Flash for T5i and T7i for school

I am looking for a flash for use by a high school yearbook staff for use on Canon T5i and T7i.

Because it will be used by kids, we expect the flashes to eventually be broken, so we do not want to buy expensive flashes.

But we do want decent flashes that they can use when they need more power than the pop-up flash can put out.

• eTTL would be nice
  
• I would like the option of a HIGH VOLTAGE pack. We likely won't get one immediately, but I personally know the value of one, so that is in the long range plan.
   
  
• The teacher would prefer to use Amazon as the source.
  

Thanks for any suggestions.

BTW, my Nikon SB24 and Vivitar 285HV do not fit the plans we have.

And I am not familiar with Canon eTTL compatible flashes.

Yongnuos seem to work fine; I have one I used so far and another + one for Pentax DSLR TTL that seems working well enough too. I'm sure other Chinese brands are catering eTTL too, if US$ 80-95 for a YN568 II are a bit steep.

Big disclaimer: I am new to Canon and even newer to Yongnuo; so I can't give any even short- or mid-term experience based rating. Reviews on Amazon look not too good; there are single star ratings too. - OTOH: broken battery door replacements seem available via eBay and reputable brands' flashes don't last forever either.

No clue about high voltage packs. - To my (admittedly limited) understanding you can overheat any kind of flash; even really expensive western professional studio strobe generators during a fashion shoot with a sluggish MF camera. - So would it be wise to give the kids additional means to fry their Chinese cheapos?

The only issue I see with a school loaner: A proprietary battery might be likelier to make it's way back than Eneloops fitting into almost anything at home. - No offense meant but I believe some NiMhs must have ended in some coworker's MP3 player and our corporate ball pens vaporize like crazy.

Make sense about the overheating. When I shoot in rapid mode, it is no more than 5 shots, it is the quick 2nd and 3rd shots that I want. I did not think about a kid just shooting till the flash overheats.

Interesting thought about the battery. Since the chargers are on counter, it will be easy for any student to grab the batteries.

My only concern about proprietary batteries, is being able to get them after the initial purchase. But I will look into it for the specific flash.

jochen

We just found out what you mean.

Kids have been walking off with the SD cards, so the yearbook photographers find no cards to use when they go to shoot :(

Guess we have to lock up the cards with the cameras.

Darn! - I'd have loved to be right in another field.

Guess we have to lock up the cards with the cameras.

Worse: You have to fuzz even more about them than the cameras. Small handy pocketable stuff vanishes first. Value doesn't matter much; low value endangers even more. The average (slightly) criminal might be reluctant to go for high values but doesn't bother to feel guilty about scooping up the lower ones.

I hope you'll find a NAS attachable reader for all cards at once to lock up. - I guess it won't matter much if it takes long to download everything, as long as it gets done overnight?

Jochen,

Cards are locked up with the cameras.

Now to find who has the missing cards.

Likely students in other classes :(

I need to develop a workflow/process for the kids to shoot, upload, and clear the cards.

And to keep track of the cards.

I have a few of the Yongnuos I have a 565 EX / EX II which take an external battery pack, though the 568 EX II does not. Both are fully ETTL II. I have sacrificed one Yongnuo flash to the flash gods, but in general (IME) their reliability and durability is on par w/ 580s (of which I've sacrificed two to the flash gods).

As far as I know (I don't have one), the battery packs for these flashes take 8x AAs.