Blog title

For a while now, I have had this feeling that my blog isn't well-named given my tendency to talk about cameras and photography more than say... music.

I think I might just rebrand myself here. After all, my domain has nothing to do with the blog name.

Further to this is my total lack of info on myself. Not that any of you really cares. The quick details. I'm a 30year old amateur photographer, that has been doing the dSLR thing for 3 years now, and digital photography thing for close to ten years. In those ten years, a lot of crappy point and shoots passed through my hands. And quite a few of which have taught me that name-brand doesn't me shite. (Agfa, Sony, Kodak, Panasonic, Samsung, etc...) but I digress. I'm from Canada, residing in Toronto, Ontario. Originally I am from Montreal, Quebec - however that was so long ago that, all i can say is that I was born there and that the Habs are the best team in the NHL.

I grew up in the suburbs of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), but spent many summers in what is perhaps the most picturesque part of Ontario - Georgian Bay (Midland and the 30,000 islands specifically). Ironically, having grown up, surrounded by gorgeous panoramas that were the basis of the Group of Seven's work, Landscape photography has appeal for me.

I can go on, but i won't. Because the truth is... I came here to talk about the Canon 430EX. I will be acquiring one, so, as a result, I'll be doing a quick write-up about it now, and a more detailed summary later.

First things first - why the 430? because I was able to score one in amazing shape for a decent price. Sure, I could've spent a few more $ and got an EXII version, but to be honest, this will be the first good flash I will be able to work with. Not to say that the others I've used suck... it's just that anything good that was strapped on to my camera was only on temporarily, and the rest have been iffy at best... or restricted to RF triggering.

Okay... Secondly. What's special about the 430EX? well... I'm not sure. Except that it does have High Speed Sync (HSS) hence my interest in it, as that's an area of strobing that I want to get into eventually.

Now... the downsides to the 430 (version 1). What's the difference between the v1 and v2? Visually/physically, virtually none.

However, the guts are what matter, right? Well, the EXII has a better IBGT system, which allows for quicker power recycling* and it is silent. Thus making the EX1 slower and noisy, apparently. The EX1 has the standard lock-ring that pretty much all flashes have [except the 430EXII and 580EXii] and unfortunately, it has a plastic foot. While both have slave modes, the first version has a switch for it, and other features can be controlled either on flash or through the in-camera menu (this will be fun to play with). Lastly, there are supposedly some custom features in both versions. I've only read that there's only 6 of them in the v1, but no word on the v2. I'd like to know what the difference between them is, but being a newcomer to a Canon-made dedicated flash with brains.




* - the recycling time of the V2 over the V1 is said to be 20% faster. Yet, the V1 is said to be 40% faster than it's predecessor, the 420EX - so, i really take that sort of crap with a grain of salt. The reality is, with standard (alkaline) AA's, the 430 should recycle in less than 4 seconds. But as all good photographers know - you don't use Alkalines, you use NiMHs! Recycling with those is reported at 2s, after full-power flash, and since most users rarely use full-power, that 2sec recycle is immaterial.
That should give you something to think about.



For a more fleshed out run-down and completely objective review, please visit this site: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-430EX-Speedlite-Flash-Review.aspx