best speedlite for a canon 70D to use on and off camera, never use one before

[misskirsty]

Hi,

I have been doing for photography for a few years, i have been doing mainly landscape and nature, but are now starting to stretch into portraits.  

I would like to a few recommonations on speedlites for the Canon 70D to use on and off the shoe.

thank you

[TCampbell]

The camera can use it's own pop-up flash to trigger an off camera flash.  in this regard, you'd need a flash that can operate in optical remote mode... like a Canon 430EX II speedlite.  

The 430EX II can either operate on-camera as an only flash -or- it can be a remote flash in a multi-flash setup, but it cannot be a transmitter (aka 'commander').  

The onboard flash can be an optical commander (must have line-of-sight to the remotes because it is optical.)  The on-board flash doesn't have to be used in photography.. it can flash all it's instructions to the remotes during the pre-flash phase of the shot and when the shutter finally opens, only the remotes fire (so you get no effect from the built-in flash even though you saw it fire, it only fired in pre-flash not when the shutter was open.)

The flagship flash is the 600EX-RT system... which can use either optical triggering or radio triggering.  The radio system is very nice BUT the camera has no radio of it's own which means you either need a 2nd 600EX-RT -or- you need the ST-E3-RT transmitter module on the camera to control the off-camera flashes.  It can control up to 15 off-camera flashes and you can pretty much do everything with in-camera menus -- so there's a big integration and ease-of-use advantage, but the flagship flash system is going to be more expensive.

I considered the alternative... of using PocketWizard brand radio (e-ttl compatible) transmitters and tranceivers.  By the time I considered the price of non-radio flashes with the pocket wizards, the price tag was pretty steep and the versatility was nowhere near what the Canon system could deliver.  So I went with the Canon system anyway.

There are also 3rd party flashes.  I have no experience with these.  Most are manual only but there are a few which have at least some E-TTL compatibility.  As I've never used a 3rd party flash, I wont comment on them.

[misskirsty]

Thank you so much for your reply, was exactly what I was looking for.

[Skirball]

If you're going to be doing only portraits, save yourself a bunch of money and get Yongnuo 560 III.   It has a built in radio receiver that will work with the Yongnuo RF-602 and RF-603.  You can get the 560III for $70 each, and a simple RF-602 trigger for $20.  This system is purely manual, so if you want eTTL then you'll need to get a more advanced flash.

eTTL is a fantastic tool, and I recommend having at least one eTTL flash for on-camera use.  That said, I don't use it much, and I probably use a flash > 80% of the time.  There are some excellent portraiture photographers that use eTTL, but the majority prefer the control that manual flash provides for still subjects.  If you're just getting into off-camera flash you can save a considerable amount of money with a manual system.

Using the flash on the 70D to trigger the lights is a fine system.  I used one when I first got into off-camera flash.  But after using radio triggers a single time I'll never go back. 

[misskirsty]

THANK YOU Skirball, i was going to go with the yongnuo 560III but thought maybe the canon was better, but i guess the cheaper option is better for a novice 

[Skirball]

---

@misskirsty wrote:

THANK YOU Skirball, i was going to go with the yongnuo 560III but thought maybe the canon was better, but i guess the cheaper option is better for a novice 

---

Well, in ways the Canon is better, but it's a matter of whether or not you're going to use that difference, and what it's worth to you.  As I mentioned, I do recommend owning an eTTL equipped flash at some point.  It's an amazing technology and has it's place.  However, manual flash is reliable, and once you learn to use it well it can be quite flexible.  Most people learn to use flash with static subjects, and manual flash is more than capable in such situations.  For manual flash, there is no better deal than the 560III.  I just bought two of them a little while ago, despite the fact that I already owned 5 flashes and have absolutely no need to use 7 flashes at once.  Not having to pull out an RF reciever to trigger the flash is worth the cost alone, to me.  If I was to buy my lighting kit today I would have nothing but a pile of 560III and a used Canon 580exII (for eTTL).

I use the RF-602 to trigger the flashes.  I love the trigger because it's tiny, and the receivers have a 1/4" hole for mounting on light stands.  That said, Yonguo recently updated the RF-603 to a mark II version.  They added in a lock so it doesn't slip out of the hotshoe - something that does happen on occasion with the 602.  And you won't need receivers with the 560III, so the lack of 1/4" bolt hole doesn't mean anything.  You can get a single RF-603II for $20, but you might as well pick up a pair for $30, just in case you have a non-560III flash that you want to trigger.

[RobertTheFat]

---

@Skirball wrote:

If you're going to be doing only portraits, save yourself a bunch of money and get Yongnuo 560 III.   It has a built in radio receiver that will work with the Yongnuo RF-602 and RF-603.  You can get the 560III for $70 each, and a simple RF-602 trigger for $20.  This system is purely manual, so if you want eTTL then you'll need to get a more advanced flash.

eTTL is a fantastic tool, and I recommend having at least one eTTL flash for on-camera use.  That said, I don't use it much, and I probably use a flash > 80% of the time.  There are some excellent portraiture photographers that use eTTL, but the majority prefer the control that manual flash provides for still subjects.  If you're just getting into off-camera flash you can save a considerable amount of money with a manual system.

Using the flash on the 70D to trigger the lights is a fine system.  I used one when I first got into off-camera flash.  But after using radio triggers a single time I'll never go back. 

---

Do you ever have a problem with RF interference when using radio triggers? Do all radio triggers of a given brand use the same frequency?

[Skirball]

---

@RobertTheFat wrote:

Do you ever have a problem with RF interference when using radio triggers? Do all radio triggers of a given brand use the same frequency?

---

No, never, and I live in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the US.  Not that I frequently shoot off-camera flash amongst a large amount of other photographers doing the same, but I'm sure there's plenty of RF noise about me at all times.

The Yongnuo triggers that I use (RF602 and RF622) have 16 and 7 channels, respectively.  So even if you're working around other photographers you can shoot on different channels.  And, if some RF noise did happen to pop off a flash or two it really would affect your photography unless it was constant.