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Just popped for a new YN565EX...

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I took the plunge and sprung for a YN565EX flash. I had read and researched a lot about this unit. I needed a flash to go along with my 430EXII and a couple of softboxes I purchased. The intent is to use these for eBay product photography, some experimentation with lighting and ratios, eventually some home portraiture. Initially, I'll be using these with my ST-E2 wireless optical transmitter - at some later point I'll get some wireless triggers and a flash meter for some manual fun.

The YN565EX is a Chinese made flash by Yongnuo. After checking it out for a while, I can say I'm quite happy I made the purchase. Things to note:

It's nicely made. I'd say the finish is on par with the 430EXII. (Funny, under the shoe of the 430EXII are those immortal words: 'Made in China'...)

It has all the same features as the 430EXII, except for high-speed sync. That could be an issue for some folks if they're into high-speed flash above x-sync, but I suspect it's not all that popular among shoe-gun flash users - HS its rather limited in range due to the technique used to implement it.

I'm pleased as punch with the wireless optical triggering - works perfectly. Flash recharge is really quick - as good as the 430 or better. The symbology on the back LCD looks nearly identical to a 430 - there's no learning curve. The flash has a little bit more range than the 430, but in practice you use it just like the 430.

There are some detailed reviews on speedlights.net of this unit and I'd go there first - but I thought some here might like to hear what a Joe amateur has to say. This is a wonderful deal for $149.
 
I have one and like it too. High Speed Sync is a pretty advanced feature and you really need to know what you're doing IMO to utilize it. And actually if you are shooting flash off-camera with pop-up flash, HSS does not work anyways (you need a ST-E2 or 580EX II as a master controller for it to work). Many alternatives to HSS as well, for example ND filter, or to fill during a bright day you can use old-fashioned but effective reflectors. I think bird shooters who buy better beamer flash attachments find it useful as well.

Anyhow not too many amateurs tend to stick a big flash on their camera in broad daylight and use HSS IMO. I saw one article using HSS with many many expensive speedlights (because you effectively lose power with HSS and need to compensate), in order to do something like capture action of someone smashing a pumpkin with a baseball bat at dawn or something and needing the pumpkin seeds to be tack sharp instead of exhibiting any motion blur. Again something in the realm of strobist professionals.

http://pixsylated.com/blog/smashing-pumpkins-with-high-speed-sync-gang-light-part-2/

Rule of thumb would be if you have no idea what HSS is yet, chances are you might not really need it yet either.

Mine has been really reliable actually and I've fired it off plenty...I think its recycle time is really good but I have no comparison. Firing it off-camera with a t3i is very fun and can produce good results. In fact t3i + YN565EX is one of the reasons that makes my Canon kit an excellent and portable bang for the buck system for me. Nikon D5100 cannot do either HSS or wireless flash. OM-D has wireless flash but not sure how well that works in practice yet as both flash and system is relatively new.
 
It is quite possible that there was a bad batch of poor caps (capacitators). Honestly that is a $20-30 dollar fix at your local camera repair or electronics hobbyist shop. Besides a bad batch of caps, its possible that new users do not realize you need to use good quality NIMH batteries and not a standard fare of mismatched AA's laying around the house. I am sure there are really bad units out there, but I'm also wondering if 50% of the other bad reports are those reading other bad reports and shoving in bad batteries as well.

As for mine I've had no issues and I've fired off more than 500 shots I'm sure with it and have had it for awhile knock on wood.
 
Timbukto said:
High Speed Sync is a pretty advanced feature and you really need to know what you're doing IMO to utilize it.
Click to expand...
I thought it was as easy pressing a button and knowing you have less range. What am I missing? :-)

--
Check out the unofficial Rebel forum FAQ - http://snipurl.com/RebelFAQ
 
Well, for starters, it helps to know if you even need HSS, as in do you know what your camera's x-sync speed is? (Do you know what x-sync is?)

