Nice, compact flashgun. (Canon Speedlite 430EX II)

Member Name: LittleCharlie

Product:	Canon Speedlite 430EX II
Date:	23/01/09 (393 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Compact, good features.

Disadvantages: No wireless trigger capability.

This is my workhorse portably flash. I used it in conjunction with the Canon 5D body, and it's not let me down yet.

It's equally at home being used directly on the camera, or being taken off and triggered with a cable or wireless trigger (you'll have to buy these though). I have used it for weddings, portraits sessions, pet photography and studio photography all with great sucess.

The auto function is really excellent and in combination with the camera judges the light levels well, although it can sometimes overexpose and blow the highlights, so I tend to dial down the exposure compensation and then bump it up a little in post processing.

There are a good range of third party accessories available that fit this flash, from ring flashes to diffusers and just about everything in between.

Be warned, this flash does eat batteries if you use it on full power. However, when used on quarter power, I can get a whole wedding reception out of one set of rechargables!

For the money, this is an excellent value flash. A good introductory flash compared to the 580, or a good slave model for wireless photography if you already have the 580 model.

Summary: Good all round flashgun.

Processing/Quality:
Reliability:
Ease of use:
Picture quality:
Battery life: