Great lighting on first roll of Provia 100 slide film for b-ball and team photo. Could see shadows on Gym's walls that indicate it's high light output.

Book says it AF assists (red light) with Rebel S. Canon US said their 550EX and Rebel S did AF assist, mine didn't and it didn't on a store's Elan 7. I returned it for another one

Awaiting delivery of my replacement 550EX because AutoFocus assist didn't work on first one with Rebel S or with store's Elan 7.

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Replacing old large Soligor Flash that always turned off automatically after 90 second which I hated.

(1)E-TTL with type A Canon cameras, A-TTL or TTL with older cameras.(2)Very powerful (3) Very accurate flash metering (4)FP flash to 1/8000Sec (5) Custom functions (6) Wireless master-slave flash control (7) Very fast recycling time (8) stroboscopic flash (9) adjustable multi-flash ratio (10) Auto-zoom head from 24-105mm (11) Built in 17mm difusser (12) rear curtain sync (13) built in LCD illumination for those dark situations

None

Every bit as good, or better than the nearest competition. Results are superb due to the advanced E-TTL metering system. With so many features, I never have to worry about what I need to use for a particular situation - its all built in, just select and use! Most useful features are the wireless master-slave flash control with multiple flash units, the FP flash and rear curtain sync. You just have to try it to believe it! It's very expensive, but once tried and proven, the initially high expense is quickly forgotten because it is worth every dollar!

Customer Service

not required

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420EX and other off brand flashes

i got it free.... in the UK canon are doing a deal with the EOS 1v, 3, and D30, giving one of these babies away as an option!!!

a little heavy..but hey, for £00.00, who can complain??

well the Strobosopic is very good, and if you set it up right, it will flash with every one of those 7fps on the EOS with the PB-E2....very useful

Customer Service

not needed as yet

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loads of cheap 3rd party flashes

Wireless flash,modeling light

Auto exposure metering linked to tiny AF sensor
is poorly conceived. Good luck trying to get accurate exposures.

I don't understand all the praise I've read for this top-of-the-line, expensive, TTL flash. Many of the features are cool, like the wireless flash that works well in SOME situations, and the modeling light option. However, for me getting reliable exposure is so hit and miss that I often dread using the flash for pro assignments and family pictures. I mostly use color negative films and have the benefits of Photoshop software to TRY to fix all the bad exposures but I often wonder how chrome shooters can live with the autoexposure problems. FEL ( flash exposure lock )can be helpful, but realistically there are so few situations that are so static that you can make use of that feature. What it boils down to is that in most situations before you fire a shot with your camera, you have to select a tiny active AF sensor, place it on your moving subject and hope that area is midtoned and not light or dark. And to add to the difficulty, the 38 non cross sensors are often not reliable for critical autofocus. I use my 3 550 EX's for daily photojournalism work and when the exposure is correct it's dead on. But way too often the exposures are all over the place and frequently way to hot. If anyone has a solution I'm dying to hear it. Canon needs to go back to the drawing board, fast !

Customer Service

OK

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540EZ flash, vivitar strobes, everyting from Morris Mini's to remote control arena systems.

Good contruction, a lot of light.

Works poorly with ettl combined with AF from the Eos 1v

The foto's are often too light or too dark. This depends one where the autofocus sensor in aimed at. A dark object makes the foto too light, a light object (like a weddingdress) makes the foto too dark. Really irritating. Buying another flash soon. If anybody can help, great! I like to hear it.

Customer Service

Not used yet

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380 EX

Powerful
ETTL
Lots of info on display
Display Backlit

Heavy, but worth it for GN55

Much advanced over the 380EX
Totally customisable flash with my EOS3. Work out its priorites in the various camera modes and you can use it to do anything you want. It will easily produce good balance between ambient and flash lighting in P. It will let you sync the background in Av or Tv, etc etc.
Great for sports fill-in
Good recharge with Ni-MH batteries in it. Will cope with 7fps no probs for a second or so, which is fine.
Handy flash range indicator on display, switchable between ft and m
Full AF assist light enables full area AF in ridiculously dark conditions
Buy a Stofen Omnibounce for close people stuff and you've got the lot.

