RGTX

I have a Canon 6D and I want to get a flash mostly for fill light in daytime. I'm not really interested in a flash that's smarter than I am. I just want a flash that I can attach either on camera or with a long cord that I can adjust the settings to my liking. What do you recommend? Thanks.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

If you're not interested in a higher end model, buy a simple manual flash you can get for 50 bucks. They do everything you mentioned just fine. The choice is yours, there are so many to choose from, Yungnuo's do work fine, but need careful handling!

rwilson1942 Loc: Houston, TX

Search Amazon for Godex for Canon 6D

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

I suggest a Godox TT350C Mini Thinklite TTL Flash for Canon Cameras from B&H, $84 new.

joseph premanandan

i like Godox flah too. they do a good job.

Bill Emmett Loc: Bow, New Hampshire

I bought a Canon 270EXII flash a few years ago. I use it for daytime fill flash, as you want to do. It is small, light weight, and easy to operate. It uses AA batteries, and does not use them up very fast. I use it on my 5D mark IV, and 6D. So easy to use, has only off and on switch, and hot shoe lock.

S

lhardister Loc: Brownsville, TN

[quote=RGTX]I have a Canon 6D and I want to get a flash …..

All of the suggestions offered above are good. However, I would recommend something like a used Canon 430exii. It has enough power to give you all the fill flash that you seem to be looking for, and it is smaller than the Canon 580/600 series as well as the Yongnuo 560 series flashes. By setting it to "manual" (M), it will become essentially the same as the other "simple" flashes mentioned that do not have a plethora of buttons, etc.; then if you decide that you want to exercise any of the more sophisticated capabilities of this flash, then you have it all there at your fingertips. And, you can probably pick one up in decent condition on ebay for as little as $40 if you are careful.

Best regards,

Nicholas DeSciose

This is a very good suggestion

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Canon 420EX, 430EX, 470EX, 550EX, 580EX, 600EX Speedlites are all very versatile and easy to use. There are also smaller, less powerful 300-series and 200-series, though they may have more limited functionality (likely will be more "automated").

You can use the 400/500/600-series Speedlites either very automated or fully manual or something in between, as you see fit.

Set the flash to "ETTL" and your camera to any of its auto exposure modes, the flash automatically acts as "fill". The camera sets exposure using ambient light metering, while the flash is fired at -1.66 stops of power, to act as fill.... ideal for shooting in strong daylight when shadows can be a problem. You're free to dial the strength of the flash up or down using Flash Exposure Compensation (FEC), which works the same as Exposure Compensation (EC) adjustments to the camera's ambient light auto exposure.

Leave the flash in "ETTL" and set your camera to fully manual exposure and you get "full" flash. Flash will be treated as if it were the sole light source, ambient light conditions ignored by the camera. You still get the effect of auto exposure, but now it's just the flash output that's controlled. You can change the manual camera settings freely... to effect how ambient light is recorded, causing a background to go dark or to lighten up, for example, or for any other reason you wish. You also can still use FEC to tweak the power of the flash to your preferences.

Or, set both the camera and the flash to fully Manual exposure mode, and control it all yourself. It's your choice.

The 400-series Canon flashes are pretty powerful, but a little more compact (Canon flashes' designations are actually based upon each models' Guide Number, in meters... a 420EX has a GN of 42 meters, while a 580EX has a GN of 58 meters, for example... this is pretty much true across all the Canon EX flash line-up).

200-series, 300-series and 400-series flashes all rely upon an internal set of batteries.... aren't designed for an external power source. (Note: There are some third party external power sources that can be used with certain Speedlites, but they require a permanent modification of the flash to do so.) The 200/300/400-serise also mostly can be set to act as off-camera slaves in multi-flash setups, but not as masters.

The larger and more powerful 500-series and 600-series flashes can be set to act either as slaves or as masters in multi-flash setups. They also have means of connecting an external power source for faster recycling and for a lot more shots (Canon themselves offer "compact" battery packs that add eight more AA batteries to the four already in the flash).

The tiny Canon 90EX (now discontinued) also can act as a master, installed on camera and used to fire other off-camera flashes.

Canon also offers the ST-series of on-camera controllers that can be used to control and fire off-camera flashes.

The "RT" flashes and controller use "radio triggering" and control, which has greater reach and less interference than the near-IR optical control used with the other flashes and controllers.

You can use an off-camera shoe cord with most of these. Canon has offered several models of those over the years, and there are cheaper third party "clones".

There are also a lot of third party flashes and accessories that can interact with the Canon Speedlite system... including Yongnuo, Godox and others.

Note: Your 6D has a flash sync speed of 1/180, I believe. That's the fastest shutter speed you can use the flash "normally". However, many of the flashes can be set to do "High Speed Sync" (HSS), which allows faster shutter speeds to be used. This shortens the duration of the flash, though.... and this in turn reduces the distance the flash can reach. The faster the shutter speed, the less reach that will be possible.

