| sent on November 05, 2024
Pros: low charging times, integrated modeling light (also useful for focusing in low light conditions), possibility to set the power up to 1/8192 (very useful if shooting in low light conditions), excellent heat dissipation management, high autonomy
Cons: purchase price, extremely expensive specific battery. The size of the head makes it incompatible with the better beamers for the speedlite 600 ex-II rt
Opinion: It is Canon's current top-of-the-range flash, which is positioned on a higher level than the 600 series (out of print). Compared to previous models, they have managed to significantly reduce recycle times: 0.9s (0.8s quick flash) at full power, which drops to 0.4s (0.3s quick flash) if an external battery pack is used (CP-E4N, but the previous CP-E4 also works). The minimum recycle time is 0.1s, like the previous 600 series, so in this respect there are no improvements: this implies that, beyond 10fps, the flash will not be able to keep up with the shutter speed of the camera. However, for bird photography the charging times alone are worth the purchase, since you can't find anything like it on the market. The guide number, 60, is similar to the flashes of the 600 series: I would have preferred an increase in this sense, also given the price, but then the size and weight would have increased. The flash is equipped with an active cooling system, which guarantees greater resistance to intensive use, compared to previous models. There is also a built-in modeling light, whose color temperature and power can be adjusted: I find it very useful as a "focus" "assistance", when I take photos in low light. Another peculiarity of the flash is the ability to adjust the power up to 1/8192: in certain scenarios, such as photos of birds in low light, with very high ISO sensitivities, this feature makes the difference, both to avoid the horrifying "flash effect", and to reduce the disturbance towards what you are photographing, as well as to contain recharge times. Obviously, all this is paid, both in terms of the cost of the device (by the way, the price has remained unchanged, since 2020, and even used the cost is prohibitive), and for the running costs: there is a dedicated lithium battery, LP-EL, which can be charged with the chargers of machines that use LP-E6 and later batteries. This battery is very expensive and can NOT be used on cameras, as the length is longer than the LP-E6 and later: likewise, the LP-E6 and later cannot be used on the flash. I assume that this is due to the fact that the flash has energy absorption with peaks well above those of a camera, so a battery with a higher C-rate was needed, and I imagine that the issue of heat dissipation and temperatures is also more critical. Another flaw is that the dimensions have increased, compared to the flashes of the 600 series: therefore, it is not possible to use the better beamers designed for the speedlites 600 ex-II rt. |
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