Very Best of the Best if you shoot Canon DSLR
Im a Professional Photog, and this is Canon's Best Flash. I bought this as my main flash with my 5D, and use 2 other Canon Speedlites to get a traditional 3 point lighting that everyone likes for indoor portraits. Very easy to set that up with all canon items, using the Master/slave settings on all the flashes... I also do have a constant lighting rig that I use as well, but on location, I prefer flash, as it's easier to deal with.
But, even as a single flash, on camera, it's great for general flash with any and all EFS lenses, since in E-TTL mode (stands for Electronic Through the Lens) - the flash will actually ZOOM to set for correct spread no matter what lens you have... that is a great feature for things like doing a larger group shot, or a longer lens outdoors, and you want to set in on fill flash...
Speaking of fill - again, it shines wonderful there... most flashes will only let you sync to about 1/250th - but what happens if you want to shoot 1.8 or 1.4 and there is too much light outdoors, even at ASA 100? but you still want to use fill flash to balance the foreground of the shot - Easy - set the flash to H mode, which is it's High shutter speed sync... This allows you to shoot above 1/250, to properly expose the shot, and then give you those nice catch lights in the eyes, if the subject is positioned say, under a shady tree.
Conclusion - if you shoot Canon, and are considering the 430 or the 580 - get the 580 FIRST... and you can always get 430's to slave later, but the 580 is the pro standard for Canon DSLR.... Period. - Yes, they are a little pricey, but you get what you paid for - you should look at this as part of must have gear if you want to create consistent Professional results in your photos - so STOP buying lenses, and buy this first :-)
Very easy to use for a beginner - but a flash you can grow into with all it's nice manual settings too... Head will pan and tilt in any direction, and I really like the built in white card for light fill, or full bounce indoors... I also really love the built in difusser for wide angle shots too...
get this flash, you won't regret it!Read full review
