Reddit reviews YONGNUO YN-568EX II 4-Channel TTL Flash Speedlite for Canon E-TTL/E-TTL II Cameras

I don't think you'll need your tripod/remote other than for potentially a group family photo.

Get yourself a speedlite and you should be fine. Yongnuo YN568EX-II should be a good start. Get your mom to buy it for you since apparently you're not getting paid for it.

This video helped me a lot in understanding how it all works and there's plenty of other guides out there.

> I was gonna go for the Yongnuo, YN-560 or YN-568.

The former is manual-only. The latter supports TTL and HSS. You probably want to decide on whether you need those features first.

https://www.reddit.com/r/photography/wiki/index#wiki_what_is_ttl.3F_do_i_need_it.3F

https://www.reddit.com/r/photography/wiki/index#wiki_what_is_high_speed_sync.3F_do_i_need_it.3F

It's also important to note that you've linked the YN-560 IV and not the original 560. Version IV comes with a built-in radio transmitter and receiver for Yongnuo's RF-603 (non-TTL) radio system.

> Then I need receivers if I wanna use it off-camera

The flash needs a receiver and the camera needs a transmitter.

https://www.reddit.com/r/photography/wiki/index#wiki_how_should_i_sync_my_flash.3F

> something like the YN-622C here.

That's a transceiver. So you put one on the camera and that will act as transmitter; and you put another under the flash and that will act as receiver. And that system supports TTL, which is what you want if you want remote TTL functionality with flashes like the 568. But it's a bit of a waste for flashes like the 560 which don't do TTL anyway.

> But what about this one here?

That's a transmitter with its own screen. You can put that on the camera instead and use it to transmit to a transceiver unit (acting as receiver) that is connected to a flash.

> do I need both, or only one?

You need a transmitting unit and a receiver unit. For remote TTL, that will require two units as described above.

For manual control with the 560 IV, the flash has its own receiver so you just need a transmitter unit for the camera. That would be an RF-603 transceiver or, if you want it to have its own screen and remote power control, there's the 560-TX.

> Anyone know of a beginner friendly but still in-depth intro/guide to flash photography?

We have one linked in the sidebar.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html

You might as well get one that supports eTTL and high speed sync like YONGNUO YN-568EX II. If you've got a couple more bucks, the YN-600EX-RT II is what I currently use. It's got a built in wireless receiver so if you pick up a transmitter you can go off camera full eTTL/HSS.

No problem. :)

Ok, so flash is pretty easy. My setup might be a bit outdated, but here is what I use currently:

• Flashes
  
• Transceivers
  
• Controller
  
  I have 3 of those flashes, they're really pretty great if you aren't too snobby about brands. I believe Yongnuo has flashes now with the transmitter built into them, but I have never used those and the only time I've seen them in action it didn't go super well. I'm sure they're fine, I just can't recommend them.
  
  So basically you put the controller on your camera. You put each flash you want to use off camera on the transceivers. The controller lets you adjust each flash's settings remotely and triggers them. It's awesome.
  
  If you generally don't know what you're doing with flash for the reception, it's generally best to bounce the light off the ceiling. Point the flashes roughly upward and fire away. At receptions with a defined dance floor you can get pretty great results by placing them in a couple of the corners. Your light might come back kinda yellow. If you don't want to worry about using gels on your flashes then just keep an eye out for it and adjust the white balance in Lightroom after the fact.
  
  Aside from flashes you will want some modifiers to place on them. When I was starting out the two that I used are these (these aren't the exact ones, but they're close):
  
  
• Flashbender
  
  
• Baby Softbox
  
  So there are probably better modifiers to use, but these are cheap and they work pretty well at diffusing/directing light. The softbox is great for portraits and I frequently would use the flash bender to direct light gently over a wide area, like when the toasts are going on or the bridal party is entering the room or the dance floor. When used correctly you should get pretty great lighting and avoid hard shadows.
  
  Anyways, how I shot those photos. You're generally right. I love shots like that (probably too much), and so I do them all the time. The general idea is the same for all of them, soft light in front and a bright light in the back. Using the specific equipment I listed above, my usual MO is to put a bare flash behind them, typically on the ground (using these)or on a stand as low as possible to the ground. Point it at the couple and slightly upward (photo 1 is the exception, it was pointed essentially straight up to make the gazebo light up like that).
  
  Set up a flash in front of them. In most of those photos I used the flashbender modifier on the flash pointing at the couple to direct but diffuse the light. It helps it look a bit more natural. Generally you want to position it in a way that the shadows aren't too distracting, so do it slightly off to the side to get more natural lighting. Obviously I messed up in a few of mine but it is what it is and most people don't even notice. We're always our own harshest critic.
  