A lot of new folks don't, and it's no slight to them either. For many of us on the hobby side of things, we like to start snapping right away and master basics. The advanced stuff comes later. A TTL flash is a good place to start with flash photography. There not much to know to use one since it's all automated. Later on, folks learn to use compensation settings to handle odd lighting situations. Advanced uses usually come later. This isn't to say that there're aren't advanced amateurs out there, but that it's good (and courteous) practice not to make assumptions about one's skill level.

Sometimes, you'll run into folks who are trying to get ahead of themselves. They'll come on to a forum and ask questions like 'tell me exactly what I need to do X'. These questions sound like a fair enough query, but watch the tone of the post. Often times these types can be looking to achieve a result without any understanding of the conditions and requirements - when they don't get the results they want they get really upset.
 
Ok its easy to turn on and fire off for sure. It's good for fill light as long as you aren't in broad daylight where most likely HSS won't have enough power to compensate. So its good when you want to shoot at wide apertures and freeze action while supplying fill light, but when its not too sunny, or not too dark, etc. Because if it was dark, you'd end up stopping motion better anyways with a slower shutter speed and higher power flash that you don't get from HSS. Remember that even if you do not use HSS, your flash duration is actually very fast to stop motion such that when your camera is metering for strong flash exposure when the shutter is open it sees the subject for the duration of the flash, but will be mostly dark after the flash. It's not that necessary for 'posed' shots or 'posed' action shots where you can and are able to use a reflector. For posed shots your flash sync speed is good enough.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1025&message=39225695&changemode=1

According to some user posts the YN565EX flash duration equals the 580EX II and is officially spec'd at 1/20,000. So again for darker situations HSS doesn't really matter. For really bright situations, HSS still doesn't really matter because it doesn't have enough power to fill in broad daylight and a reflector will do the job. So it'll work when its still bright...but not too bright and you are using wide apertures, and useful when the subject is not posed where you could use a reflector anyways so perhaps a sports/action type situation. But this sports/action situation would need to be quite lenient towards HSS flash which may actually be far more distracting at its supposedly high speed flashes encompassing a slower duration compared to normal 1/20,000 of a second. Then there are those shots where people would want to purposely drag the shutter and use rear-curtain sync for cool motion blur effects where the shot is still sharp, but you get the motion blur effects from the exposure to ambient, etc.

Again here is another article linking the use of HSS which required 4 speedlights ganged up to make up for the the loss of power.

http://neilvn.com/tangents/2010/12/06/using-multiple-speedlights-with-high-speed-flash-sync/

Again you can see that in this situation a reflector couldn't be used because although her background was bright...she wasn't necessarily backlit but was entirely in the shadows such that there was no sunlight to reflect. Like I said HSS is useful but is used in situations where pro's tend to know when its useful. And the margin of its use slims down even more when you only have 1 flash you plan to carry with you.

It'd be interesting to know if a camera like the Nikon D800 or D7000 could have done 'enough' to do a fill light in PP. Perhaps not enough for a pro photo shoot, but good enough for the amateur?
 
Sure, you can find examples of questionable use of HSS, as you can for pretty much any feature, but I don't share your pessimism about it. It's just another option when you hit the sync speed. I'd say try it if you have it but don't fret if you don't.

--
Check out the unofficial Rebel forum FAQ - http://snipurl.com/RebelFAQ
 
I'm not pessimistic about it, just that I think wireless off-camera shooting is the more useful feature. A lot of shooters here are looking for both bargains and portability being Rebel users, and I don't think many of them would pull out the flash in situations with plenty of light. And in a situation where you have plenty of prep time for staged shots, you'd have time to either use a ND filter, a reflector, or pull out your flash for HSS.

For users that pull a single flash out for indoor events, HSS has almost no use since in indoor/dark areas you'll freeze movement better with the more powerful flash regardless of sync speed. And if you like to shoot off-camera single flash than HSS really has no point because you can't use it period without extra flashes and better flash masters, etc.

