Customer Reviews

Canon 430EX Speedlite Flash for Canon EOS SLR Cameras - Older Version

5 star:		(178)
4 star:		(55)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The 430 is plenty of flash for many photographers. and makes a nice walkaround flash, backup, or outstanding slave flash for someone who gets bitten by the photo bug in a serious way. The only current flash model that can compete is the Canon 580EX, which costs about a hundred bucks more. Forget the Sigma flash. The 580 is a much better unit (I'll explain in a sec), but it is bigger, heavier, and again, more expensive. The 430 can do most of the important things a 580 can do that an amateur is likely to use, and then some.

Here are the important differences... The 430 is pretty powerful, but the 580 is much more powerful than the 430 (GN 58 vs GN 43 (meters)). That's a lot of extra reach, or extra bounce capacity. Again though, the 430 is plenty strong in it's own right. The 580 has a fun strobe feature that the 430 does not have. The 580 has much greater manual control than the 430, by virtue of being able to adjust it's output in double the number of increments compared to a 430. The 580 has 14 custom functions, while the 430 has 6. The 580 has an easier to use function wheel than the 430's "button wheel". The 580 head can rotate 180 degrees in either direction, and be set to less than 90 degrees to the lens axis, while the 430 can only rotate to 180 degrees in one direction, and cannot dip below 90 degrees to the lens axis. The 580 can control other 580's, and 430's as slaves via it's infrared optical control transmitter/reciever. The 580 covers all focus sensors on EOS cameras up to the 45 points used by the pro bodies. The 430 covers up to 9 sensors, which is fine until you get beyond the 5D body (the Rebel line, 10D, 20D, and 30D are fully covered). Both flashes include a pull out wide panel that will cover a lens as wide as 14mm on a full frame body, or as wide as 10mm on a 10,20,30D, or Rebel body, but the 580 also has a pull out "catchlight" panel designed to put sparkle in the subjects' eyes when using the flash in bounce mode. There are a few more things, but that should cover the big ones.

OK, the 580 is the knockout champion, so why did I rate the 430 with 5 stars? Because it deserves them. Canon was wise enough to pack very good power, and a FULL feature set into the 430 without screwing the prospective buyer by leaving out one or two important features that would force them to spend the extra bucks on a 580. The 430 is built well, looks sweet, works like the fine instrument it is, and is significantly smaller than the 580. The fact is, I use the 430 as my preferred flash more often than not. A trip to the car races, a birthday party, general photo fun, family stuf, etc. It is more flash than most people will ever need, at a good price. For those times that I need more, or want to use multiple flash units, the 580 heavy artillery is brought out, and the 430 becomes a second unit under the control of the 580. Both units come with a clever little "foot" that allows you to position them on any flat surface, so you can set up your scene lighting without having to use tripods to hold your slave flash units.

If the photo bug bites you, you will end up owning both flash units. Get the 430 first. If you never get into serious multi flash setups, the 430 will serve you just fine. I you do, you will end up buying it anyway :).

By the way, someone complained about cycle time on the 430. That was nonsense. Either it was a defective unit, or the reviewer was on the cheap, and used alkaline batteries. All flash units are very current hungry when they recharge after a full blast of light. Alkaline batteries are not capable of delivering high current levels more than a few times when they are new. Internal resistance builds up, and they begin to deliver such small current rates that you could sing an entire opera between flashes (no matter what brand of flash). Always use a high current technology battery like NiMH in a flash unit. You can buy a set of four 2700 MAh rechargeable batteries at WalMart for about seven bucks, or buy a brick of 24 of them online for about a buck each, and get a good charger for cheap too. With the right batteries, your 430 will recover from a full power flash in less than 4 seconds (about 2.5 in real life), and for less than full power shots (fill flash, etc.), you can take several shots in one second. Alkaline batteries will work in a pinch, but that is the only time you should use them. Lithium is a good technology for flash units too, but is still rather expensive. Buy NiMH for now.

I am a beginner to SLR flash photography, and I spent several weeks researching various flashes, both by online reviews, and by going down to the local camera shop with my Canon 350D (Rebel XT in US), and I finally decided on the 430EX over the Canon 420EX, Canon 580EX, and Sigma 500ST Super for a few reasons:

1. Manual Control- Not only does this give you the obvious ability to have more creative flexibility, but as a beginner, it gives you the opportunity to experiment, and practice the more technical skills of flash photography. Another benefit of manual mode is the ability to use opitcally triggered slave flash units in a multi-light setup. Fully automatic E-ttl mode flash will trigger the slaves with the metering preflash, and make using optical slaves impossible while using the onboard flash. (there are work arounds, but they involve reducing the output of the onboard flash to a minimal level by FEC or covering the flash with something, limiting your flexibilty in creating a lighting setup). This manual flexibilty was the primary reason I choose the 430EX over the 420EX.

