Yongnuo YN460 - budget flash with low-cost features
Monday, and today we talk about photography. Today, Box Overview will talk about a fairly low-cost, but high-quality, mid-level flash - Yongnuo YN460.
TTL, in particular A-TTL, E-TTL, D-TTL, i-TTL - automatic flash output settings, depending on the characteristics of the frame. If you don’t go into details, before shooting a puff, supporting this function, it gives a flash of a certain energy, according to which the camera calculates the illumination of the frame, and then gives out puff information, the impulse of what power it needs to be given for a properly exposed frame. Also, some of these systems include the ability to “cut off” the impulse when the stage illumination has reached the required level. Read more in Wikipedia, here and here.
Sync on the first (S1) and second (S2) pulse - flash operation in the slave mode, in which the flash is synchronized on the pulse of another flash - usually built into the camera, or installed in a hot shoe.
Synchronization by the second pulse means that the flash will pass several first pulses.
This is done because the built-in camera flashes in automatic mode use the similarity of the technology described in the previous paragraph - they measure the illumination of the scene with a small impulse. If the flash responds immediately to this impulse (synchronization S1), then it will illuminate the scene before the shooting, and as a result will be useless.
Strobism - photography technique in which the right lighting is achieved using several compact (most often not studio) flashes located around the subject.
After the sudden death of my last flash (a super-budget product by an unknown Chinese company YinYan), I was bothered to look for a new one.
My old flash:
YinYan - CY-28A , for $ 20 with a penny. The deceased was no good except for a small price, but she knew how to eat batteries in standby mode and disgustingly squeak when charging. Crime scene:
This happens if the mount to the hot shoe is plastic, and at home a small child.
')
As usual, when choosing a new flash, the toad was sitting on the neck, so it was decided to take the flash for a minimal cost, but always with a metal mount, and power adjustment. What I have chosen, you already know. 10 days of waiting and I have it:
A sturdy cardboard box, inside which was a flash wrapped up for reliability in three layers of protection - a regular bag, a bag with pimples and a carrying case.
Equipment:
Minimalistic. Flash, stand for it, instruction , advertising booklet, a warning that you can not use Li-ion batteries, and a bag of silica gel in the battery compartment.
Also included is a carrying case (velvet, heh), but I forgot to take a picture of it along with everything, here it is:
Some other sellers put a matte diffuser, but I did not have it.
Stand made of durable plastic, performs its functions perfectly:
The flash on it is exactly, does not falter.
The flash itself:
In front only a synchronizer window:
There is nothing interesting on the left:
On the right is the battery compartment lid and the sync cable connector. The lid of the compartment in my opinion turned out to be not very successful - it is not fixed in any way in the open position, and the closing process is not very intuitive - it is necessary to fully pull it up in the vertical position, then press it firmly to the batteries, and finally push it to the end. However, it does not seem to break down - the plastic of the latch is rather thick, and the fastening mechanism is metallic.
Contacts are marked with noticeable characters, which is good. In the last flash, they were applied to the inner surface of the compartment, on which nifiga was not visible. Every time I had something to highlight, or insert at random. It should also be noted that the forgotten flash will not burn out the batteries - after 3 minutes it goes into the standby state, in which the lights flash, and after half an hour it turns off completely. From the waiting state, it wakes up when photographing, but, unfortunately, it misses the first impulse - i.e. After the first pressing of the shutter, the flash will wake up, and after the second, it will puff.
All controls are concentrated behind:
Indicators M, S1, S2 show the selected mode with a luminous diode. M - synchronization via hot shoe, S1, S2 - slave-mode with photo synchronization on the first or second pulse. They cycle through the Mode button.
Below are 7 LEDs showing the power of the pulse. Control - a “Power Level” rocker under them.
What was a surprise for me - the power is regulated by the feet, not linearly. Simply put, by powers of two - 7 light bulbs is the maximum impulse, and 6 is already 1/2 impulse, i.e. twice smaller. 5 light bulbs - 4 times less, 1/4. And so on, down to 1/64 of the original impulse. So, if the flash darkens at seemingly 85% of the power - 6 light bulbs, do not rush to put a “weak” verdict. In fact, it works at 50%, and it has a two-time reserve for the world.
The flash can store the level for each mode - m, s1, s2, but resets it when the power is turned off. This is a little upsetting, especially since after switching on the mode is set to 1/64, which I use much less than 1/2 and 1/1.
ON / OFF - on / off button. To do this, it must be held for about 2 seconds, both for on and off. A bit much in my opinion.
PILOT - test puff. The indicator above it is readiness. If orange is charging the capacitor, green is ready for operation.
In general, the flash works very quickly, I am very pleased. On fresh batteries it charges very quickly - 2 seconds. At the first four power levels, it can do as many puffs as possible 2-3 times per second - it simply does not have time to discharge. If I also had a Lumix G2 supported high-speed shooting with non-native flashes - there would be no limit to my joy. But even without this, you can not think "the flash is charged or the frame disappears?". With the last flash it was often.
