I'm looking at a flash and willing to spend around £40-50 on one, it will not be used much but would like a good one.

I've seen 430ez flashes sell for as little as £21 as i lost out on one tonight on eBay.

My question is - i know the 430ez works on TLL and a canon DSLR is E-TLL, I found some websites that give very vague information other than this will work if the DSLR is set to manual.
What type of manual are they talking about, is it full manual with the M set on dial or is it any set in the creative zone, or do they refer to the flash set up within the flash as manual ?

Cheers Eric

Older flashguns with a 'TTL' mode won't work in anything other than full manual on a DSLR that uses ETTL. Full manual there means you set both camera and flash to manual, set the shutter to flash sync speed and calculate the aperture required from the flash's guide number at the film speed you're using and the distance from flash to subject. Can be done with practice (lots of practice) but not recommended for occasional flash use. And then of course there's fill in... :huh:

If the flash gun has its own light sensor you may be able to just set a fixed aperture on your camera and let the flash gun do the work. Older 'auto' flash guns used to work like that but I suspect anything less than 10 years old probably doesn't.

If your camera has a popup flash it will likely be ETTL and will give correct exposures automatically. An external flash gun, if it has a tilt and swivel head, will give you the ability to bounce the flash off walls, windows, ceilings, bald heads etc. to get a better quality of light - full frontal flash is seriously unflattering! I'm not familiar with the 430ez - does it have a tilt/swivel head. If so it might be worth playing with, even in full manual. If not then forget it, it's no better than the popup flash.

I'm not familiar with the 430ez - does it have a tilt/swivel head. If so it might be worth playing with, even in full manual. If not then forget it, it's no better than the popup flash.

yes full tilt etc... it's basically the 430ex without ETLL

http://zenshin1.com/r930/430ez-bk.jpg

The proper ETLL flashes that will go fully Auto on DSLR are either sold in USA or HK and made by unknown (to me) makers, goggle just can't find any info on them if you get me.

Ooodles of info on the 430 ez here :

http://photonotes.org/reviews/speedlite-430ez/

:)

Ooodles of info on the 430 ez here :

http://photonotes.org/reviews/speedlite-430ez/

:)

cheers Grissom. Just had a read and you kind of require a light meter and other Joe pro gear if i get any EZ or E canon range.

Ah well i have spotted one in USA that suppose to be a 3rd party US copy of the 580EX for £55 ( in my price range) that supports full E-TTL and has LCD display to boot.

I managed to get a flash i went for a very cheap CANON 420EZ for £23 :thumbsup: