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Yongnuo’s new 50mm f/1.4 lens keeps up with Canon at less than 2/3rds the price

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Yongnuo has been coming pretty thick and fast with lenses over the last couple of years. Sure, they’re generally copies of somebody else’s lens, but they’re cheap and, for the most part, seem to perform fairly well considering the price. Announced last month, the Yongnuo 50mm f/1.4, though, looks to be of their own design.

The first review of the new lens has now been posted to YouTube by Christopher Frost, and it appears to be pretty favourable. It not only keeps up, for the most part, with Canon’s 65% more expensive 50mm f/1.4 USM, but it even seems to beat it in some aspects.

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Yongnuo brings another cheap lens to the masses: a 50mm F1.4 Prime Lens

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A few weeks ago, Yongnuo released new products including a camera module for iPhones and the YN50mm F1.8 lens. Today, they’re expanding their line even more with the YN50mm F1.4.  If Yongnuo sticks to their game plan, it will probably cheaper than the competition; we will have to see if it delivers good optical performance.

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Yongnuo announces an odd Micro Four Thirds camera module for iPhones

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As well as the recent announcement of a new 60mm f/2 macro lens, Yongnuo have a new listing on their website for a YN43 camera module. But it’s a strange looking little unit. There’s no specifications listed on the Yongnuo website yet, but it appears to contain a Micro Four Thirds sensor. The name “YN43” would also suggest a Micro Four Thirds sensor.

It’s shown in one product photo with an iPhone mounted to one side of it. But what makes it odd is what’s mounted on the other side. A Canon EF mount Yongnuo 14mm f/2.8 wide angle lens. The lens mount surrounding the sensor also appears to be a Canon mount, compatible with both EF and EF-S lenses.

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Yongnuo steps up their lens game with a YN60mm F2 macro lens

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Yongnuo is a brand known for copying being inspired by expensive lenses and creating similar lenses for really cheap. To give you an idea how low their prices are, they offer an alternative to the $125 Canon 50mm. F/1.8 for just $50. Although their options have little quirks such as lens flare and chromatic aberration, they’re still decent lenses to own especially for the cost. And now, the company has expanded their collection with the YN60mm F2 macro. Although the price isn’t available yet, you can expect that its price is going to be lower than its high-end counterparts. Place your price bets in the comments.

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How to get that $10,000+ lighting setup look with a $425 speedlight kit

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I’m in a lot of flash and lighting groups on Facebook, and the amount of gear lust shown in them often surprises me. As do the excuses people come up with as to why the light in their images doesn’t look as well as it could. The vast majority of the time, the lighting inadequacies aren’t down to the gear they use, but the application of it.

Sure, there are times when the lighting gear absolutely matters. Just as the camera & lens used are equally as important. But having cheaper equipment is not an excuse to not get great shots. This video from Patrick Hall over at FStoppers proves this extremely well, putting $10,000 worth of Profoto gear up against $425 worth of speedlight kit.

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This guy put a $48 Yongnuo lens on a 5K RED Dragon to see how it stands up

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We’ve all seen this lens vs that lens and camera vs phone comparisons before, but I’ve not seen one quite like this before. A $48 Yongnuo 50mm f/1.8 lens on a ridiculously expensive 5K RED cinema camera. They say that no matter what camera you’re using, it’s all about the glass. So, how does this lens really stand up? That’s what YouTuber Potato Jet wanted to find out, so he bought one,, and then stuck it on his RED camera.

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Why Godox is succeeding where Yongnuo failed

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The flash market used to be rather simple. You go to one company for speedlights, usually your camera manufacturer or a specialist brand like Metz. Then, you go to another company, such as Bowens and Elinchrom, for strobes when you needed more power. The strobe market stayed largely stable, but then Yongnuo came along and upset the speedlight scene quite drastically.

Last night, as I was in bed, browsing Facebook on my iPad, as you do, I ran across a post over on Flash Havoc. Described as “something of an open letter to Yongnuo”, I thought it seemed to hit the mark pretty well on many points. So, here’s some of my own thoughts.

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Yongnuo’s YN686EX-RT Li-Ion flash gives 750 full power flashes on a single charge

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Well, it looks like Yongnuo finally jumped on the Lithium Ion battery powered flash train. Releasing its first Li-Ion powered speedlight, the YN686EX-RT, the new Yongnuo is designed for the Canon RT system. The flash was first mentioned a couple of months ago, but now it’s available to buy.

The YN686EX-RT features a 2000mAh Li-Ion battery, capable of producing over 750 full power flashes on a single charge. It integrates a 2.4Gh transceiver that can act as either a master or a slave for Canon’s RT system. But, it will also work as an slave in Nikon’s CLS/AWL optical system.

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