Opteka EF-600 DG Super EO-TTL II Speed Blitz Flash for Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera
by Opteka
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: OptekaModel: EF-600-II-C
Product features:
- Flash can be tilted 90° upwards. Also can be swiveled 180° to the left and 90° to the right
- Autofocus auxiliary lamp helps the camera to focus in low-light
- Features an Illuminated LCD panel
- Useful at slow shutter speeds to give a realistic impression of movement
- Works on all Canon EOS Digital & Film SLR's Inlcuding the 60D, 50D, 40D, 30D, 7D, 5D, 1Ds, 1D, Digital Rebel T3i, T3, T2i, T1i, XSi, XS, XTi, XT, etc.
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Opteka EF-600 DG Super EO-TTL II Speed Blitz Flash for Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera
Customer Review: Great flash for the price
Summary: 4 Stars
In general a great flash. It hooked up to my Canon XS with ETTL support and I was taking properly-exposed photos immediatly. A couple things I've noticed after a couple days' usage:
- The manual indicates 90 flashes with 4 AA batteries. That doesn't seem like a large number, but I'm guessing that also assumes a full power flash each time. I'm still to reach draining my first set of alkaline batteries, but I've only taking about 40 photos with flash so far. It does take a few seconds to power up to ready at first and if a full-power exposure is required.
- The battery polarity is indicated on the front inside wall of the battery box. I didn't see this the first time inserting batteries and used the manual to figure it out, then noticed the markings later.
- If the beep indicator is on and the flash is not rotated in the 0 degree position it will beep constantly. This is probably just to indicate that it cannot properly figure out the exposure with ETTL anymore, but if you want to switch between and not make a lot of noise in the process be sure to turn the audio indicator off before rotating the flash.
- When the flash is charging it is rather loud, or at least louder than I expected. I don't have another to compare it to though so maybe this is normal.
- The zoom motor is loud. This was mentioned in other reviews though so I kind of expected it. It also zooms through the full range every time it's powered on (probably a self-test).
- The LCD is effected when pushing the buttons (as if I were pressing directly on the LCD, which obviously would be bad). I hope this doesn't cause the LCD to fail at some point.
- The backlight source appears to only be on the left side of the LCD, meaning the right side is darker. It's still adequately bright enough to read though.
- I tried it as a slave using my camera's built-in flash as the master and it worked great. You do have to manually set everything up on it first though as mentioned in other reviews.
Update 9/9/10:
- To get the ready indicator to stop beeping constantly when the flash isn't pointed straight forward you have to change the zoom to something besides automatic (indicated by an 'A' on the display in the bottom left). Kind of annoying if you want to quickly switch between the two, but I guess it's trying to alert you that you need to manually choose the zoom since it doesn't know what to do anymore.
- I got about 100-120 photos on a fresh set of "Harbor Freight" AA batteries and they are still going somewhat even though it's taking much longer to reach a full charge and be ready.
- At one point it seemed to reach a point where the battery voltage got too low and it kind of went crazy. The motor started to zoom to another position and it let off a series of about 5-6 short flashes all within a second even though I wasn't pushing any buttons on my camera. It also started wildly overexposing my photos even though ETTL was indicated and the settings on the flash display matched those on my camera. This wasn't happening at first, so it might have something to do with the low batteries. I'll swap them out once they are fully dead and give another update.
Update 12/11/2010:
- Still getting overexposed images randomly. Not sure what to attribute it to exactly. It works great when I bounce the flash off a wall or ceiling, but when trying to do direct flash mounted to my camera with ETTL it seems to overexpose more often than not, even though the camera settings match the settings displayed on the flash. If I manually set my camera ISO to 100 it seems to overexpose less, but not sure why I need to sometimes and not others.
- On the 4th or 5th battery change the hinge on the battery cover broke, which means now the battery cover is no longer permanently attached to the flash when I open it. Fortunately it will still hold itself closed since it's needed for operation of the flash, but not a great design to be so easily broken. I didn't press hard on it or anything, just in the process of closing the cover it snapped. Be sure to press evenly on all sides of the cover when closing it to prevent the hinge from breaking off like mine did!
More Opteka EF-600 DG Super EO-TTL II Speed Blitz Flash for Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera reviews:
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Description of Opteka EF-600 DG Super EO-TTL II Speed Blitz Flash for Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera
The Opteka EF-600 DG SUPER ETTL-II is designed to work with the newest Canon EOS digital SLR cameras, for advanced flash photography. It has a maximum guide number of 148 feet or 45 meter at 85mm focal length (ISO 100).The projection angle of the flashgun is set automatically to match the lens' focal length ranging from 24mm wide-angle to 85mm medium-telephoto. It also incorporates a built-in reflecting plate and diffuser that can be slid out from the top of the flash head for soft lighting effects. The bounce flash head can be tilted 90° upwards and can be swiveled 180° to the left and 90° to the right. In addition, the flash can also be set manually at 6 different power output levels or can be utilized as a wireless slave.Bounce & swivel head.AF Assist Autofocus auxiliary lamp helps the camera to focus in low-light. LCD Display: Features an Illuminated LCD panel. Built in Reflecting Plate and Diffuser.Reduce strong light to create soft lighting effects. Front and Rear Curtain Synchronization. Useful at slow shutter speeds to give a realistic impression of movement. Auto Power Off Battery-saving mode shuts down power after 5 minutes. Specifications Type: Shoe Mount Guide No:148' (45 m) at 85mm AF Illuminator: 3.3ft-20ft/1-6m (50mm Lens) Flash Duration: 1/1000 to 1/20,000 second TTL Dedication: Yes. Bounce Head: Yes. Swivel Head: Yes. Recycle Time: 0.5-9 seconds (based on fresh alkaline batteries & full power).Power Source: Four 1.5-Volt "AA" batteries (alkaline, lithium, Ni-cd & Ni-MH). Dimensions: 72.0 x 100.0 x 125mm WxHxD. Weight: 270g (without batteriesFlashes
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