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Canon Speedlite 580EX Flash
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Product Description
Combining the strengths of its predecessor 550EX while providing additional functions at higher speeds, the SPEEDLITE 580EX is Canon s new flagship flash unit featuring a higher maximum guide number, shorter recycle time, autozoom control for image sensor size, and design improvements for easier handling by digital SLR users ranging from professional to advanced amateur.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #3824 in Consumer Electronics
- Brand: Canon
- Model: 9445A003AA
- Released on: 2004-09-29
- Number of items: 1
Editorial Reviews
Manufacturer's Description
Combining the strengths of its predecessor 550EX while providing additional functions at higher speeds, the SPEEDLITE 580EX is Canon's
new flagship flash unit featuring a higher maximum guide number, shorter recycle time, autozoom control for image sensor size, and design
improvements for easier handling by digital SLR users ranging from professional to advanced amateur.
Box Contents
- Speedlight
Customer Reviews
Outstanding
This flash will transform your flash pictures, period.
I use it on my Canon G5, EOS 3 and now more recently a Canon EOS 30D. If you are taking portraits or using it for fill in flash at a
wedding, even on full auto your pictures will be transformed.
For an amateur this is an expensive flash gun but given that it is compatible with all Canon EOS cameras (and the G series compacts too)
it will probably outlive many of the current model digital camera bodies before they are superceded, hence it forms part of your Canon
kit that will most likely work with digital SLR bodies that Canon have not even designed yet.
Excellent flash!
I go back to the days when a flash gun consisted of something like a Metz 45 CT 5 or my other flash gun a Metz 60 CT 4, both really
required a flash meter generally and always flash photography in the early 90's was a bit hit and miss... Been out of photography for a
decade or so and rediscoverd it with a Canon 30D, with the 580EX combination is sublime I feel and will agree with previous reviews, it's
great at mixing light and colour temperatures and as I prefer a warm tonality easy to set up with the colour balance in the camera.
Battery life I've found excellent, use rechargeable Uniross 2300mah cells easy enough for a 500 exposures on a wedding night scenario
plus spare power... And even then it still only requires a set of 4 AA's.
The intigration with the camera (30D) is excellent, flash dedication works great and really for such a small flash unit with a powerful
guide number, certainly enough for portrait work it's amazing! Set the auto bracket if you're at odds and exposures are spot on. Very
controllable for what I what to achieve, a beauty in a small body...
Very good on the whole
I use this with my 1Ds II and its a fairly seamless connection in a simple design with plenty of punch when needed. It has a few custom
settings to change its usage such as first or second curtain flash and overall I am happy. I very much like the way it works to provide a
natural light when mixed with daylight outdoors and cleverly matches the white balance set on the camera. Flash recycle time is fast with
fresh batteries.
Its only gremlin really is that it reads all areas of an image to make sure that nowhere is burning out too brightly and will compensate accordingly to make sure that doesn't happen. In theory that's great but it can result in horribly underexposed images at times and seems to happen more often indoors, where there might be a mirror or some reflective glass which throws it off target. When you look at the final image, technically it is correct with all tonal values in line, but that's not always much comfort when 99% of the image is 3 stops under exposed so that a tiny reflection on a window will still maintain usable detail.