I am a beginner who just bought a Canon rebel 2000 kit with 28-80 lens. I am looking for an external flash. Do I need to buy a canon flash? If so, what is the best "amateur" FLASH TO GET. Also, if I can get by with a generic, which do you recommend?

I appreciate any help.

-- john chaconas (jchaco@lsusd.lsumc.edu), January 22, 2002

Answers

http:// teladesign.com/photo/eos-flash/

-- NK Guy (tela@tela.bc.ca), January 22, 2002.

The Canon 420 EX would be your best choice, followed by the 380EX. Don't bother with anything else.

-- Ming Kuo (mtkuo@hotmail.com), January 23, 2002.

The best would be the Canon 550EX or maybe a Metz 54MZ. In my opinion the next best would be the Sigma EF-500 Super for about half the money, followed distantly by the Canon 420EX for *more* money!

I personally wouldn't bother with the 380EX. The problem with the 420EX and 380EX is that they don't offer any form of Flash Exposure Compensation with the Rebel 2000. Also, the 380EX doesn't rotate for a ceiling bounce in the portrait position, and that's usually when you want it most.

No you don't have to get a Canon flash, but at best you will get what you pay for. You often get less than that. I have never seen an autofocus Promaster, Vivitar, Phoenix, ect, that I thought was any good for the price that was being asked for them. Few third party flash units are built very well and fewer yet will take advantage of your Rebel 2000's advanced flash capabilities, like E-TTL, second curtain sync, high speed Sync, flash exposure lock, etc.

If you just want a generic auto flash, just about anything made today will do it. I saw a $20 Vivitar in Walmart a while back. It would work and probably give you decent pictures. Every once in a while you can get a good used generic flash on Ebay for about the same price. Philips P536 and Sunpak 383 are decent units that compare favorably with a Vivitar 283/285 and are priced considerably lower on the used market. Be sure to check that the trigger voltage is 6 volts or less. Not all Vivitar 283/285's are, but the Sunpak 383 and Philips P536 are fine. Of course these autoflash units will not be as easy to operate to get a good fill flash ratio and stuff like that, but they are cheap.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), January 23, 2002.

A similar question was also discussed by Elan 7E users.

The consensus is that the 420EX is the best match amonst the Canon Speedlites for cameras with 7 AF sensors (like the REBEL 2000 and Elan 7E). If you are considering a non-Canon flash unit, many people have suggested the Sigma EF 500 Super, since this is about the same price as the 420EX, but has many features like E-TTL and wireless flash compatibility, as well as a simple optical slave and manual power control.

I collected web links relevant to the discussion in the group bookmarks

-- Julian Loke (elan7e-owner@yahoogroups.com), January 24, 2002.