Ettl works well with EOS 30 Well priced

Battery cover poorly designed

Great with EOS 30 (ELan 7). Works with 7 focussing points. I use it mostly for fill-flash in nature photography and with a -1 compensation it works very well indeed. Size-weight about right.

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

Sunpack

Bright flash, and compact. Works very well with canon's 7 autofocus point cameras. Tilts and swivels so that you can bounce the light in nearly any direction. Excellent exposure and no red eye, almost every time, and no harsh shadows thanks to bouncing.

I know this has been said in 1000 other reviews, but the plastic hinge on the battery door really is very cheap and flimsy. I have fairly low standards for build quality, but this is lower than that. Just avoid changing batteries in really cold weather. Price: This is the reason I have gone without a good flash for the past 5 years, I used to consider $170 for a light source outrageous, especially since a flash was already included in my elan 7e and rebel 2000 right? Wrong, but price still may deter many. No wireless transmitter. Can function as a wireless slave however. must buy wireless transmitter which costs nearly as much as 420ex or 550ex to get a master transmitter.

Do not underestimate the power of this unit to improve your photography. I've been heavily into photography for the past 5 years (at least as much as my budget will allow) but this was the first external flash I have owned. First things first: If you are a 10d, elan 7, rebel 2000/ti user or use any other canon camera with the seven point autofocus, this camera is for you. The more expensive 540ex actually does not work as well with the autofocus on these cameras, because it is optimized for the 45 point autofocus of the eos 3/1v. That said, the Near IR assist works wonders on your 7 point autofocus system. I have no problem focusing with a slow f5.6 lens in my darkroom or basement dark wall 30 feet away. Moving on to operation, you will find that this flash is extremely easy to use, but lacks the manual control of the 550ex. One of the things that amazed me most about this flash is that redeye is completely gone, even in head on shots where the flash is not bounced. Bouncing the flash delivers excellently exposed results when used with an eTTl compatable camera (have not tried with canon's older non eTTl's). Overall I would say that this flash is powerful enough for most of my needs, it's guide number is 138ft with 100asa, about a half stop dimmer than the 550ex. What amazed me was that I could bounce the flash off of the wall behind me, yes point the flash backwards, and still get enough exposure. One handy feature this flash has, is that once you have taken a picture a green light will light up to tell you if you were close enough to your subject to get a proper exposure. This confirmation that your flash exposure is correct is invaluable in my mind.

Customer Service

My mom dropped my A70 which broke the lens. Canon was very nice and replaced the lens component free of charge under normal warranty.

Similar Products Used:

All my EOS equiptment: Elan 7e, Rebel 2000, EF 28-80mm f3.5-5.6 II, EF 75-300mm f4-5.6 III, EF 50mm f1.8 II. Other canon Equiptment: A70, Canonet G-III

Swivel head (2 point motion) E-TTL feature Auto zoom Quick sync for flash exposure FE lock for unique shots Full power flash option AF assist spots, uses both horizontal and vertical red lines for AF assist Very easy to use for quick shots without the fuss Long (138'+)/short range flash

Slave mode limited to Canon only dedicated senders (other flashes can’t trigger this) No 45 degree lock for head up/down motion Not a true 360 rotate head (160 degree rotate left - good, 90 degree rotate right – leaves a 90 degree position unusable)

After using this flash, the Speedlite 420ex is an excellent upgrade over other 3rd party flashes. The E-TTL system is a unique thing to these flashes and allows even more accurate modes of exposure, without this feature you end up fumbling with guides and wasting time. At first I was worried with the "auto" part of the flash, as in the fully auto-zoom feature and no manual control what so ever. The flash appears to coexist with the type of lens you have depending if the flash communicates correctly to the body. On my EOS D300(rebel) I have a 28-200mm Canon lens and it tracks the flash zoom with the lens zoom. You basically need at least a 24-105mm zoom lens to take full effect with this flash using this observation. I am not able to test a 28-70mm lens (to see if it maxes at 70mm for the flash zoom) since I don’t have one. Each picture is expose checked by the flash. There is a light on the back letting you know if the exposure was good or not (granted the user doesn’t look at the histogram on review if they have a digital camera) Overall this is an impressive flash that amazes me with the automation used. The flash seems to expose images correctly and the AF assist lamps cover all 7 focus points on the EOS cameras.

very good in overall value

see my review

I used 420ex with my canon eos 300d (digital rebel). It produced a very good pictures. But sometimes the picture went underexposed if i took a white object, like peoples with white shirts. Since my camera doesn't have a flash exposure compensation, i often used an FE lock to correct this problem, but it sometimes get overexposed. And the method is very time consuming (cause i took pictures of a very mobile people, i couldn't tell them to wait, and sometimes the pre-flash from FE lock tricked them that the pictures had been taken) I need an opinion for my problem. Thank you p.s : sorry for my bad english language.

