I am unwilling to recommend it though, because I had a defective unit that soon became a reason to doubt Yongnuo and the after sales support they give. When I reported my problem to Yongnuo they only said my case was a unique case and they had tested some of the batch units. I can only say to you that there are two versions of YN-568 EX II now, one with a red back lit screen and one with a yellow one. The one with the yellow back lit screen is the Version 2 even though no-one admits it. So they may have changed the capacitors and reviewed the firmware to not allow operation when overheated (for whatever reason). Nevertheless my flash unit was replaced with a new one.
In order to be fair I am sharing the specifications with you and you'll see why after my comparison I chose Yongnuo. edit: I also chose Triopo TR-981C after some more research. It was cheaper and similar (and better) in specifications. With green color you can see the best characteristic among the three, red is the worst.
| Canon 600EX-RT | |
| Price | 470 eur |
| ETTL | E-TTL II/ E-TTL/TTL |
| HighSpeed Sync | yes (1-500 Hz) |
| High-speed continuous shooting | yes |
| Guide Number | 60m at ISO 100 |
| Light Panel+diffuser | yes |
| Sub-flash | no |
| Number of Flashes | 100 - 700 flashes (with size-AA/LR6 alkaline batteries) |
| Recycle time | 0.1 to 5.5 secs |
| Wireless triggering distance | (only with wireless transmitter!!!) |
| Manual Flash Levels | (1/128~1/1), in 1/3 steps |
| Vertical rotation angle | -7~90 degrees |
| Horizontal rotation angle | 180+180 |
| Modeling Flash (long flash) | yes |
| Nissin Speedlite Di866 MARK II | |
| Price | 202 |
| ETTL | E-TTL/E-TTL II |
| HighSpeed Sync | yes |
| High-speed continuous shooting | yes (1-90 times) |
| Guide Number | 60m at ISO 100 |
| Light Panel+diffuser | Yes |
| Sub-flash | Yes (1/1 to 1/128 ) |
| Number of Flashes | 150-1500 |
| Recycle time | 0.1-5.5 sec |
| Wireless triggering distance | 25 meters |
| Manual Flash Levels | (1/128~1/1), in 1/3 steps |
| Vertical rotation angle | 90 degrees |
| Horizontal rotation angle | 90+180 degrees |
| Modeling Flash (long flash) | no |
| Yongnuo YN-568EX II | |
| Price | 162 |
| ETTL | E-TTL II/ E-TTL/TTL |
| HighSpeed Sync | maximum shutter sync up to 1/8000. |
| High-speed continuous shooting | yes |
| Guide Number | 58 (ISO 100, 105mm) |
| Light Panel+diffuser | yes |
| Sub-flash | no |
| Number of Flashes | 100~1500 times (AA alkaline cell used) |
| Recycle time | Approx 0,1 to 3s |
| Wireless triggering distance | 20~25m indoor, 10~15m outdoor |
| Manual Flash Levels | 8 levels of output control (1/128~1/1), 29levels of fine tuning |
| Vertical rotation angle | -7~90 degrees |
| Horizontal rotation angle | 0~270 degrees |
| Modeling Flash (long flash) | yes |
edit: There's now a better and cheaper alternative to Yongnuo YN-568EX II. It is Triopo TR-981C at 60 euros!
Specifications
Included Mini flash stand x1, Diffuser for SB-900 x1
Price about 60 euros!!!
Links to buy: ebay
What made me buy it was the price which is unbeatable and I have even found it at 120 euros!!!
Triopo E-TTL Flash Speedlite TR-981C
Specifications
| Price | 50-60 |
| ETTL | E-TTL II/ E-TTL/TTL |
| HighSpeed Sync | maximum shutter sync up to 1/8000. |
| High-speed continuous shooting | yes |
| Guide Number | 54 meters (ISO 100, 105mm) |
| Zoom range: | 18mm - 180mm |
| Light Panel+diffuser | yes |
| Sub-flash | no |
| Number of Flashes | 100~1500 times (AA alkaline cell used) |
| Recycle time | Approx 3s |
| Wireless triggering distance | 20-30m indoor, 10-15m outdoor |
| Manual Flash Levels | 8 levels of output control (1/128~1/1) |
| Vertical rotation angle | 0 to 90 degrees |
| Horizontal rotation angle | 0 to 360 degrees |
| Modeling Flash (long flash) | no |
Included Mini flash stand x1, Diffuser for SB-900 x1
Price about 60 euros!!!
Links to buy: ebay
What made me buy it was the price which is unbeatable and I have even found it at 120 euros!!!
Full product details here: http://www.hkyongnuo.com/e-detail.php?ID=323
edit: I also bought 2 x Triopo 981C, they seem to work fine after 2 years now. Yongnuo YN-568EX II has gone for repair 2 times!
edit: I also bought 2 x Triopo 981C, they seem to work fine after 2 years now. Yongnuo YN-568EX II has gone for repair 2 times!
I used my cheaply bought rechargeable batteries rated 2000 Mah up to 2500 Mah, but to my surprise only a set of 2500 Mah batteries worked and another of 2000 Mah. I started wondering why and I bought a clever charger with test functions only to see that my 2500 Mah batteries were really somewhere between 800 and 1000 Mah!!!
Then I started looking at the expensive Maha powerex batteries rated at 2700 Mah, but I wanted to see an actual test for flash usage. And I found it here: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=677074.
This test shows some interesting things. Among them that eneloops had 100% charge when opened and maintained their charge after 3 weeks (as the powerex 2700 Mah), but what it doesn't say is that the eneloops continue to keep their charge for long after a month or two, something that the powerex 2700 Mah cannot do. For the use I am doing I surely need 2-3 sets of eneloop 2000 Mah that continue to keep their charge for a long period of time. I also verified it from Ken Rockwell's site here.
