Yongnuo YN-560 II Speedlight Flash for Canon and Nikon. A problem that I didn't experience at first - while the LCD screen is
bright and easy to read in most situations (looking straight at it), I
found out that it's not so easy to read from other angles. For example,
if you put it on an umbrella swivel (for an umbrella, beauty dish,
softbox, etc..) and have it angled it can be impossible to read. If
tilted 90 degrees forward, it appears as if everything lights up on it
(the LCD screen uses something similar to a digital alarm clock - so it
looks like "1/188" which allows the "88" to light up certain parts to
form different numbers. So it could be 1/1, 1/2.. 1/16, 1/32, 1/64,
1/128) Again, the problem is that at odd angles (like 90 degrees
forward) it appears as "1/188" instead of what the actual power is. On
the other hand, tilting it 90 degrees backwards it will look blank.. so
the viewing angle isn't great and creates some readability issues.
Another example is if it's sitting lower to the ground and you're
looking at it from a standing height it will appear blank. You need to
bend down and look at a better angle to see the actual power. This could
be considered a big downfall for some and does show that there is an
advantage to the original YN560's LED system.
For comparison, the
Canon 580EXII does have a similar issue but not nearly as bad. Tilting
it 90 degrees forward it is still easily readable.
Over the last
couple years, YONGNUO has made a name for themselves in the photography
world. They've released some very nice, high quality alternatives to the
"name brand" products out there as VERY nice prices. One of their
better lines of items are their Speedlites (portable flashes).
I
own and use many of their Speedlites - the YN460, YN460-II, YN465, YN560
and now the YN560II. I've used them for years and they all still work
perfectly (the only issue was with a YN560 (original) that arrived with a
broken zoom). For the prices they sell for, I find them to be very
reliable. I have dropped them onto concrete from small heights (2-3
feet) and they continued to work fine.
Owning several of these,
I'd like to compare them for anyone who was in the same situation as I
was when looking for a flash. For the record, these units were purchased
for:
YN560 - 70 bucks
YN560II - 100 bucks (NOTE: That was the
price from a US Seller. From China they can be found for about 70 bucks,
the same as the YN560)
580EXII - 500 bucks
Design:
Right off
the bat, all 3 pretty much look the exact same. YONGNUO basically made a
copy of the 580EXII mold (right down to including fake buttons on the
sides which are REAL buttons on the 580EXII). The nice thing about this
is that it means all accessories designed to fit the Canon 580EXII will
work just fine with the Yongnuo YN560 (and 560II).
The obvious
difference is the back of the flash. The original YN560 uses a LED
system to indicate the power and zoom range - this means if 1 LED is
lit, it's 1/128 power.. if 2 are lit, it's 1/64.. 1/32.. 1/16.. 1/8..
1/4.. 1/2.. 1/1. This makes it easy to glance at from a distance and see
"All the lights are lit, it's full power" opposed to an LCD screen
which can be tough to read in the dark or from a distance.
LCD/Back display:
The YN560II and 580EXII use an LCD screen which tells you the actual power: 1/1, 1/2, 1/4, etc..
The
better option for back display (LCD vs. LED Lights) comes down to
preference - I have no issues with either. Both LCD screens (YN560II and
580EXII) have a backlight option - the Canon 580EXII has a specific
"light" button which will turn the backlight (green) on for a few
seconds. The YN560II will automatically turn the backlight (red/orange)
on whenever any button is pressed. I like the YN560II's method as you
can easily see the information no matter wherever you are when adjusting
power - lit or dark areas (with the 580EXII you need to press the light
button to see the light - so if you're in a dark area and changing
power, you need to press the LIGHT then change the power (or vice versa)
to see what level it's at - the YN560II will light up as soon as you
start adjusting the power). The YN560II does not, however, have a
dedicated LIGHT button but you can press any button (even the "enter"
button which won't have any effect on the settings) to turn on the light
for a few seconds.
The LCD screen on the YN560II is much more
basic. You get the MODE you're in (M/S1/S2/MULTI (more on these later),
the power (1/1, 1/2, 1/4...), the zoom level (24mm, 28mm, 35mm, etc..),
the AUDIO indicator (more on this later..) and some others which will
come on from time to time. One of the most helpful is the LOW BATTERY
icon - unfortunately it doesn't give a constant indicator of battery
life, only when it's "low". The 580EXII, on the other hand, has the same
information but it's laid out in a much nicer presentation.
