Anybody used Yong Nuo speedlite? I was recommended with one today but I forgotten the model number.....
It cost abot RM200 plus. They said it is manual only.
Is it a good brand?

Thank you.

it's the YN560.

For rm200-300, you are getting very good performance out of this flash. Owned this flash for 1 year, no complaints at all. Good power, fast recharge, solid build.

Hey, thanks for replying.
I see there's a YN 560 II and a YN 560 III. What's the difference?
And what does manual means? Is it only useable on the camera's manual mode?

Manual means the flash cannot communicate with the camera body. You will need to dial in all the flash settings manually before you use it. This means you had better know what you're doing if you want to use this flash unit.

If this is the very first external flash unit you are getting and you are a total noob when it comes to flash photography, then I suggest that you invest more money in buying a flash unit from your camera's manufacturer brand. It will be easier for the beginner and you can slowly learn how to use the manual settings and have access to all the features that is available for your brand, e.g. wireless flash, TTL, HSS etc.

I see.... Thanks for the info and advice

YN-560 II does not have built in flash receiver
YN-560 III has built in flash receiver that can sync with Yongnuo range of flash trigger like the RF-603

This post has been edited by shadow_dweller: Jun 4 2014, 01:06 PM

Yong Nuo does have models that have TTL, HSS and wireless triggers to do multiple off camera flash. Yong Nuo looks like the best budget third party flash brand.

I see...... Thanks

What are those models that have TTL?

YN 565EX, YN 568EX II are a few. The TTL is mainly found for Canon and Nikon cameras. So make sure it has the right TTL for your camera.

I got 2 YN Flash:

i) YN 565EX II

pro: Cheap, high guide no, TTL, Master Slave
cons: Overheat, miss-firing, AF assist broke after 1 year plus of usage.

ii) YN 460

pro: Cheap, decent guide no, easy to use, can act as slave
cons: Overheat, miss-firing, slave function broke after few month of usage, you forehead can accidentally change the setting because the button is large and pop out.

IINM 460 or 460II (can't remember exactly). RM220 at cameravalley.com in Sunway Giza Mall. One unit left when I was there earlier this week.

I am just quoting the above for example of experience using third party flash units.

Misfiring and overheating. These are the reasons why I recommend newcomers to buy the flash from their camera body manufacturer brand. When you are new and trying to learn, you may not know that the flash has misfired causing incorrect exposure and resulting in outcome that is not to your expectations. You may be scratching your head for a long time wondering why before knowing that your flash unit actually misfired.

Overheating will cause you to miss moments. This is frustrating to say the least. Wouldn't it be worth it to invest a little more to ensure that you will lessen the chances of missing moments? I am not saying camera manufacturer brand flash will not overheat but they are not as prone to overheating compared to YN.

Wireless capabilities can be obtained only through using transmitters. If I am using my Sony flash on my Sony body, I don't need any third party transmitter for off camera wireless flash capabilities. I am sure with Nikon and Canon, this should be true also. I know there are some that prefer to use transmitters like Pocket Wizards but that is their preference and not because of limitation on the flash units.

I know that YN flashes are cheaper but like the saying that goes : 'you get what you pay for'. There will be features that you cannot use or inaccessible when using third party flash. If you are learning flash photography, I would recommend getting your camera brand's flash. It will give you less headaches while you are learning and you have full functionality. It may be more pricey but you can treat that as paying for lessons.

+1 to this.
YN speedlite is actually realy decent for normal usage but put it under stress like using burst mode on wedding or events , the reliability is reduced.

The misfires probably happened because your camera thought you wanted the background nicely exposed and blew up your subjects bright. Have you tried aiming at what you want to be exposed nicely at the center of your AF and then press the " * " button. Its called AE (Auto Exposure) lock, i guess different cameras have different ways to use AE lock. So best to look up how to do it and then get the best exposure results.

The misfired I experienced often happens when using burst mode for eg. If theres 5 picture taken in a burst, the 3rd and 4th might missing the illumination from the flash. I changed my " * " button to become my focus button as sometimes I will use continues AF so my half press shutter button replace the exposure lock. I seldom use this feature actually as I always stick to average exposure.

The price of 3rd party vs original manufacturer flash aren't even in the same ball park. If you buy the cheap one thinking you're going to get the same thing but just without the brand-logo, then you'd probably be dissapointed.

If you don't fall under the "money-is-no-object" category, and the budget just cannot stretch far enough, and it's between no flash at all or a third party flash, then it might be satisfactory.

Burst mode ... maybe the flash just couldn't keep up. Using it for weddings, etc, ... well, if you pay for a kancil, but drive it at 130kmh all the time, something's gonna break ...