 [Larger view] | Canon Speedlite 420EX Flash for Canon EOS SLR Cameras
| ||||||
Average user rating:  | |
| Can never have enough light! | |
| The greatest shortcoming of the Canon Digital Rebel Camera is its built in, pop-up flash. The pop-up flash is too weak for many situations - and often is not spaced high enough from the camera body to avoid red-eye, lens hoods or telephoto lens bodies shadow. I purchased the 420EX to improve on these situations.
After a year of use - I LIKE my purchase of the 420EX. Things I enjoy with my 420 EX: 1. More powerful than the built in flash of the Digital Rebel 2. Swivel/Bounce head offers great flexability for many different situations. 3. Synchs perfectly to the Digital Rebel's exposure computer through the hot-shoe or hot shoe extender cord. Measures zoom level of standard zoom camera lens - and gives a good overall automatic exposure. 4. Light enough to mount on an L/U aluminum bracket without throwing the camera out of balance. Use of a BGE-1 battery grip is highly recommended with a portrait photographers U bracket. 5. Not a power hog. Can get up to 150-200 photos out of a set of four 2300 amp/hr Ni-Mh AA rechargables. (Always have a second set ready to go if on assignment - with a charger for the expended batteries.) 6. Works well in slave mode. This is where it earns its money for me! 7. Works well with a bounce light diffuser hood for portrait work. 8. Height above lens eliminates most red-eye situations. 9. GREAT VALUE for the money! 10. Hot shoe mount eliminates all but the longest telephoto lens shadows. Things I 'd like to see improve: 1. Not powerful enough. You can NEVER have enough light. The 580EX gains a full F-stop (or more) over the 420 EX - though you pay a price almost double in cost. 2. Battery door is flimsy - and sometimes fails to latch securely. (This is embarassing when you're shooting for a client and batteries are rolling all over the place - I know... I need to be more careful!!!) 3. Tends toward underexposure in large or high ceilinged rooms. (You can never have enough light!) 4. Lacks strobe, LCD display functions of the more expensive EX580. A good solid product for most occasions. A great value for the money. Improves on the Digital Rebel's anemic pop-up flash. Eliminates most red-eye situations. Still not powerful enough for the discriminating photographer. | |
 Got a Canon SLR? Shoot Inside? Get a 420EX. | |
| It doesn't matter if you shoot film or digital. It doesn't matter if you have an old Rebel XS film SLR or even a PowerShot Pro1 digicam (Not even an slr)!, if your canon camera has a hotshoe, This will work on it. And not just "yeah, it works", it'll be a "HOLY COW, look at that shot!" Bounce Flash is so easy it made me want to cry. And I use a 1986 manual focus T90 side by side with an Elan 7n. All you do is point the the flash head at SOMETHING white, and shoot. You'll never go back to direct flash. Care for wireless flash? the 420EX is the PERFECT slave, and with a 550/580EX or a ST-E2, you can control the light output without even leaving your camera.
Stop using the built in flash. Treat yourself to something nice. | |
| Worth the purchase | |
| I bought 420EX flash for use with Canon's G3 camera, which is one step less than conventional SLRs. For long my indoor photography has suffered. But now with this great accessory, I can bounce light to create brilliant and vivid images. The flash utilizes E-TTL and also adjusts to the camera's zoom.
The only reason I rated the flash 4 stars is that the auto-fucos assist beam function is not working with my camera. I probably will get in touch with Canon and find out if this feature is compatible with G series camera or not. |
