I purchased a 5D w/24-105 IS L-series lens in December. I decided to get the Canon because I have an older Elan (film) camera and several EF lenses. Then, I decided I would need a flash, which the 5D does not have. Before I could order the 580 EX, I got wind of the upgraded 580 EX II and decided to wait. And wait I did. Finally, as I was cruising the Net for any dealer with one in stock, I stumbled across one at B&H. I called them and they confirmed availability and shipped one immediately. I've had it for about two weeks, now.
The construction is pretty solid, but the slide out wide angle lens and the catch light reflector will require special care. The catch light feature really works when you bounce flash and the unit puts out enough light that bounce will work in places where lessor units would not. The swivel head makes bounce a really viable option because it not only tilts but swivels. Once you see how natural portraits look with the bounce, I doubt you'll use direct flash again.
In the future, I plan to add at least 2 slave flash units to this primary unit, which is another reason I chose the 580. I am used to lighting for video and film, so consider key, fill and backlight absolutely necessary for professional results. I'd like to add background lights as well and the 580 should make that easy to do.
Incidentally, the 580's modeling light works just fine and is bright enough to be seriously useful only it makes me nervous because I wonder if it can be easily over-used, possibly damaging the unit. I need to check on that.
The fact is, I have just scratched the surface of the capabilities of the 580 and therein lies both it's beauty and it's drawback. It simply is capable of doing so many things (like the 5D), that a user will have to spend a lot of time reading and experimenting. Also, I fear that if the camera and flash are not used a lot, that users will forget how to use even the simple functions.
Frankly, unless you plan to use the unit frequently and for generally professional work, you may not need this much technology. A simpler camera with built-in flash may be a better choice for the more "casual" user. Also, when combined with the 5D full frame sensor body (read heavy), and the relatively large IS L-series zoom lens, the flash adds a lot of weight to an already heavy package. I was really surprised at how much lighter my friend's new D20 was when he came to visit this weekend, even wih a zoom lens attached. I will have to comment, however, that after shooting at a car show burnout event, that people move out of the way for you, because the package won't be mistaken for "amateur". Sometimes that's handy!
So far, the unit has performed flawlessy, however, I've discovered that once "manual" zoom has been selected, it is not easy to get it back in "automatic" mode again. The owner's manual does not explain how to accomplish this, saying only that the unit will go into auto zoom mode if it is used on a compatible camera. There may be some easy way to do that, but I had to temporarily remove the batteries to get the unit to return to default mode (and auto zoom). After about 3 hours of no success trying to figure out the right combination of button pushing to get it to do so with no luck, I was about to assume that the unit was not functioning properly, but as with much of today's technology it was...USER ERROR!Get more detail about Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash for Canon EOS Digital SLR Cameras.
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