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Thursday 8 August 2013

Batteries for power consuming devices (Flashes etc) and Yongnuo YN-568 EX II speedlite

I was wondering why almost all my rechargeable batteries drained after a few weeks while unused in my bag, having no clue what the reason was and how to solve it and I searched some sites, made a few questions and everything became clear to me after a few days.  I recently purchased a new powerful flash a Yongnuo YN-568 EX II which is very similar to the Canon EX-580 or Canon RT-600 if you prefer a newer comparison.  The price I paid was around 150 euros including postage fees instead of around 525 for the Canon 600 RT or 360 for the Metz 58 AF-2 or 255 for Nissin Di 866 II. 

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.

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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!

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!

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.


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