I was thinking of using this higher power flash than the built-in flash (on my Canon Digital Rebel) because it seems that people keep telling me too. I never paid much attention to it because I rather spend my money on another lens or accessory.
Fortuneately, I ran out of things I thought I needed. In a nutshell, this flash is amazing and I wished I got it a long time ago.
Everything is automatic, and it takes out all of the guesswork for my amateur needs. When I tried the bounce flash (by adjusting the flash 75 degrees-up to bounce light off of the ceiling in a 10 ft high room), the pictures came out with more vibrant colors than I expected. In contrast, all of my past pictures became dimmer the instant I saw the new results.
Colors in objects that you don't pay attention to become visible and vibrant (the house plants in the corner, color of carpet, furniture, background painting and decor, etc). The bounce flash made my evening pictures as brillant as pictures taken in the afternoon.
In addition, since I bounced the flash from the ceiling, my pictures didn't have the dark and glooming shadows behind people. I have tried a side bounce to produce better results than a direct flash when I cannot bounce off of a ceiling.
I only wished that there were some emphasis and tips on using the bounce flash in the manuals. I guess it is a simple-enough method, but it produces amazing results. I was fortuneate to be reading a book about digital photograph (40 Digital Photography Techniques) that had 2-3 tips on trying a bounce flash.
I also purchased this flash for my loreo 3d lens attachment. Although it produces better and brighter picture than the buit-in flash, my picture with the loreo lens are still too dark. My best results are from pictures under the afternoon light. (I will continue to use software like photoshop to adjust the brightness and contrast in my loreo pictures when a flash is needed--which afterwards can become amazing.)