Similar Products Used:

never use similar product like this

It can do the same as the faboulous EX 550 for half the price and size! Its pure joy to work with and you get stunning results truly recomandablebyt my favorite is stil the good old Vivitar 283/285

see above

I Think This is one of the best flash you can get fot the EOS system at all,a new 55o ex is too bulky,a 380 ex is also ok,in other words you get lot of flash for the money though whether youre a pro or amateur. The electronic auto switch is noisy and a bummer as well as the on/off auto system.Otherwise i dont really have any complain about this,except i sometimes miss a manual function!maybe it comes in the new 650 Ex??

Customer Service

none

Similar Products Used:

Vivitar sunpaks nikon as others

Packs a good punch. Able to bounce and swivel.

No LCD screen, but it's not really needed

Was looking for a cheaper alternative to the 550ex. The 420 was about 1/2 as much. It has plenty of power to light up almost anything. I looked at other brands, but decided to stick with the Canon to ensure full compatability with my cameras. Overall a good buy. Haven't used the built in flash since.

Similar Products Used:

0

Lighter and cheaper than 550. Good power

17 mm need 550. Not too solid as so many flashes. A balloon fall on it twice... thanks godness i have often cyanoacrylate with me ....

The first time i've bought a flash. 550 was too expensive. 420 was new and cheaper. I use it for some indoor sports (handball, volley) Power is enough (42)

Customer Service

Done it myself

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 500 and 283's dad with old slr bodies

Smalller and lighter than the 550, can be used as a wireless slave. Powerfull unit for its size, and I find the backplate uncluttered and easy to use.

The auto power-off is a nusiance, as you have to physically switch-off and switch back on - a pain when you're working from a hide!

Nicely balanced flash unit, sits comfortably on my EOS30, unlike the heavier 550EX. Bought as a second unit to the 550EX, to be used as a wireless slave for bird photography from a hide. Bought second hand for £130(GBP)

Customer Service

Not used, though I have found the Canon UK technical helpdesk very helpful with other product queries.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 550EX, National 357s, National 480SG(a large very powerful hammerhead powered by 12v ni-cad battery-pack)

Powerful enough for almost any needs. Simple operation - totally auto! E-TTL metering is brilliant!

Horrible noise when turned on No manual controls Unintuitive swivel design

Anyone who doubts the quality improvement that a dedicated EX series speedlite can give your pictures is having themselves on. The 420EX is the perfect unit for the budding amateur, with ample power for almost every need and half the price of the 550EX. The exposures are dead on every time, and any over/under exposure shots have been errors by the photographer, not the unit. This unit is a must, especially if your camera uses the built-in flash for AF assist in low light. With the 420EX, AF is fast and accurate with only a couple of unusual exceptions. The 420EX also covers all 7 AF points on the EOS 300 - something most E-TTL third party flash units cannot do. This was the primary reason I bought the 420EX over the Sigma equivalent of the 550EX. On the minus side, the lack of manual controls is a real bummer. I'd like some creative control over my flash photography. The noise the flash makes when initially turned on is loud and horrible. Also, the flash swivels 90 degrees clockwise and 180 degrees anti-clockwise. This doesn't suit me since I shoot vertically with the flash on the left, meaning if I shoot below horizontal I can't get the flash vertical for bounce.

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

420EZ, built-in flash with EOS300

great power quick recycle and well over 100 shots with NiMH batteries so tall I don't think you could ever get redeye superb low-light focus assist - subtle and fast high speed and second surtain sync well timed auto power-down after idleness

no manual controls no LCD readout for anything, you just have to trust it "adequate exposure" light a hassle to look up to after the photo is taken í

I had volunteered to shoot a family event a little while back and decided I needed something more than the built-in flash my Elan II offered. So I bought this. Great excuse for new gear, I know [/rolleyes]. Anyway, the reasons I was drawn to this particular flash were numerous: the 380EX wouldn't swivel, the 550EX is twice the price, it takes advantage of E-TTL (as opposed to some 3rd party offerings), and it's pretty d*** powerful. My only reservation (and a reason I almost went with a comparably priced Sigma) was that the 420EX is always fully automatic. Seeing as I had only the most rudimentary knowledge of aperture/flash sync/working distance/etc., I didn't object too much, even though I like using the more manual modes of my camera. Besides, I little bit of experience playing with exposure and FE compensation +/- and one can achieve essentially the same levels of tweaking. I must say I was NOT expecting to get the results I did when the first few rolls I took came back. What I was expecting, shooting 160 portrait indoors, was brightly lit subjects with dark backgrounds, i.e. looking like it was basically a P&S flash pic, only with more oomph in the flash. Wrong. All I got were clean, evenly exposed pictures. Even with subjects only a few feet away. One testament example was shooting a friend with glossy skin from maybe 4 feet and forgetting to bounce the flash off the ceiling. I thought it would come out very washed out and harsh, or at least have reflections off her face at that range but no such (bad) luck. The light is so nice - I can't believe some people complain that Canon makes flashes that are too cold. About the power - I adequately overcame the severe backlighting of a person sitting against a huge window from about 75 feet away while using a 300mm telephoto. I think that'll be ample for whatever I need in the future. Lastly, I don't see how it's loud. Call me weird, but I also like the noise it makes when you first turn it on :o) Buying this flash has made me much more interested in portaiture and general people photography. And you can't beat new interests.›

Similar Products Used:

none - total flash newbie!!!