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380EX

1) Fully compatibile with all 45 points of area AF technology employed by the EOS-3 and EOS-1V

2) Refined E-TTL autoflash for improved performance.

3) Maximum Guide Number of 180 (ISO 100, ft.), an AF-assist beam which links to the EOS-3 and EOS-1V's 45-point area AF

4) FP Flash (high speed sync)up to 1/8000 sec

5) FE lock (a flash version of AE lock), and FEB (Flash Exposure Bracketing).

6) Built-in wireless transmitter, which can control other Speedlite 550EX and Speedlite 420EX set up as slave units.

7) Great results obtained from E-TTL flash metering

8) One full charge can fire several frames in rapid succession (depending on distance)

9) Head swivels almost every angle for maximum flexibility

10) Charge-up time between full flash output is much faster than previous models

11) Fully compatible with older flash metering systems (TTL and A-TTL) used by older EOS cameras. It will detect camera & change the flash exposure mode to suit the camera type

12) LCD backlighting

13) Fully compatible with new digital cameras such as Canon G1 and D30

14) Very strong and robust construction.

15) Can be fired off remotely using ST-E2 wireless transmitter

16) Multiple flashes fired by wireless remote can be set to fire at different output ratios

1) Too expensive for some

It is as good as, or better than, the closest rivals. Professional results everytime. All shots correctly exposed. I own 3 550EX, 1 420EX, and 1 ST-E2. Combination works like magic, like a mini studio.

Customer Service

None required

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1) Canon 420EX Flash

Powerful, A lot function (more than you need).

A little high price and heavy.

I try a Sigma 500 super before. But it is fully imcompatible with my EOS-3. So I return it and get a OEM item. Everything is great and very happy. But I found out when you use it on EOS-3, 1V and Elan 7. Set the flash manual power output at FP mode. Camera's shutter speed will stay on maximum cannot adjust. No problem on E-TTL/TTL auto mode. Even Canon they don't know why will be like this.

Customer Service

No need.

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Canon 380EX
Metz 45CL-3

1. Power
2. Remote capability
3. Functions

1. Rear curtain sync cancels after switching into "Master" mode and back to single strobe mode.
2. Need both hands to turn on rear curtain sync or high speed flash - may be cahllenging with EOS 3, Booster, stroboframe and the 550 ex in top.
3. ETTL preflash at slow shutter speed e.g 1/30 and slower makes people blink just in time for the real exposure.

This is the only professional strobe for the EOS system that works with ETTL so choosing it is easy. I have had three of these over the next three years. One was stolen so I have two now. I have used it in a variety of situations and always had good results. Remote functons are very reliable and trully amazing. I wish the remote sensor on the slave flash had a wider area of coverage. But it is very easy to test if the slave is out of range by pressing the FEL button. Some users complain about high power drain. This is just the nature of the beast. I have been using 1250 mA HiMH batteries and they are probably the best power source for this strobe. I'va had them for at least two years and they are still going strong.
I wish the rear curtain sync setting did not cancel after you return from the "Master" mode because it is one more thing to remember during a shoot if you switch from multiple strobes to a single one. One reviewer commented that the strobe over and underexposes. I have never had this problem with any of the ones I have owned beyond the normal behavior of a TTL flash. I have my EOS 3 set on center weighted metering almost all of the time for general photography and shooting brides in white dresses has never been problematic. Oh yes, I always overexpose color negative film by 2/3 to a full stop. Both on the camera and the strobe. This solves all problems with underexposure.
Overall it is a very good strobe and I am very happy with it. Very flexible, useful, and ingenious. Wondering what is next from Canon.

Customer Service

None used, however my questions on operation were answered well.

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380 EX, Nikon 28 SB, and 28 SB DX, Metz 60 CT1and 4. Vivitar 283, 285.

It is the perfect completion to the EOS 3. Wireless flashing is very easy and works perfectly!

none

After getting my first slides back I was impressed of the quality of flash expose. The overall handling is easy and wireless flashing is very easy too.

Customer Service

not needed yet

Similar Products Used:

Nikon SB-23,SB-24, Canon 380EX