Bought this flash yesterday, to use primarily with my also newly purchased EOS Elan 7NE 35mm SLR. I kept deciding between 430EX and 580EX II and I don't regret buying this model. The flash is not too bulky or too heavy as I was afraid after reading some reviews - my previous flash was Vivitar 285HV, and it is quite bigger and heavier then 580 EX II.
Now, the flash output of 580EX II is dependent on zoom setting of the flash head. The advertised GN190 sounds like vast load of power, but it is a guide number for 105mm zoom; when you use 28mm lens you get only about GN100, and GN140 for standard 50mm lens. It's off course not bad but not the GN190, so don't think that you'll flash an entire concert hall with this flash. I did a test roll on full auto setting on the camera and E-TTL II on the flash - while working nicely and quite dependably out of the box, to my surprise the flash and camera use quite wide apertures, around f4-f4.5 for most exposures indoors.. I realized that I'll have to use full manual mode on the camera and E-TTL II on the flash in order to obtain smaller apertures and get more DOF - in this setting the adequate flash output will be provided automatically to accommodate the selected aperture (and shutter speed) setting.
I didn't even remotely touch all the features that this flash offers, although I did go through them briefly while reading the provided user guide. I think that the flash will serve me well down the road, and it is better to have that extra output over what 430EX would give me. Finally, I believe that 580EX II was released very recently, while the 430EX is couple years older. The built quality of 580EX II is generally nice, the hotshoe is metal with locking lever, flash has external PC connector (which 430EX lacks I believe); obviously the 580EX II has more to offer. BTW, I'm amateur photographer.
The main drawback - price is steep. If you don't need all the features (there are tons of them), you may be better off with the cheaper 430EX; I grabbed 580 but mainly because I wanted the PC connector since I intend to shoot it occasionally with my other cameras in full manual mode off-camera on the stand through the umbrella and such - so that's why I wanted maximum possible flash output.
One last but important thing - I called Canon technical support today with a question regarding the use; good news - Canon techs are located here in the United States, are friendly and knowledgeable (so, don't worry about having to deal with overseas-outsourced tech support, which can be quite a horrible experience)
Get more detail about Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash for Canon EOS Digital SLR Cameras.
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