On the bottom side - mount.
Metal platform, which is simply not broken. The pictures in the DX plastic, but you do not believe it. In the reviews and photos of customers, everyone says that it’s metallic and they don’t lie.
In the middle is one sync pin, and the pin at the far edge is the latch. When tightening the ring, it extends and fixes the flash in a special hollow of the hot shoe. Incidentally, it is on a spring, so that you can insert a flash with one already advanced. We unscrew the ring half a turn back - the pin moves back, and the puff can be pulled out of the mount. Of course, it is a pity that the “classic” mechanism with a lever or a button is not used, but that is - that is.
Diffuser with a complex pattern:
You can push an additional filter with reflector:
By the way, the filter and the reflector can be advanced either individually, either one or the other. Although I think the reflector is small and short, and I will not trade a sheet of paper for it. His only virtue is that he is always there :)
And this is already a room. Photographed at shutter speed 1/30, ISO 200, F3.5. At full power, even slightly overexposed.
I will not disassemble it, I am afraid of it. Once I saw how the discharge seemed to melt a thin screwdriver like a capacitor, and then I try not to climb without the need for devices with large-capacity and high-voltage capacitors.
This flash on Dealextreme
Overview YN460-II from Radozhiva
A very detailed review of YN460-II from speedlights.net
YN460-II Review by asp-art.ru
Review YN460 from ON-Trade
Flash cost in Russian stores
Comparative overview of flares, including YN460 and YN460-II
A long thread about Yongnuo flashes on the Ebay Forum
If you do not have an account on Habrahabr, you can read and comment on our articles on BoxOverview.com
Dictionary
The leading number is the flash power. Measured in meters. This is the distance from which the flash in the forehead when puffing up will sufficiently illuminate the object to obtain a normal frame (not too dark).TTL, in particular A-TTL, E-TTL, D-TTL, i-TTL - automatic flash output settings, depending on the characteristics of the frame. If you don’t go into details, before shooting a puff, supporting this function, it gives a flash of a certain energy, according to which the camera calculates the illumination of the frame, and then gives out puff information, the impulse of what power it needs to be given for a properly exposed frame. Also, some of these systems include the ability to “cut off” the impulse when the stage illumination has reached the required level. Read more in Wikipedia, here and here.
Sync on the first (S1) and second (S2) pulse - flash operation in the slave mode, in which the flash is synchronized on the pulse of another flash - usually built into the camera, or installed in a hot shoe.
Synchronization by the second pulse means that the flash will pass several first pulses.
This is done because the built-in camera flashes in automatic mode use the similarity of the technology described in the previous paragraph - they measure the illumination of the scene with a small impulse. If the flash responds immediately to this impulse (synchronization S1), then it will illuminate the scene before the shooting, and as a result will be useless.
Strobism - photography technique in which the right lighting is achieved using several compact (most often not studio) flashes located around the subject.
After the sudden death of my last flash (a super-budget product by an unknown Chinese company YinYan), I was bothered to look for a new one.
My old flash:
YinYan - CY-28A , for $ 20 with a penny. The deceased was no good except for a small price, but she knew how to eat batteries in standby mode and disgustingly squeak when charging. Crime scene:
This happens if the mount to the hot shoe is plastic, and at home a small child.
')
As usual, when choosing a new flash, the toad was sitting on the neck, so it was decided to take the flash for a minimal cost, but always with a metal mount, and power adjustment. What I have chosen, you already know. 10 days of waiting and I have it:
A sturdy cardboard box, inside which was a flash wrapped up for reliability in three layers of protection - a regular bag, a bag with pimples and a carrying case.
Equipment:
Minimalistic. Flash, stand for it, instruction , advertising booklet, a warning that you can not use Li-ion batteries, and a bag of silica gel in the battery compartment.
Also included is a carrying case (velvet, heh), but I forgot to take a picture of it along with everything, here it is:
Some other sellers put a matte diffuser, but I did not have it.
Stand made of durable plastic, performs its functions perfectly:
The flash on it is exactly, does not falter.
The flash itself:
In front only a synchronizer window:
There is nothing interesting on the left:
On the right is the battery compartment lid and the sync cable connector. The lid of the compartment in my opinion turned out to be not very successful - it is not fixed in any way in the open position, and the closing process is not very intuitive - it is necessary to fully pull it up in the vertical position, then press it firmly to the batteries, and finally push it to the end. However, it does not seem to break down - the plastic of the latch is rather thick, and the fastening mechanism is metallic.
Contacts are marked with noticeable characters, which is good. In the last flash, they were applied to the inner surface of the compartment, on which nifiga was not visible. Every time I had something to highlight, or insert at random. It should also be noted that the forgotten flash will not burn out the batteries - after 3 minutes it goes into the standby state, in which the lights flash, and after half an hour it turns off completely. From the waiting state, it wakes up when photographing, but, unfortunately, it misses the first impulse - i.e. After the first pressing of the shutter, the flash will wake up, and after the second, it will puff.
