which flash for my 6D?

[paulold]

I just bought a EOS 6D and I want to get a flash. I've been a bit out of touch with photography for many years and I finally decided on a camera. Now I need some help with which flash to get. Any recommendations for my camera? I'm not a professional photographer - I am getting back into doing artwork. So I don't need to buy the best of the best, but I do think I should get a Canon Speedlite. I think I would mainly use the flash for indoor shots, portraits, shots of my friends, maybe some action shots of volleyball in darker gyms. But I'm not a big fan of images made with flash. I do recall bouncing the flash off of the ceiling in the past to get a better light/image quality, so I would probably take the same approach. Which flash would be a decent purchase? Just for reference, my last camera was a Canon A-1, which I bought back in 1984... : )

[Skirball]

+1 for the 430exII.  The only downside I see is that you mention doing indoor sports, and for stuff like that you kinda want all the lumens you can get.  But it's a modest admission fee to external flash.

600exRT is overkill in my opinion.  If you decide to get into off camera flash you can certainly move to 600s and you wouldn't be out much (relative to the cost of going 600s).  Or you could just get some radio triggers and still use your 430 and any other generic or Canon flash. 

I see the benefit to 600s for a working professional for doing multiple flash work with live subjects (e.g. a wedding photobooth), as it eases setup and complication, and time is money.  But shy of that I think you can do the same things much cheaper with other flashes and radio triggers.

[digital]

Well if you can scrape up a little more cash I would suggest the 600EX-RT. With a 6D you get all the bells and whistles the RT system has to offer. If you decide to expand and get more flashes the group mode is excellent. The 430 is a fine flash but my guess is a 430 RT is around the corner and RT is the way fo the future. If you are thinking about a 580 II read this.

http://pixsylated.com/blog/update-deciding-between-canon-speedlites-600ex-rt-and-580ex-ii/

[Skirball]

But the RT does you no good unless you get a second 600, or a STE-3, which costs more than a 430exII.  Now, if they had made the ST-E3 functions incorporated into the 6D we'd have something.

[digital]

This is true. They will never put RT in the camera when they can sell the STE3 for another $300. It was just a thought.    

[Skirball]

I think they’ll put it in-camera eventually, but they sure are taking their sweet ass time.

I hope I’m still into off-camera lighting when someone finally ties all the ends together and allows me to control my camera and flashes through a single tablet interface – check focus with live view, adjust flash power (individually, not groups), change camera settings, and trigger the shutter.  It’d be a huge hit with the strobists, and sadly the technology is all there, just in pieces.