Performance, built quality seems to be strong enuogh to withstand heavy usage.

Head movements are bother - for any swivel or tilting one must press appropriate button (separate buttons for each type of move) - a real bother in rush situations (such like events). Minolta's 5400HS head tilt/swivel design is muchmore convenient. Perhaps a bit pricey (but probley this is normal for pro-type gear delivering expected performance), not sure, but sometimes there might be signs of slight underexposure if bounced - bounce + Sto-fen Omnibounce device (head is tilted at 45 degress) produces nicer results.

I wonder people publically expressing their opinion about the equipment they didn't bother to learn to use first. Study how Canon flash system works prior to making the conclusion, not to speak about trying to do professional work. Canon's flash metering heavily relies on AF point activated for particular shoot. If you point the sensor you intend on yoru main subject you want to be properly exposed (such as face in portraiture) - the unit (the whole system (I use EOS-3)ectly) does remarkable job. Faces are lit very well, no signs of annoying overexposure (so typical unfortunately for may system doing close distance portraits), and once the main subject is exposed correctly by the flash, the rest will follow. Watch closely where do you place the active AF point prior to reelasing the shutter !!! That makes wonders. Fill flash is extremely well balanced, so that in daylight you cannot distinguish where one is used, only by catchlight in subject's eyes. Have yet tried FEL, although suppose works great as well in appropriate situations. AF assist light helps tremedously in darkness fetching reliable AF.

Customer Service

Yet needed (thanks to God)

Similar Products Used:

Minolta 3500xi, 5400HS units

-Great ETTL and TTL capabilities -When bouncing the flash horizontally, the wideangle flip-down filter is a great feature -Great swivel and bounce caopabilities!

None that I have come across except that they are not free:)

I have been using the 550EX with my Elan 7 (and very soon my EOS 3). This flash is incredible! I previuosly used a third party Promaster 7200 and a Canon 420EX(?) and this flash easily surpasses that quality of both. I use this flash mainly for wedding candids and even the formal portraits and the lighting is great. I understand the complaint about white dresses being underexposed and (for me) a line of men in black tuxedos cause overexposure. The only thing I did to fix the problem is use the FEB feature on the flash and 9 out of 10 times it fixes the problem. I have only used Canon for my 4 years of shooting and would say that this flash will outperform most if not all. The ETTl capabilities are amazing. Perfect exposure every time and wonderful auto-focus assist! This is a great unit and I will be purchasing another along with the ST-E2 very soon!! (you can purchase the 550EX at bhphoto.com for around $330 or $340)

Customer Service

No problems yet!!

Similar Products Used:

Promaster 7200 Canon 420EX

Strong Guide Number!! AF assistance w/ EOS 3 is very nice!

Underexposure on some shots but like I said before, can be made up with a little "tweeking" on the camera's controls.

My first Canon EOS camera was the Rebel G and I used it for three years, loving every bit of it. I used the 540EZ with the Rebel and still used the same flash when I purchased my EOS 3. But when I read about the 550EX's "love link" between the EOS 3 and sold my 540EZ and purchased the 550EX very cheaply at the time. The first flash was damaged before it was shipped (cracked AF/Meter sensor)and I had to send it back. After hasseling with the store they overnighted me a brand "unbroken" new flash. The flash works great with on my photo jobs I do. Having the EOS 3 body, Canon 28-135 IS lens, Storboframe "RotoFlip", Canon Off-Camera Cord 2 topped with the 550EX it makes for one hell of a set-up. This flashing beast is feed through my Qantum Battery +1 pack and works like a dream. I can shoot a whole wedding from start to finish on a single charge. There are some quirks with the underexposure but can fixed with a little adjustment on the camera's control. The E-TTL's is magic when it comes to fill flash for outside, during the day shoots. It is great flash on whoever wants fork the money over but to me well worth it. Shooting in dark recteption halls, churches, ball rooms, dance clubs, gyms or any other large, dark place will greatly benifit from this powerhouse.

Customer Service

"I plead the fifth, your honor."

Similar Products Used:

Canon 540EZ

As good as any average flash

not reliable

As the reviewer below me said, you can set your flash to TTL to avoid problems. I should add, that this feature is available for type B cameras only. Also, if you want to use P mode, then why having 550 EX and a good camera? Buy point and shoot one instead. If you are serious about photography, you must be in control, not your camera. I have done a few weddings using this flash, and the results were fairly good. However, when I measured the light output using my Sekonic 383, the flash did not perform as I wanted it to do. My readings showed that I got about 2 f-stops less light. For this reason, I rate my 400 NPH at 200, and I am nut sure if it is enough, because my pictures could be better. I find my FTZ 500 Pentax flash to be superior, the same is with Vivitar 285 (magnificent flash!). Since 550 EX is not so good, I will get Quantum T2.