All controls are concentrated behind:
Indicators M, S1, S2 show the selected mode with a luminous diode. M - synchronization via hot shoe, S1, S2 - slave-mode with photo synchronization on the first or second pulse. They cycle through the Mode button.
Below are 7 LEDs showing the power of the pulse. Control - a “Power Level” rocker under them.
What was a surprise for me - the power is regulated by the feet, not linearly. Simply put, by powers of two - 7 light bulbs is the maximum impulse, and 6 is already 1/2 impulse, i.e. twice smaller. 5 light bulbs - 4 times less, 1/4. And so on, down to 1/64 of the original impulse. So, if the flash darkens at seemingly 85% of the power - 6 light bulbs, do not rush to put a “weak” verdict. In fact, it works at 50%, and it has a two-time reserve for the world.
The flash can store the level for each mode - m, s1, s2, but resets it when the power is turned off. This is a little upsetting, especially since after switching on the mode is set to 1/64, which I use much less than 1/2 and 1/1.
ON / OFF - on / off button. To do this, it must be held for about 2 seconds, both for on and off. A bit much in my opinion.
PILOT - test puff. The indicator above it is readiness. If orange is charging the capacitor, green is ready for operation.
In general, the flash works very quickly, I am very pleased. On fresh batteries it charges very quickly - 2 seconds. At the first four power levels, it can do as many puffs as possible 2-3 times per second - it simply does not have time to discharge. If I also had a Lumix G2 supported high-speed shooting with non-native flashes - there would be no limit to my joy. But even without this, you can not think "the flash is charged or the frame disappears?". With the last flash it was often.
On the bottom side - mount.
Metal platform, which is simply not broken. The pictures in the DX plastic, but you do not believe it. In the reviews and photos of customers, everyone says that it’s metallic and they don’t lie.
In the middle is one sync pin, and the pin at the far edge is the latch. When tightening the ring, it extends and fixes the flash in a special hollow of the hot shoe. Incidentally, it is on a spring, so that you can insert a flash with one already advanced. We unscrew the ring half a turn back - the pin moves back, and the puff can be pulled out of the mount. Of course, it is a pity that the “classic” mechanism with a lever or a button is not used, but that is - that is.
Diffuser with a complex pattern:
You can push an additional filter with reflector:
By the way, the filter and the reflector can be advanced either individually, either one or the other. Although I think the reflector is small and short, and I will not trade a sheet of paper for it. His only virtue is that he is always there :)
Tests
For the test, I took a flash, went out into the yard and took 7 frames, gradually increasing the power. All photographs taken at shutter speeds 1/50, ISO 200, F5. Not processed, except for a small framing and logo.Comparison of 7 power levels
1/64:
1/32:
1/16:
1/8:
1/4:
1/2:
1/1:
1/32:
1/16:
1/8:
1/4:
1/2:
1/1:
And this is already a room. Photographed at shutter speed 1/30, ISO 200, F3.5. At full power, even slightly overexposed.
Comparison with the built-in flash
No flash:
Built-in:
1/4:
1/1:
Built-in:
1/4:
1/1:
I will not disassemble it, I am afraid of it. Once I saw how the discharge seemed to melt a thin screwdriver like a capacitor, and then I try not to climb without the need for devices with large-capacity and high-voltage capacitors.
Cost:
Such a flash is worth $ 46 in Dealextreme. I can not complain about the long shipment, because this time it was sent two days after the order, and it flew in 9 days, though by EMS.Conclusion:
For the price - Must have! You can, of course, quarrel about the lack of support for TTL systems, and the need to tweak everything with your hands, but I would not consider this a disadvantage. Perhaps, some inconvenience of use is only due to the inability to remember the settings and the flimsy battery cover. At the same time, I can recommend this flash as a good entry-level light, albeit for use in a shoe during normal shooting, even as a light source for strobing. The power of the flash directed to the ceiling is enough to illuminate a circle of several meters even in complete darkness, which covers my need for photography by 90%.Yongnuo YN460-II
The second version of the flash, not too different in price - about $ 10- $ 15 more expensive. The leading number is increased - 38 instead of 33, improved power control - now each position of 7 can be additionally adjusted in 7 steps. Judging by the reviews - the battery cover has become more flimsy, which, however, is easier to repair (in the review on the links below it is written about it). More is no different. If turned up, I would take. But I would not specifically look for it.References:
YN460-II Review by StrobistThis flash on Dealextreme
Overview YN460-II from Radozhiva
A very detailed review of YN460-II from speedlights.net
YN460-II Review by asp-art.ru
Review YN460 from ON-Trade
Flash cost in Russian stores
Comparative overview of flares, including YN460 and YN460-II
A long thread about Yongnuo flashes on the Ebay Forum
If you do not have an account on Habrahabr, you can read and comment on our articles on BoxOverview.com
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/167123/
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