I stand corrected on what RT stands for, but that was the simple explanation given to me when I called a camera shop to ask.

Anyway, thank you for the explanation of the differences.

I have today got the 600 EX (which I had called the "regular" model as, until I bought it, I did not know the name of the actual model).

I paid about $640 for it.

It appears, then, that if I do not want to spend some more big bucks for an additional accessory, I should not get the RT model?

As far as I know, the 430 is inferior to the 580, but the 600 is superior to the 580. For more technical comparisons, perhaps some more knowledgeable forum members can help.

I am thinking of getting an external flash for my Canon 60D.

There are two options: Canon 580 EX II and Canon 600 EX-RT.

In Malaysia, where I am, I am told that the 580 is no longer in production, but some camera vendors still have one or two in stock.

The replacement for the 580 is supposedly the 600, which apparently comes in two options: one RT=remote, and the other "regular".

Does anyone have any advice for a relative novice as to how different these two are?

As additional information, the 600 "regular" is about $135 more that the 580, and the RT is about $200 more. The 580 is about $520.

Thanks for any advice and/or information.

I used to have a Canon G10, and I have used it in video mode. However, as I recall it, there was a limit to how long you can take videos. I think it was just a certain number of minutes or it might have been a certain size of the file. Regardless of which, it tranlated into only a short video.

Fantastic! Not only are you good at explaining, you're prescient. You knew I will drop my old camera in the swimming pool, that I will replace it with a DSLR camera, that I will join UHH, and that I will seek help here.

And you wrote this specifically for me before all these happened!

You're GOOD! :lol:

Seriously, you have recommended a very good website. I think I shall be visiting it often.

Thanks.

By the way, you're in St Petersburg, Florida, right? Not St Petersburg, Russia.

If this site were to need a testimony, I would say it's tops!

Thank you all so much for pointing a novice in the right direction.

I must add that no advice is too advanced for me, even as a beginner. If it is, I will file them mentally for future reference.

So, thanks, lighthouse, for being so kind as not to burden me with knowledge beyond my present ken; but I certainly also appreciate from BigBear from Northern Conneticut [is there a Southern Connecticut? ;-)] his advice, which I shall bear in mind to look out for.

Of course, the advice from everyone here is much appreciated, and as the cliche goes, there are too many to mention by name.

Thanks again, one and all.

Thanks SharpShooter. Yes, it is tough-going reading the thick manual, but I guess I will have to persevere if I want to be as sharp a shooter as you ;-).

Thanks raysass. I am reading the manual (page by page in sequence) that came with the camera, but I will now jump to those topics you have kindly suggested.

Hi

I used to be a point and shoot "photographer", having used a Canon Powershot G4 for several years and then a Canon Powershot G10, again for several years.

Because I dropped the G10 into a swimming pool when I was on holiday (vacation) as unbeknown to me, the screws holding the anchor for the strap somehow got loose and fell out (at the wrong time), causing the camera strap to slip through my hand into the water, I had no choice but to buy a new camera.

I threw caution to the winds, as I am not really a "photographer", and bought a Canon EOS 60D with a Canon 18-200mm lens kit.

Since it will be a big waste to use this camera on auto mode to point and shoot, I am hoping to learn how to use it to maximum benefit.

One way of doing it to read and sift through all past Ugly Hedgehog [are there handsome/beautiful hedgehogs? ;-)] postings to find what I can learn from them. However, this may take a long time before I can really learn about how to use the camera.

So, does anyone know of any website in which not only camera nomenclature is explained but also the effect of using the various ways/modes of taking a picture manually - so that I can become a "real" photographer?

Thanks for any advice.