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Entry level Flash?


dganger

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I would get the 420ex as an entry level flash that is not too expensive. I don;t know if it is under $200, but it is not far off I think. The reason being that it is powerful enough for most situations, the flash unit itself is not very large, and it has bounce swivel capability in both the vertical and horizontal axis. The lower model offering from Canon does not have such capability. IMHO a flash unit that cannot the swivelled vertically AND horizontally is very limited. You might also want to budget $10-20 extra for a light softener like an Omnibounce or a Lumiquest for the 420ex.

 

All the best.

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Hi, I have owned three 420EX. And I found them to be excellent. Having used 2 EOS33 and a 300D, I found that they mate well. The swing and tilt head is a really mandatory for flashes. The only limitation I have found is that inability to manually set flash output. Which is tied in with the E-TTL thing not always exposing correctly. Though I found that using my manual focus Contax lenses, that the flash is much more spot on. Otherwise, I found them to be really good flashes for all uses at all levels. Hope that helps, David.
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If you look at the thread a few below this one you will see that another photographer has been having problems with flash exposure on his 300D, due to the pernickety nature of flash metering with this camera. Whilst if you are prepared to jump through the hoops necessary to get correct exposures an E-TTL capable flash will give good results (especially if you load hack firmware), you may find that it is in practice much better to use an autothyristor flash with a 6V or less hotshoe voltage, such as the Sunpak 383 that I recommended in that thread.
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Another vote for the 420ex. Here's why...

I started with a used 380ex. Nice flash when used in the horizontal position, but when I went to shoot verticle it wouldn't allow me to bounce off the ceiling--only the wall.

 

BTW...B&H Photo has the 420ex for $180, plus there's a $15 mail-in rebate that's good through July 15.

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