Good alternative to canon flash for 60d?
Decided to repost the question with a bit more clarity as the last one invited the wrong people with attitude.
I'm looking for an alternative to canon, for a flash gun and would like to know if anyone has any HANDS ON info on the best alternatives, mainly for compatibility. There are si many out there that claim to be perfect alternatives, but I wanted to see if anyone had used any, and what they were like?
I have used various flashes on Canon cameras, some of them being Sunpak, Vivitar, Metz, and even Nikon. All these flashes were auto flashes in that they were basically self contained units that read reflected light coming back to the flash and adjusted output accordingly. You get a ball park start by setting the flash to a certain power and setting the camera aperture to a suggested matching f stop, based on ISO used.
I have never used a third party flash that was supposed to function in a TTL mode with a Canon. Frankly, if a flash is designed to be fully compatible with a certain camera in all functions such as TTL metering, then it should work fine.
Here is a relatively new flash on the market from Nissin for the Canon. Though there are not a lot of reviews on the B-H site, I have read nothing but good things about it in magazines, plus Nissin is a very highly regarded flash.
Vivitar, Yongnuo.
If you don't know how to shoot manually, get the most expensive flash that is TTL compatible with your camera.
If you can shoot in manual mode comfortably, buy the cheapest generic flash you can find.
I would still prefer to buy Canon rather than deliberate and worry about a third party accessory.
What exactly are your goals? What are trying to achieve with the flash? What are your expectations out of a flash? What's wrong with the Canon flash that you are so set on avoid it?
I look for:
Build quality & Reliability - Metz, Canon, Nikon.
POWER - High guide number (GN)
Flexibility - The head that tilts & swivels and produces a wide output for use with wide angle lenses.
At the end of the day, the light from a $40 flash is the same as the light from $400 flash.