SL2 Flash Question

kli wrote:

perry rhodan wrote:

Stopped buying 3rd party lenses long ago. And after the nissin i40 for canon, I will not buy anything so called compatible anymore. The i40 doesnt work with the 80D and newer camera bodies. Buying original is like a solid investment. Buying 3rd party is like gambling. Some 3rd party flashes do not work as expected even with the "dumb" wireless settings. Making me regret ever buying them.

Yes. This is one of the big tradeoffs between OEM and 3rd party: forwards (and backwards) compatibility. You can't reverse engineer a protocol that doesn't yet exist. And only the OEM companies know the full internals of the communication protocol. And the target can move, because Canon can change their protocol at any time.

But, you can lower the chances of this if you get 3rd-party gear that's firmware-upgradeable. The Godox triggers had issues, too, with the new Canon protocol that came in with the 5DMkIV, 80D and later bodies. It took them a while, but they eventually sent out firmware fixes for this. Unlike Nissin, you don't have to send a flash back to the factory to get its firmware updated; you can download the files and do it yourself if you have a Windows box.

The other main weaknesses of 3rd party flashes are typically AF-assist function and TTL performance. So, for heavy on-camera use, OEM is going to make more sense. But with off-camera it gets trickier.

OEM gear is far more expensive, and at this time only Canon, Nikon, and Sony offer built-in radio triggering. At roughly $500 a pop for the speedlights. With Canon, at least, these speedlights are compatible with all bodies. With Nikon, only newer generation bodies can use the radio triggering, and you still need expensive add-ons. The Sony system is so new, nobody's really sure yet.

Third party gear offers built-in radio triggering with sub-$100 units that offer remote power control with $40 triggers. They put sync ports on everything (OEM only does it on their high-end flashes). Most of these have "dumb" optical slaving (which Canon doesn't). And they scale all the way up to clones of the high-end OEM gear. And offer integration with studio strobes so you have remote control on everything.

So, it depends on usage and budget on which one is going to be better for you. If you're a pro event shooter, OEM hands down. If you're a low-budget hobbyist, then 3rd party might make more sense, particularly if you're going at least 50/50 on on-camera and off-camera. But a used OEM + 3rd-party might make as much sense.

Just make sure any 3rd-party gear is firmware upgradeable, and consider if you can live with it going incompatible (even if it's only temporary) on you when you get a new camera.

Completely agree!

For me portability and wireless groups fill-flash is the main use with the 80D. Not very powerhungry. So went for a set of 430 exiii rt. After cash-back 215 euro a piece.  Almost the nissin i40 price. Nice and easy setup and very consistent output . Compact And extremey fast recharge with the right Li-ions. And very well integrated in the (future) Canon system also .

Happy shooting