So for the user who tries to keep their kit as minimal as possible HSS is not a must-have. It is usually a must-have for folks that are advanced enough to find unique applications for it.
 
Timbukto said:
I'm not pessimistic about it,...
Click to expand...
Does "HSS is a pretty advanced feature and you really need to know what you're doing IMO to utilize it", sounds encouraging or discouraging? :-)
Timbukto said:
... just that I think wireless off-camera shooting is the more useful feature.
Click to expand...
Ah, well that makes perfect sense. Why didn't you say that? :-)

I bet there are people in the world who think that wireless off-camera shooting is a pretty advanced feature and you really need to know what you're doing to utilise it. :-)
Timbukto said:
So for the user who tries to keep their kit as minimal as possible HSS is not a must-have.
Click to expand...
Yes, it's a nice to have that's worth a try if you have it.
Timbukto said:
It is usually a must-have for folks that are advanced enough to find unique applications for it.
Click to expand...
Fair enough. I can't remember the last time I needed it, but when I have tried it I've found it easy and straight-forward.

--
Check out the unofficial Rebel forum FAQ - http://snipurl.com/RebelFAQ
 
Timbukto said:
Ok its easy to turn on and fire off for sure. It's good for fill light as long as you aren't in broad daylight where most likely HSS won't have enough power to compensate. So its good when you want to shoot at wide apertures and freeze action while supplying fill light, but when its not too sunny, or not too dark, etc. Because if it was dark, you'd end up stopping motion better anyways with a slower shutter speed and higher power flash that you don't get from HSS. Remember that even if you do not use HSS, your flash duration is actually very fast to stop motion such that when your camera is metering for strong flash exposure when the shutter is open it sees the subject for the duration of the flash, but will be mostly dark after the flash. It's not that necessary for 'posed' shots or 'posed' action shots where you can and are able to use a reflector. For posed shots your flash sync speed is good enough.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1025&message=39225695&changemode=1

According to some user posts the YN565EX flash duration equals the 580EX II and is officially spec'd at 1/20,000. So again for darker situations HSS doesn't really matter. For really bright situations, HSS still doesn't really matter because it doesn't have enough power to fill in broad daylight and a reflector will do the job. So it'll work when its still bright...but not too bright and you are using wide apertures, and useful when the subject is not posed where you could use a reflector anyways so perhaps a sports/action type situation. But this sports/action situation would need to be quite lenient towards HSS flash which may actually be far more distracting at its supposedly high speed flashes encompassing a slower duration compared to normal 1/20,000 of a second. Then there are those shots where people would want to purposely drag the shutter and use rear-curtain sync for cool motion blur effects where the shot is still sharp, but you get the motion blur effects from the exposure to ambient, etc.

Again here is another article linking the use of HSS which required 4 speedlights ganged up to make up for the the loss of power.

http://neilvn.com/tangents/2010/12/06/using-multiple-speedlights-with-high-speed-flash-sync/

Again you can see that in this situation a reflector couldn't be used because although her background was bright...she wasn't necessarily backlit but was entirely in the shadows such that there was no sunlight to reflect. Like I said HSS is useful but is used in situations where pro's tend to know when its useful. And the margin of its use slims down even more when you only have 1 flash you plan to carry with you.

It'd be interesting to know if a camera like the Nikon D800 or D7000 could have done 'enough' to do a fill light in PP. Perhaps not enough for a pro photo shoot, but good enough for the amateur?
Click to expand...
Hi Timbukto,
thanks for all your details you give about HSS and what actually it is good for.

I am an amatuer, and I was a bit in doubt to get me this speedlight, but after your explenation it makes it clearer for me that this speedlight will do for me everything I ask for. Before I read your article I was not quite shure about it, but I am pretty certain know, that this unit is good enough for me to beginn with it!
Thanks for saving me a few dollars!
 
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