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Inexpensive Flash Unit

Robert Watcher

Well-known member
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to give the $72 Yongnuo flash units a try - - - and so placed my order. My YN560-II came in the post office this morning.

I was quite surprised to find the look and size to be almost identical to my Olympus 50FL flash unit. Of course it is a completely manual flash - but has extensive control over the flash output.

Not only does the power vary from 1/1 down to 1/128'th power with a quick left and right press on the arrow pad - - - but as well, each of those 8 settings can be fine tuned by so that you can achieve 4 micro settings of 1/3 and 1/2 fstops. I do like that feature. Those changes are effected by pressing up and down on the arrow key.

The head rotation is almost identical to the Olympus FL-50 - providing 180 degree rotation to the left and 90 degree rotation to the right. The flash head can be raised straight up in any of those positions.

The flash output appears to be fairly substantial, and recycle times with the partly charged NiMH batteries I had sitting around - appeared to be pretty decent. There are 2 built in slave modes, zooming of the flash head from wide angle to tele angles. There is a stroboscopic feature that works with any power settings from what I read. I personally found the settings easy to change on the back of the flash unit.

OF course the body of the flash unit - while looking professional enough and having a pretty solid feel - is no where near the build quality of the Oly FL-50. The head rotation is not silky smooth like the FL-50. Although, we are comparing a $72 flash (with free shipping), to an almost $600 flash. To expect the same build would be unreasonable.

One area that I am not fond of and will have to be careful of - - - is when rotating the flash head sideways or even up and down. The flash shoe fits in the hotshoe with a little bit if slack. When turning the head without holding on to the body of the flash unit - there is a lot of torque on the hotshoe and the flash unit itself. It is not likely that I will be using this flash unit on my cameras, but if I do I will have to be conscious of the two-handed approach to moving the flash head.

But overall so far - I am quite pleased and can see owning several of these for use in off-camera flash situations. They are just so ridiculously inexpensive. Less than I paid recently for a quite old Vivitar 285HV.

Here I have the Yongnuo mounted on my Olympus E-PL1:
E1282092.jpg



Rob
 
funnily enough, I have one of these and just ordered another a few days ago because it works great and like you say, ridiculously cheap. They also sell very cheap wireless radio triggers. They are not fancy like the pocket wizards but for the price, especially if you don't actually have a money tree in your yard, they do the job and are crazy inexpensive!
bought mine through thephotogadget.com and like you, the shipping (although takes about 3 weeks) is free and no tax nor duty was charged.
 

Robert Watcher

Well-known member
Guide numbers provided in sales literature can sometimes be a little sneaky on these type of flashes that have a zoom head. So I thought that I would compare guide number based on one specific zoom setting - - - among this flash, the powerful Olympus FL-50R that I am familiar with, as well as the very big and very popular Nikon SB900 and the Canon 580EX II.

So on what appears to be a level playing field - at 100ISO and a zoom setting of 35mm at a 1/1 power ratio - - - - the Yongnuo YN560-II that I just received, is a Guide Number of 39 - - - the Olympus FL-50R, is a Guide Number of 36 - - - the Nikon SB900, is a Guide Number of 34 (40 when in DX mode) - - - and the Canon 580EX II, is a Guide Number of 36. So, all are close to the same power output.

Listed Guide Number of the the Yongnuo YN560-II, is 58 - but that is when the head is zoomed to 105mm. The Olympus FL-50R states a Guide Number of 50 - but that is when zoomed to 85mm. Canon Speedlite 580EX used a Guide Number of 58 and like the Yongnuo that is when zoomed to 105mm. Nikon SB 900 tends to use the DX guide number at 200ISO to make it look powerful - when in fact it is the least powerful of all that I have included.



Rob
 
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