to expand...

ok, so you say that Yongnuo isn't a budget friendly flash? Or that the reliability of the Yongnuo has nothing to do with the budget friendly price of it? Please explain. IME, Yongnuo works. For a budget minded shooter it works great. I recommend it for anyone that is getting started into strobes only because it does what it's supposed to do, for someone with a budget. Someone that does not want to go and spend high $$$ on a flash.
You also acknowledge that they also do have their shortcomings. All companies will have positives and negatives with their products.

Metz, even if they filed for insolvency, does that take away anything from the product itself? If you want it to last 15-20 years down the line, which product would you think would withstand that test of time and still be working. Nikon I can clearly say will have that long shelf life regardless of how many bulbs end up being replaced, the same would be said about Metz. Cactus is still early in their stages of the flash builds, but it would be worth looking into if you are currently working with any of their flash triggers.

Shanny still a relative newcomer, that I know nothing of other than seeing their flash on Amazon and Ebay. Targeting their consumers at a budget pricepoint the same way as Yongnuo.
 
cwgrizz

cwgrizz

Senior Member
Challenge Team
@oldhippy, I saw that listing when I was looking at this one.

Amazon.com: Neewer® PRO i-TTL Flash *Deluxe Kit* for NIKON DSLR D7100 D7000 D5300 D5200 D5100 D5000 D3200 D3100 D3300 D90 D800 D700 D300 D300S D610, D600, D4 D3S D3X D3 D200 N90S F5 F6 F100 F90 F90X D4S D SLR Camera- Includes: Neewer VK750 II Auto-Fo

Wayne gave a good review on the VK750II. Just another option. I don't have experience with either one, but thought I would throw something else in to your mix for options. Ha! I keep watching for others experience and will try in the future to decide on something like these two setups.
 
R

rocketman122

Senior Member
skene said:
ok, so you say that Yongnuo isn't a budget friendly flash? Or that the reliability of the Yongnuo has nothing to do with the budget friendly price of it? Please explain. IME, Yongnuo works. For a budget minded shooter it works great. I recommend it for anyone that is getting started into strobes only because it does what it's supposed to do, for someone with a budget. Someone that does not want to go and spend high $$$ on a flash.
You also acknowledge that they also do have their shortcomings. All companies will have positives and negatives with their products.

Metz, even if they filed for insolvency, does that take away anything from the product itself? If you want it to last 15-20 years down the line, which product would you think would withstand that test of time and still be working. Nikon I can clearly say will have that long shelf life regardless of how many bulbs end up being replaced, the same would be said about Metz. Cactus is still early in their stages of the flash builds, but it would be worth looking into if you are currently working with any of their flash triggers.

Shanny still a relative newcomer, that I know nothing of other than seeing their flash on Amazon and Ebay. Targeting their consumers at a budget pricepoint the same way as Yongnuo.
Click to expand...

price is good for a full fledged/specced flash as is all the best selling 3rd party flashes. vs the nikon its an excellent value. my yongnuo flashes are as reliable as the nikon flashes and even more so. the nikon SB900 had to have its flash tube ($120) replaced after 3 years and the yongnuo after a brutal 2 years of use, didnt need to yet. so with what I spent on the 900, I can buy 8 shanny flashes.

the reason the 565 doesnt work with the 622n is because of newer tech but there is a work around. u mount it normally, but u use a $2 sync cord from the side of the flash to the transceiver and it will fire all the time. Pocket wizard users do it all the time. its specific to that flash but they have tons of flashes and tons of slaves. I already had 622n slaves so it was my fault for not doing research and truthfully could keep using it via th sync cable. I decided to give it to someone who can benefit from it.

the price has nothing to do with who its directed to. there isnt a pro I dont know who dont use 560III flashes for their off camera flashes. and most have 4+ in their bags. one I worked with on friday boasted he had 10. I didnt check but Ive seen that its basically mandatory flashes for pros because if a guest tips the light stand over, the damage for the nikon would be costly and with yongnuo, for the $70 price tag, theyre just disposable. so 3rd party flashes are not only for newcomers. in fact more pros take advantage of the price, reliability, and performance and do really complex lighting shoots because they can buy so many.

one huge negative with yongnuo is their customer service. plain crap. not that nikon is so great themselves and in fact shame on nikon since their flashes cost so much. they should have the best CS and they are lacking.

the metz 58 AF2 was crap. the plastic was crap. the design was not modern, and the tilting head is crap. the locking wheel was not knurled and was at times impossible to unlock. especially working outdoors when youre sweating and when you have a little oil on your fingers. I had to modify it by using a small jewelers file and make tiny grooves in it. the menu is slow, theres a huge delay from when you press the button till it registered and the flash takes forever to recycle (see the video). they should be ashamed for making such a horrible flash. and its a MK (af 2 from af1) where they should have fixed and tweaked it.

I personally dont want ANY flash to last 15-20 years. the tech will be old. there will be something better for less. I did enjoy using my SB28 till last year when it died and went into flash heaven. it had a hard life. I beat on it like crazy in the film days. that was the best bang for the buck flash till now. but it only cost $280 then. todays $550 flash is ridiculous. btw, be careful wanting a flash to last long if you dont store it properly because humidity might rust the insides. it happened with one of my SB800 and I had to send that in for dissasembly and cleanup. that was costly too.

I know little about cactus. I saw their slaves but they dont have a track record anymore than shanny with flashes. in fact shanny are rogue yongnuo deisgn team that went their own way. they have know how of flash and slaves. I see great things from shanny in the future. im not an early adapter but after speaking to a few who have the SN600n im curious to try it.
its fast to recycle, has a wide zoom range, looks modern, looks durable and for the price it seals the deal. the newest RT flashes from yongnuo and shanny are the new gen of flashes that are ahead of the 565 and 568. pixel too got in on the trend with theirs.

one thing that seems so overlooked but I appreciate so much in my most stressful times when shooting weddings is the springed door hinge they offer vs the nikons. you have no idea how great it is. and I know it sounds pety but even slipping in the batteries into the chamber is easier with the 3rd party flashes. only a wedding pro would understand this. I also love the fact that there is no head lock button on the yongnuo. makes a huge difference when you work fast.

look at the flashes. theyre modern, fully featured and with great prices. unfortunately us nikonites have to wait till they put out nikon versions. the shanny is the only one who has nikon covered, so i went with that.

a375ee4dd4825e5f74406b5ab44982ca.jpg
 
Top