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A real-world test of the new Canon Speedlite EL-1 professional flash

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The Canon Speedlite EL-1 flash was announced late last year, and like many of you, I saw the price tag and thought that I would save some money and keep using my old Canon 600EX-RT flashes. Let’s face it, at $1099 each, these things are not cheap. But about a month ago, I decided to pull the trigger and purchase two of these flashes. Even though I typically use 6 flashes when shooting events, I had a very specific use for these two new flash heads. But that would be getting ahead of myself, so let me tell you a little about these newer flashes.

The first thing I noticed when unpacking the Speedlite EL-1 is that it is noticeably larger than the previous Canon flash heads. I believe that a big part of this is the fan which is integrated inside the Speedlite EL-1. Yes, there is a fan in these to help keep them cool, even when being used heavily.

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Canon releases its first speedlight designed specifically for its mirrorless cameras

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Canon has launched the EL-5, its first mirrorless compatible speedlight. The flash unit is directly compatible with the latest Canon mirrorless bodies the R6 and brand newly released R6II, the R3, R7, and R10.

Using the speedlight with the multi-function shoe found on the R lineup of mirrorless cameras unlocks the array of upgraded features available with the EL-5. Such features include an extremely fast recycle time of between 0.1 sec and 1.2 secs, and an ultra-low power setting of just 1/1024.

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A great Speedlight, but is it worth the upgrade?

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Godox announced the updated version of their square-headed Speedlight the V860III last summer. Having an extra portable flash unit in your bag is always a good idea, particularly if you’re like me and often end up shooting on location, so I was keen to try it out. Godox boasted several new features such as a new hot shoe lock and modelling light, but is it really different enough from both the previous V860II or the round-headed V1 to warrant an upgrade? Let’s take a look!

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These are the best and worst ways to shoot portraits with on-camera flash

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Shooting with a speedlight on camera is not something most of us would choose for portraits. But sometimes there’s no other choice, whether you don’t have the equipment to shoot off-camera or you don’t have enough room. So, Gavin Hoey comes to the rescue. In this video from Adorama, he’ll show you a few solutions for getting flattering light with your speedlight attached to your camera.

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The Strobepro Power Scale: Comparing Godox strobes, speedlites, and LEDs

Why is it so difficult to compare one light to another? It would be bad enough to say that watts, LUX, watt-seconds, and guide numbers aren’t directly comparable. And unless you’ve been around lights for a long time, these measurements won’t even make intuitive sense.

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Godox officially launches the V860III with modelling light, V1 battery, quick release foot and more

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First leaked way back in January, Godox has now finally announced the long-awaited Godox V860III speedlight. As expected, the final specs match up almost exactly with those leaked in April, and it’s available for all of the systems Godox supports, including Nikon, Canon, Sony, Fuji, Olympus/Panasonic and Pentax.

The new Godox V860III introduces a new feature for Godox speedlights; a modelling light. It also starts to unify the battery system amongst the Godox lithium-ion powered speedlights by using the same battery as the Godox V1, as well as the quick-release foot. There’s now also a TTL/Manual switch on the side to help you more easily make quick adjustments.

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Canon ST-E3-RT Version 2 trigger is basically the original but with 3 new features most can’t use

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Canon has announced a new Version 2 of their ST-E3-RT trigger for controlling Canon speedlights off-camera. If you were hoping for some massive upgrade, though, you’re in for a little disappointment. According to what I can see, it basically only adds only three new features over the original ST-E3-RT released in 2012. And not for everybody.

The first is that you (finally) get to be able to shoot rear curtain sync with your wireless Canon speedlights (if your camera is 2020 or newer and not an 850D/T8i). You get a minimum power setting that now goes down to an insane 1/8192 power (but only with the new EL-1 speedlight). And you get a new FE memory feature, allowing you to lock in E-TTL flash exposure levels (with everything).

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Yongnuo updates its 5-year-old speedlight, launches the YN685 II for Nikon and Canon

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The Yongnuo YN685 speedlight was originally released back in 2015. It was one of the first on the market at the time to feature an integrated 2.4Ghz receiver, compatible with some of Yonguo’s triggers. It was quickly obsoleted once Godox hit the scene with their lithium-ion battery-powered speedlights, offering greater compatibility.

Well, Yongnuo has now released an update to the YN685. Not surprisingly, it’s called the Yongnuo YN685 II, but does it go far enough over the original to win back some of those customers it’s lost to Godox or to attract new photographers to the brand?

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Check out these eight 3D printed photo & video tools designed to make your life a little easier

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I put off getting a 3D printer for the longest time. I didn’t want to get one just for the sake of having a new toy that I’d get bored with, so I held off getting one until I felt I had a genuine need for one. Now, I have five – the most recent of which are the Snapmaker 2.0 A350 and its predecessor, the Snapmaker Original, and I find them absolutely invaluable.

I’ve been using them recently to print a bunch of tools and accessories to help me with my photography and filmmaking. Some of them are workflow and organisation accessories while others are actual tools used to create content. So, here, I’m going to talk about some of the most useful things I’ve printed lately.

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The Godox V860III is on the way with improved UI, foot lock and (maybe) an LED modelling lamp

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It seems that Godox is about to update its lithium-ion powered V860 series speedlight to fall a little more inline with that of the V1. Lighting Rumours reports that it’s an incremental update, so you might not need to rush out to replace your V860IIs, but it will offer some improvements over its predecessor.

For a start, the updated user interface is said to be modified slightly to make it closer to that of the Godox V1. Primarily, I suspect this means the dial in the middle of all the buttons, as the LCD interface is already pretty much the same. It’s also going to see the new format lock on the foot and LR says it will receive a new LED modelling lamp on the main flash body.

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