2. Remarkable recycle times. I have no scientific data for this, just subjective feel. The 430EX out-performed the 420EX here. Not by a huge amount, but it was noticable. Under the same conditions-bounce for fill, low ambient light (meter read .3 sec at f4), the 430EX would be able to fire off an extra few shots in succession without having to wait for recycling. Depending on the battery level I could get 3 to 5 more partial power fill flashes in low ambient light, pressing the shutter release quickly with the 430EX over the 420EX. Again, not a huge difference, but noticeable.

3. Build quality was better than the Sigma. I use my camera a lot, in the most hostile of camera environments (I am an elementary school teacher) and it swings around and bangs into things, and gets swung around and banged into things...etc. The build quility compared to the Sigma isn't that different for a casual user, who will take pictures at home, or in a more controlled environment. In particular, the Sigma battery door felt weak. This wasn't a decision point for me, but it helped me lean towards my decision.

4. Finally, the last factor was the ability to function as a slave in a wireless setup that isn't optical. Optical slave setups are great for experimenting, and studio type setups, when you have the only camera in the room. But they do not work when every mother and father is taking a picture at the school play, and in the future, I plan to upgrade/expand to include infared control of a flash setup. Again, there are other options for non-optically controlled slaves, but the 580EX plus Canon slaves is an easy way for a non-pro like me to go.

For me, the primary selling point was manual control. I probably would have gotten the 580EX otherwise, and just might do so in the future if I can save my pennies. The Sigma 500ST Super was very tempting as well, and if you want a powerful flash, manual control, and don't plan to use a multi-flash setup, or you use an optically triggered setup, I would recommend that flash highly as well.

One last point, the AF assist on the Canon flashes will cover all the focus points on a 350D (Rebel XT), and 20D, whereas the Sigma will only illuminate the center AF reliably. This AF assist is much nicer than the built in flash assist, and has a reasonable range for most portraits and group shots in low light.

I hope this review helps you! It took me a long time and lots of research to decide, and hopefully, I have presented my reasons in an intelligible manner!
Have fun and take lots of pictures!

If you are looking for a flash for your SLR then you really only have two choices, this or the 580EX. The lower-end flash would be a waste of money and space because it doesn't provide much more then your camera's pop-up flash.

The flash is very impressive; you can setup just about any bizarre exposure you want on your camera and the flash will produce enough light to make the picture actually come out (with-in its limits). Bounce flash is really helpful for shooting near-by subjects; it greatly reduces the hash shadows that often ruin indoor pictures against white walls. I am very happy with the recharge time. At close range you can normally get 2 or 3 very quick shoots in before having to wait at all; after that it is still pretty fast. When it has to fire hard it recharges in a couple of seconds on good batteries. If you have the original Digital Rebel then the 430EX also adds flash compensation control.

I don't own a 580 so I can't really comment on the advantages. It has a longer range, color temperature information, -3° down angle and wireless master mode; it is also larger. At the time I bought this one the 580 was twice the price so I didn't even consider it; the prices have come down a little, so it may be worth looking at. You should also keep in mind that the 430 does support wireless slave mode, so if you buy a 580 down the road you can still use this flash as a slave.

A few tips:
1. Always keep spare batteries; weak batteries cause very slow recharge times on distance shoots.
2. Always watch for the flash icon in the view finder. If you are shooting quickly in low-light and you happen to press the shutter before the flash has recharged you could find your self having to wait through a completely useless 10" exposure.
3. If you find that you have a tendency to accidentally tap the Depth of Field Preview button the side of the camera then you probably want to use the flash's custom feature to disable "Depth of Field Preview Illumination" (I think that is how its worded). Normally the flash strobes when that button is pressed; which annoys your subjects and forces you to wait about 5 seconds for the flash to recycle.

I added this flash to act as a slave to my 580ex in certain situations. This flash is phenomenal!!! The output is dead on and the exposure it gives is perfect, thanks to the ETTL-II that the 420ex lacked. Even when it's connected to the shoe mount on the camera it's awsome. The lighweight is very much appreciated as I now tend to shoot with this as a walk around flash. Highly recommended as a backup or main flash unit!!

Simply put, if the price isn't too high, this is the best flash value for the newer E-TTL II flash system cameras (all the current digital EOS). Be careful in chosing a flash, because if it's not E-TTL II compatible, you'll have very poor results with the latest digitals.