A neat feature of the "big" Speedlites (500-series, 600-series) is an LCD display on the back that, among other things, displays the distance range where the flash will be effective, given the current flash and camera settings. This display will adjust as you change lens aperture or ISO.... or when HSS is used with shutter speeds faster than the camera's sync speed. If your lens has a distance scale, that and the flash's display make it easy to check if the subject is withing the working range, even if you aren't good estimating distances yourself.

There are other things the flashes can do..... Such as 2nd Curtain Sync (usually used with slower shutter speeds), stroboscopic mutli-flash effects and more.

Personally I have three 580EXII and three older 550EX, as well as an ST-E2 Controller and a set of five Norman studio strobes. I'm about to buy a 90EX or 200-series for use with a small Canon mirrorless system. (I know your 6D doesn't have one, but FYI built-in flashes that some cameras have really suck! I don't use them. They're weak and located in the worst possible place for redeye problems and ugly shadow effects. They're also slow recycling and quickly drain the camera's main battery.)

If you consider older, used flashes... FYI, the Canon "A"-series, "T"-series and "EZ"-series either are not at all compatible with modern cameras like yours, or will have very limited capabilities. With other older flashes you have to be concerned about trigger voltages, too. While your camera can probably tolerate as much as 250v, some old flash models had 400v and higher trigger voltages (early Vivitar 283, for example). Those flashes were designed for use with mostly mechanical cameras that had no limits on trigger voltages. But more recent, highly electronic cameras can be damaged by too high voltages.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

One can never have enough flash power. I'm a Godox fan.

Dave327 Loc: Duluth, GA. USA

The Godox TT 520II is simple and easy to use with plenty of power. Adjusting power is simple. Amazon - $40. I’ve had mine for a year with no problems.

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

I have a 430 EXII which is IMO is not powerful enough as an all-around flash, but I do appreciate the lesser size and weight. I added a Yongnuo 568 EXII and it exceeds the functions and versatility of the 430 EXII by a lot. For a $100 purchase for a dedicated flash, I am happy with it. I have used it for over 3 years without a failure. Although I have never used Godox, they seem to be quite popular and I can only assume they fare as well for our fellow photographers. It works well on my 6D and others. For outdoor fill, TTL works very well with either the 430 or 568 but the 568 is now my first choice. If you do not need or prefer TTL, would look for a equal powered manual flash and save a few bucks. Good hunting.

Dave MWC

yongnuo makes canon clones that work very well at 1/4 of the price.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

I use mostly more "heavy-duty" flash gear in my professional work, Most of the portable units I use have user-replaceable flash tubes and INTERCHANGEABLE reflectors and of course, enable bare bulb operation. Theses units have better light distribution, the spread of a wider field of view, enable feathering, and bare bulb usage has many advantages especially infill light situations.

I am not recommending one of these more expensive units with big external power packs such as the products made by Lumadyne, Norman, and Quantum. There is, however, a few units on the market that still can be categorized as speedlights- they are one-piece, lightweight, compact units that can mouton the camera's hot shoe or be used off-camera with hard wiring, remote radio or command features. The big deal is that they have the reflector/flash tube configuration of the bigger and more powerful counterparts.

The Godox unit in the attached image specified "Nikon" but they are available for other cameras. Theses units are no prohibitively expensive. Some, marketed under the name of Flashpoint, have optional external power packs that can boot the power to over 300-wat.seconds.

Theses units work like any other Speedlight in terms or manual or TTL operation, they can swivel and tilt for bounce and partial bounce applications but the advantages of the bare tube are many. A bare tube can yield omnidirectional light and subtract yet another stop or two below the units lowest power seetting- just a wink of light for low ambient light fill situations or close up subjects, without overpowering the natural light.

I don't that that any Speedlight is "smarter than a good photographer. Mostly I use my light gear manually in that I select a power output and set my exposure accordingly, either by known estimated distances or meter usage. Thyristor and TTL technology has just made it easier to attain proper exposure in fast action working situations and saves doing math in limited time frames.

Electronically speaking, most better Speedlights weigh in about 80-watt.seconds of input power to the flash tube. The difference between a 4 or 5-inch parabolic reflector around a helical kinda flash tube and a small linear flash tube in a rather small enclosed rectangular compartment with a highly polished mirror-like reflector is in the aesthetics and evenness of the light. Other reflectors can be adapted to accommodate telephoto and super-wide angle lenses' field of view. Norman makes an adaptable telephoto reflector that has a long throw- you could flash fill a bird from a significant distance.

If you decide to use flash for other purposes, other than a fill-in source, you will have a versatile unit for various applications.

Check it out and good luck in your flash hunting!

tkvaughn Loc: Merrick, NY

I bought Godox V860ii (Nfor Nikon, C for Canon, S for Sony). It is fantastic and for much less than OEM for your camera