I will
say that I prefer the YN560II LCD somewhat as everything is VERY BIG ON
THE SCREEN. The power level is about 3 times as big as that on the
580EXII (so you can easily see the power level from a distance).. same
for the zoom level. Doesn't look as fancy, but the information is easier
to read on the YN560II. Again, the YN560 does not use an LCD, only
light up LED lights - you can even say that the YN560 is easiest to get
an idea of the power level from a distance since you can see how many
LED's are lit from almost any angle.
Modes:
The CANON 580EXII
includes: MANUAL, ETTL (automatic flash exposure), MULTI (a
strobelight-like effect where you can control how many times it flashes
and how frequently), a MASTER mode (to control other CANON flashes) and a
SLAVE mode (to be controlled by a camera like the 7D, a transmitter
like the ST-E2 or another 580EXII flash).
The YN560 and YN560-II
include: MANUAL, SLAVE1, SLAVE2 (and the YN560II includes MULTI). SLAVE1
and SLAVE2 on the Yongnuo are nice as they let you trigger these
flashes using any other flash (SLAVE1 is for other manual flashes (or
flashes without an ETTL metering), SLAVE2 is for cameras that use ETTL
metering). These are great modes to have and are not on the CANON
580EXII. On the same hand, the 580EXII includes the ETTL ("automatic")
and High-Speed sync mode for the flash while the YONGNUO models are all
automatic and do not include high-speed sync (YONGNUO makes the YN565
flash which does include ETTL, but not high-speed sync)
Power:
All
3 have roughly the same amount of power output. They can be adjusted
anywhere from 1/1 (full power) down to 1/128. I believe some of the
earlier Yongnuo flashes only went down to 1/64 power. You can also
fine-tune the power, so if you want something between 1/2 and 1/1 power,
you can set it to 1/2 and then add +0.3, +0.5 or +0.7 compensation -
this is done with the up/down buttons on the YN560 and YN560II. It is
MUCH easier to read on the YN560II since it will say: "1/2 +0.3" while
the YN560 only has 1 set of LED lights (which display flash power
output, zoom level and flash exposure compensation, depending which one
you're looking at. The YN560II will display all at once).
FUNCTIONS:
All
3 flashes have a zoom function on the flash - the YONGNUO are the
easiest to operate as they have dedicated +/- buttons (canon requires
you to press a button first and then change the zoom).
The YONGNUO
flashes also allow easier control of the power (also a +/- button while
the 580EXII requires you to press the SET button and then turn a wheel).
This is a toss-up on who wins - the YONGNUO ones are easier to adjust,
but that also makes them easier to hit by accident and change the power
levels when you didn't want to.
BUTTONS:
The YN560II and YN560
have similar looking buttons (rubber-like), but the YN560 buttons are
somewhat mushy/soft while the YN560II has firm buttons which feel a bit
nicer. Both are usable.
The YN560II uses similar buttons to the
580EXII, except the 580EXII uses a wheel instead of the
left/right/up/down/SET button on the YN560II. I actually prefer the
buttons on the YN560II as they're easier to pick up and use, but all 3
work fine.
CONNECTIONS:
The YN560 and YN560II have a metal
hotshoe (the YN560 originally released with a plastic hotshoe, but was
quickly replaced). They also use the turn-to-lock clamp for the hotshoe
while the Canon 580EXII uses a rubber gasket with a switch you flip to
lock it down (this also keeps it somewhat water-sealed on the hotshoe). I
prefer the 580EXII style lock for sure, but the others do work fine.
All
3 have a PC-Sync input and a high-voltage battery socket to connect an
external battery pack to (such as the CP-E4). I use the Pixel
TD-381 battery Power Pack for for Canon Speedlites 580EX II, EX580,
EX550, MR-14EX,MT-24EX, extremely stable fast recycle time 1.24S and highly recommend it! These greatly speed up recycle times and give you a longer battery life.
RECYCLE TIMES:
I
loaded fresh rechargable batteries (same brand, all bought at the same
time and freshly charged) into all 3 flashes, connected them to a radio
trigger to set all 3 off at the same time. The YN560 recycled the faster
(barely beating out the YN560II), and the 580EXII slightly slower than
all 3. The difference was about 1/2 to 3/4 seconds difference between
all 3. With the external battery pack (above) connected, all were fully
recycled and ready for the next shot within about 1-2 seconds from full
power (and all ready about the same time).
OTHER:
The YN560
and 580EXII both go from lowest power (all the way left) to highest
power (all the way right) and stop at each. If you go to full power
(1/1) and press right, nothing happens. If you go to lowest power
(1/128) and press left, nothing happens.
