pulsar123
Jul 11th, 2012, 11:00 AM
The original model, YN460, was already very popular with photography enthusiasts building their home photo studios, because it was probably the cheapest reasonably powerful flash available with manual power control. It did have a few issues. Then the second version came out, YN 460 II, which supposedly fixed most (if not all) of those issues. They were originally ~20$ more expensive than the version 1, but then I found the version II at the price of version I (40$ + shipping) at Meritline.com, and ordered it:
http://www.meritline.com/canon-nikon-pentax-olympus-speedlite-camera-flash-black---p-70248.aspx
The total came up to 50 CAD (no taxes were charged). I received the flash after ~3 weeks, and happy to report here that all the issues I heard about regarding the version 1 were fixed. Specifically:
- It has a PC sync port, which works fine in my tests (totally new and undocumented feature, so you are not guaranteed to get it);
- It is of a good build quality;
- The battery compartment door works fine;
- It recharges really fast - ~2 seconds in my tests at the maximum power, using freshly charged Eneloop batteries;
- It is very quite - no audible noises during recharging;
- The foot is made of metal;
- It memorizes the power level used last time, after you turn it off;
- The flash head rotates in both directions all the way, with "clicks" at certain angles (the way my expensive Canon 580EX does).
Other great things about this flash:
- It has a built-in diffuser and reflecting card;
- It has a built-in optical trigger, with two modes - one for a single impulse flash, the other one for a flash with a pre-flash (TTL). I tested it, the second mode worked beautifully with the pop-up flash of my Canon 50D camera. So you are basically saving yourself ~10$, and some additinal size and weight of an external optical flash trigger.
- It is 6 units brighter than the version I (real GN 34 vs. real GN 28 - see http://speedlights.net/2010/12/10/yongnuo-yn460-ii/). It makes it as bright as Canon 430EX.
To summarize - a great flash to use off-camera, e.g. in a home photo studio, for 1/7 of the price of equivalent brand named flashes. I wouldn't use it on camera though - it doesn't have TTL support, and the flash head doesn't zoom in or out.
I will use the flash as the last missing light in my basement photostudio - hair light. I already got the boom stand for that (~50$ from a Canadian seller on ebay), plus speedlite bracket (5$ from ebay), and I made myself a narrow hair light softbox, using silver reflector for car windshied + wire hangers from a dollar store + old bed sheet.
Here is a comprehensive review of the flash:
http://speedlights.net/2010/12/10/yongnuo-yn460-ii/
http://www.meritline.com/canon-nikon-pentax-olympus-speedlite-camera-flash-black---p-70248.aspx
The total came up to 50 CAD (no taxes were charged). I received the flash after ~3 weeks, and happy to report here that all the issues I heard about regarding the version 1 were fixed. Specifically:
- It has a PC sync port, which works fine in my tests (totally new and undocumented feature, so you are not guaranteed to get it);
- It is of a good build quality;
- The battery compartment door works fine;
- It recharges really fast - ~2 seconds in my tests at the maximum power, using freshly charged Eneloop batteries;
- It is very quite - no audible noises during recharging;
- The foot is made of metal;
- It memorizes the power level used last time, after you turn it off;
- The flash head rotates in both directions all the way, with "clicks" at certain angles (the way my expensive Canon 580EX does).
Other great things about this flash:
- It has a built-in diffuser and reflecting card;
- It has a built-in optical trigger, with two modes - one for a single impulse flash, the other one for a flash with a pre-flash (TTL). I tested it, the second mode worked beautifully with the pop-up flash of my Canon 50D camera. So you are basically saving yourself ~10$, and some additinal size and weight of an external optical flash trigger.
- It is 6 units brighter than the version I (real GN 34 vs. real GN 28 - see http://speedlights.net/2010/12/10/yongnuo-yn460-ii/). It makes it as bright as Canon 430EX.
To summarize - a great flash to use off-camera, e.g. in a home photo studio, for 1/7 of the price of equivalent brand named flashes. I wouldn't use it on camera though - it doesn't have TTL support, and the flash head doesn't zoom in or out.
I will use the flash as the last missing light in my basement photostudio - hair light. I already got the boom stand for that (~50$ from a Canadian seller on ebay), plus speedlite bracket (5$ from ebay), and I made myself a narrow hair light softbox, using silver reflector for car windshied + wire hangers from a dollar store + old bed sheet.
Here is a comprehensive review of the flash:
http://speedlights.net/2010/12/10/yongnuo-yn460-ii/