Customer Service

weak

Similar Products Used:

listed above

everything!

none

This is an awesome flash! It does everything that you could expect and dedicated flash unit to do. And with the LCD display, there's no guessing if your subject is within flash range. This flash has so many features that bad pictures ususally result from errors by the operator. I'll try and explain a few of the most common. For those of you who complain about exposure being all over the place and unpredictable, let me describe some unique features of 550EX. For one, the 550EX has the option to switch from E-TTL to TTL metering. USE IT! TTL works best is P mode when ambient light is low and the camera assumes the only light available will be from the flash. I find E-TTL to be superior when used for fill flash in the Tv, Av, or M modes. Basically, you really have to understand how the two metering systems work to fully understand why they work better in the different modes. Although I won't try and explain here, I would like you to know that E-TTL is able to accurately factor in ambient light, and TTL can accurately compare ambient light with required flash output. Another important point to remember is that when you want to focus on an off center subject, it's best to select an off center focusing point and not use the old focus and recompose trick. This is because flash metering biases the plane of the selected focusing point. So its flash output will be determined by the area around this point. You can use the "flash exposure lock (FEL) ", but why bother if your subject is covered by one of the available focusing points? If not, then you must use FEL. This is one reason why I purchased the Canon Elan 7 over the Nikon N80. Elan 7 has seven focusing points verses N80's five. Happy shooting!

Customer Service

never used

Similar Products Used:

420EX

Powerful if you no what you're doing. Works good with the D60.

Does not light up all white subjects. Very dark because of the ETTL feature. Just use it as a extreme backup.

I was using the 550 with my D60.Bad move! The 550 is a good flash for around the house type of shots. Such as your daughter playing around. However, for the money shots like weddings, proms, fashion shows, etc.., don't bother. When a subject dressed in all white stands in front of the flash in ETTL the picture is very dark. The flash sees white and assumes that there is enough light already. WRONG!!! It was getting on my nerves so I switched to a QFlash with a Lumendene battery. It is all of that and some chicken & waffles! Very consistent and gives a big burst of light regardless of the color the is in front of you. I would also recommend a Nikon SB28 or SB80. Just keep the 550 flash for emergencies. In other words, if you want to start making money buy a Qflash.

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

Nikon SB27 and SB80.

Very versatile Infrared focus assist excellent in low / no light Modelling flash Backlit flash display

A little overpowered at close distances and 24-50mm focal lengths

Used with a Canon EOS 7E, EF 28-105, EF28-135IS, Sigma 17-35 I too noticed that it washed out and was overpowering it''s exposures when in ETTL mode, direct light (not bounced) and especially when I was within the 24-50mm range. For lighting still life subjects and people from a little farther back (10'' plus) you get great results but it was still a little over-powered. Leaving the flash (when used directly instead of bounced) set with a - 1 to 2EV Exposure compensation (on the flash, not on the camera) seemed to do the trick. A better solution was the addition of a Lumiquest Pocket Bounce. No problems after that. I live in China, so access to accessories is a little slim, I''ll have to try out an Omnibounce when I get back to Canada. The price is in US$ (I paid about 40000 Yen)

Customer Service

Haven''t needed it.

Similar Products Used:

Built-in flash Vivitar (can''t recall model)

Wirless flash, fast recharge time, Master and slave operation only on the 550EX not 420EX-Slave only operation. Mini mountion stand. Price is droping.

Wirless E-TTL is not the best small range. Some times will not work at all if to far away. I am thinking to buy a small studio flash with AC/DC power my be better and less $GREEN$

This flash is the best in canons line up. I really love the fact this flash dose not eat as many AA Batterys as the 540EZ. It also recharges faster much faster than the 540EZ. Wireless flash an other plus over the 540EZ If you are in the market for a flash and are a pro this is the one to buy. If you are not a professional and do not need wireless flash buy the 420EX it will give you all the flash you need trust me. I currently use 2 550EX and one 420EX on my canon EOS 3, and Elan 7. I use the 540EZ on my A2

Customer Service

Good

Similar Products Used:

540EZ 420EX

power

...flash frequently washes out skin tones in dark rooms. Stofen Omnibounce seems to have corrected the overexposure problem. OK outdoors or in well balanced lighting.

Customer Service

no need

Similar Products Used:

...540 380

None

too many to mention

I have an Eos 3 and a 1v with 2 550ex speedlites, and i find general picture taking fine, but with Weddings i found the exposures all over the place. it got so bad i was considering switching to Nikon, but i did a bit of testing & found if you use the custom function on the flash to switch to TTL Metering & use centre weighted metering on the camera in the manual mode usually 250th sec at F8 all pictures are a lot sharper than using Program mode with a large aperture. it beats me why canon made this Lemon in the first place, when i had an eos 5 with a metz 45CL4 & T90 with a speedlite 300TL i never had a washed out face.

Customer Service

I got my Eos 3 Fixed because it was underexposing, but i got it back very quickly and it has been spot on ever since, even better than my eos 1v, except when using flash.