  Next is the settings. This is honestly the toughest part in my opinion. You need to expose for the background you want and then use the flashes to achieve the lighting you want on the subjects. I don't know how to describe this, but the easiest way is with photo #6 on my website. I exposed the photo for the city behind the couple and got the look I wanted, THEN I added flashes and whatnot. General rule of thumb is the light behind the couple should be one step brighter than the light in front. That way you get the glowing backlight effect.
  
  Thanks for the compliments on the photos! I hope this helps. I'm sorry if I did a bad job of explaining things, just ask me to clarify anything you don't understand.
  
  EDIT: All this being said you don't NEED off camera flash. I've shot entire receptions using on-camera flash. The most important thing to remember is you just want to diffuse the light in some way. When you're using flash on camera you typically achieve this by bouncing it at the ceiling. Practice this at home, it usually works pretty well!
  

I would buy 7DII over a 6D in a heartbeat hands down more versatile. But I encourage you to buy an older camera since you're just starting out the

BUY THIS 7D with a low shutter count only $600. Still a hell of a camera to start with, lenses are more important.

Canon 10-18mm lens $300

Canon 50mm f/1.8 $120

Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 $650 OR buy a 70-200mm f/4 IS L lens USED off FredMiranda, or buy a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS mkI L USED off FredMiranda I got my f/2.8L mkI for $1,300 last year the MKII goes for $1,900 or so used but wasn't worth the $600 for me.

Card reader $18

Then get some Sandisk 16gb or 32gb cards

___
Other stuff to think about:

Canon 85mm f/1.8 $360

$130 Flash

Tripod $200

Canon 50mm f/1.4

---
Big purchases way down the road

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS mkII L $2,200

A 300mm f/2.8 or even f/4 wouldn't be a bad thing to shoot for either if you really want to do wildlife but not spend over $6,000 on a lens

Canon 1.4 teleconverter $500 this only works with L lenses buy this way down the road if you need more reach.

Canon 16-35mm or 17-40mm L lens

Is a cheaper Yongnuo TTL flash just as good as the more expensive Canon flashes? I'm looking at this: Yongnuo YN-568EX II 4-Channel TTL Flash Speedlite for Canon E-TTL/E-TTL II Cameras https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DB21TCM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_9dx0xb3RBF50Y

I have two Yongnuo 568 EX II flashes, and they are quite good, and inexpensive. This model has TTL metering, which you might want, though if you can live without TTL you can get a cheaper model probably. Amazon Link
I also got a tripod + umbrella setup to use with this flash, which I recommend for studio work; this kind of setup is pretty cheap on amazon as well. You can use flash slave mode, by using your on-camera flash at 1/128th, though you may have to get a remote and receiver pair for better results.

The YN560II is a manual flash only. It will not support E-TTL. If this is your first flashgun I'd pick one which supports TTL. The YN560II only has one pin at the bottom to communicate with the camera opposed to 5 pins which full function flashguns have.

The Yongnyo 568IIEX does that I believe.
http://www.amazon.com/YONGNUO-YN568-Flash-Speedlite-Speed/dp/B00DB21TCM/ref=sr_1_1?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1452083815&sr=1-1&keywords=yn568ex+ii+canon

The 560II is excellent as a slave flash but very limited as first choice.

The wiki is pretty vague about a specific suggestion. Is that because it's not that important what you get?

Like the wiki says I don't need high speed sync but it's a difference of £59 or £67 for the yongnuo version so is it worth it to spend that little more for a feature I don't think I need at the moment?

I guess I am looking at this one though.

The flash I have has built-in wireless capability, my understanding is that using this would mean I would not need an additional receiver unit.

link to my flash

I guess I would need a wireless flash receiver for the 568 flash though?
link

Thanks! Seems like my flash does not support HSS, bummer. I'll have to pick up this one sometime in the near future then.

/u/mrdat /u/dasazz

It turns out they didn't have the c version so it's a bit moot. On a further bit of investigation I found not an insignificant number of people who'd had a issues with batteries and unit failures with new or recently purchased units so I decided against it.

I think I'll be going with a [x2 Yongnuo 568EXII] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/YONGNUO-YN-568EXII-YongNuo-YN-568EX-Flashgun/dp/B00DB21TCM/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1468597389&sr=1-6&keywords=YONGNUO), [YN-622C-TX Controler] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00MFDO2DG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AT2QXFTZ6P2MN) and [YN-622C transcevers] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BJ4CR5C/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3T2PXX210KPYE) setup up instead. Thanks a lot for your advice.