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infrared focus assist on the 550EX to focus
the lens; this feature alone is worth the big bucks this baby costs. The
flash has tons of features that most of us might never use, but as a
advanced amateur I'm glad they're there so I can play with that if I
should choose to try out some fancy stuff. The wireless slave capability
is handy but you've got to have at least one more 420EX, 550EX or 580EX to
use that. I like the digital readout on the back of the flash and also the
two way bounce head, it's important to note that you have to press a
button to make the head turn either side to side or up/down---this should
make the head sturdier than I've seen on some units that get loose after
awhile and drive you nuts. This unit is a HONKER--really big, and, no
lightweight either. Get yourself a big deep camera bag if you want to lug
this thing around with you. What's the difference between this and the
580EX? The 580 has very slightly faster cycle times and offers some fancy
new automatic flash exposure bracketing modes, for me anyway it wasn't
worth almost two hundred dollars more for the 580. All of the newer EOS
camera bodies are fully supported by this unit, it also works on older EOS
bodies but there are functions available on the newer ones that aren't
there on older stuff. I like this flash it covers well, cycles fast and
the controls are fairly intuitive and easy to use. When you get yours
don't lose that book, Canon doesn't seem to have them online anywhere I
can find and I've seen places that want to charge you 18 bucks for a new
one.
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Excellent flash (though soon obsolete), August 27, 2004
Reviewer: Theodore Littleton
This is an absolute do-everything flash, with master/slave operation,
wireless control of multiple channels for slave flashes, A:B:C lighting
ratio control (better than the ST-E2's mere A:B ratio), full manual or
automatic operation, strobe effects at selectable Herz rates and power,
and even a small panel that serves either to widen its flash coverage to
17mm or simply provide a catchlight in a model's eyes when using bounce
flash. Range is excellent, battery life is very good and can be compounded
with one of the battery packs. The light itself provides excellent color,
and a red lamp near the base adds a much more accurate and less harsh
focus assist lamp than most of Canon's cameras provide.
If you have an SLR, you'll almost certainly want an external flash. You
can provide fill flash to reduce shadows in subjects eyes etc. during
harsh daylight shots, take the flash off the camera to eliminate nasty
shadows, and avoid the shadows caused by larger lenses and onboard
flashes.
Minor quibbles: most DSLRs have crop ratios of 1.3x or 1.6x, but don't
pass this information on to the 550EX, which wouldn't care anyway. This
means the flash thinks you want greater coverage than you really need
(i.e. it will give you a 50mm's angle of flash coverage, when you only
need an 80mm's), so you waste a lot of flash power and don't get optimum
recycling times. Also, the interface is a little non-intuitive.
If you want a slave- or onboard-only flash and don't need all the extra
features, the considerably cheaper 420EX is for you. That said, if you do
want all the extra features, the 550EX is still not for you. You want the
580EX, slated for October 2004 release, which fixes the minor issues with
the 550.
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KIller E-TTL Canon flash, July 7, 2004
Reviewer: A customer
Get 2 of these bad boys (or the 420EX) plus the ST-E2 Transmitter and you
rule wireless multiple flash photography! That's right: 2-head flash
set-ups JUST like the pros do it.
Nothing better than Canon's SUPERB "E-TTL" flash sensing ... and the 550EX
is a high-powered workhorse you can rely on. Expensive but worth the
bucks.
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canon 550 ex, February 18, 2004
Reviewer: A customer
Excellent flash for my canon 10d. Adorama saved me about $140.00 dollars.
Service was great.
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Stellar!, August 10, 2003
Reviewer: J. Harris
This is one fantastic flash. I had it on my Canon A2e for four years, and
was ambivilent, but if you match this lens with one of Canon's newer
bodies that has the funcionality to access all of the 550EX's features,
you have an awesome, powerful, flexable flash that can change the way you
shoot.
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550 EX Canon Flash, August 9, 2003
Reviewer: James Steiner
Top of the line. Works as advertised. TTL, E-TTL. 4 double AA batteries.
Tilt, Rotate head, soft lens built in. Can control slave flash.
Back to
Canon 550 EX Flash for G6, G5, G3, G2, G1, Pro1, Pro90 & all EOS SLR
Cameras
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