The 430EX is a best value in that it has all the truly important features: bounce, swivel, auto zoom head, autofocus assist, good power, and E-TTL II compatibility. It also has two things that put it ahead of most independent flash units.

First and foremost is the high flash synch capability. This is invaluable when using the flash for outdoor, sunny day fill flash portraits. Large apertures (for shallow depth of field) and bright light necessitates shooting at faster shutter speeds. The HFS allows this, although it is not as power effecient as not using this mode. This can truly make all the difference in your outdoor portraitures.

Second, but of less value, is the wireless capability. The 430EX, the 580EX, some older flashes and the ST-E2 controller can be assembled into a portable, multi-flash wireless set. I feel this is rather undesirable for most, as the cost required could easily equip one with a very nice studio lighting outfit. However, some might find this to be of more use than others.

Although the 580EX has a few more features, and a bit more power, it's probably not the best choice for the average flash photographer, due to the much higher cost.

If this flash is still out of your budget, there are several other flashes that are E-TTL II compatible from other manufacturers, but none will combine the features and build quality of this Canon.

I take most of my shots indoors, and was encouraged to buy this flash. I was blown away by how much better my shots look when bouncing the flash. Much more natural looking lighting. I think this is the best thing I have bought for my XT, I love it.

Lots of good reviews for this, so i don't need to add much more, but I wanted to rate this 5 stars because I am so happy with it.

Make no mistake about it-- this flash is a superb value. With enough options and settings to dazzle even those of us who have been photographing for a while, this one makes a great purchase. Absolutely outstanding fill-in and bounce flash capabilities. Very powerful, very precise, and the sync mode is phenomenal. Made the mistake of ordering the 220 and had to return it within a day because, pardon my French, it's a piece of junk. I shed the extra $150 for this one and ever since I got it I've ran a series of intensive tests (informal though) and am nothing but amazed and glad I ended up ordering this one! Definitely great, great product! If you are a low-light/night pro I suggest the 580 instead which is definitely in a league of its own. But for the rest of us this one will take you a long way.

I love almost everything about this flash. Especially the accurate lighting when you bounce it off the walls or ceiling. Coupled with a f/1.8 lens, I was even able to take some decent indoor basketball shots this weekend. My only beef is the weight. Very heavy once you pack in those four AA batteries. I don't know if the reviewer who said that the flash was lightweight was A-a-a-rnold or not, but I find it very top heavy when you put it on something like the 300/Rebel.

I just received my Canon 430EX last week, so I have limited experience using it. I am very impressed with its solid construction, LCD screen, and selectable (available) manual controls. Also with the test shots I made so far ranging from 2' to 20'. Perfect exposures. I bought it for my Canon EOS SLR Digital Rebel 6.3MP. Did a lot of shopping around trying to find a flash not quite so expensive. Found many of the "bargain" brands were not totally "dedicated" to my camera, therefore some of the features will not work. Even had incorrect advice from some of the major camera chains. So beware! Some do not put out as much light, too. Be sure you are getting what you want. The other reviews here at Amazon are very good, do read them. The price Amazon offers it for is reasonable, especially when you consider free shipping and (for most) no sales tax. I highly recommend this one.

I've recently stepped up from my Canon S400 Elph to the G7. Outside shots with the G7 have been excellent, but inside shots with the built-in flash have not done this camera justice. After talking to a knowledgeable friend and reading reviews and discussion forums on many photo sites, I decided to take the plunge on the 430EX.

I cannot begin to emphasize how much better indoor shots are with the 430EX flash. Gone is red-eye and washed-out pasty-faced pictures of my toddler kids. Using the pivoting ability of this powerful flash to bounce flash, my indoor shots are much nicer with more natural lighting effects and a fully lit-up room. Shots of the kids are crisp and natural looking with no more red-eye.

The ETTL-II support works flawless with the G7. Installation and use is a snap. Unless you feel the need for manual overrides, a large amount of calibration happens automatically between the sensors in the camera and flash, including a fast pre-flash to further achieve a better calibrated picture. After doing a search on ETTL-II I was amazed at the complex interactions that happen between the camera's sensors and the flash.

The flash does looks large on this camera with the flash tilted up, but it actually looks decent when tilted forward. I will say that it is reasonably light and I have not had any issues keeping the camera balanced or steady with the flash mounted and holding in my hands. In my opinion, the improvement in picture quality for indoor shots far outweighs my original concerns about the flash being too large for the camera.

The combination of the G7 camera and 430EX flash has given me a very satisfactory kit that produces excellent quality pictures indoors while still having a fairly compact camera to use in the brighter outdoors where an external flash is not required.