Where do I find a good flash for a Cannon EOS Rebel x camera? I've been looking forever!!

-- Amber Evans (Amber_R_Evans@hotmail.com), October 30, 2001

Answers

A good flash for the Rebel X would be a Canon 540EZ. But even used it would cost more (about $180) than the Rebel X is worth. A bit cheaper solution would be a used 420EZ or 430EZ ($150 or so). You can find them, used, on online auctions, but the prices are usually not very good.

For less money you can get a third party flash. Sigma, Sunpak, Promaster, Quantaray are all considerably less money for somewhat less quality. Any flash that is dedicated for Canon EOS cameras will work, they don't have to specify the Rebel X. These all go quite cheaply on online auctions, but can be found in photo stores everywhere.

B&H Photo, Adorama, and Camera World of Oregon are all fairly reliable dealers with decent websites for photo gear, new and used.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), October 30, 2001.

Note that if you do go for an older Canon Speedlite flash and want something reasonably capable I'd suggest getting one with flash exposure compensation, such as the 430EZ or the 540EZ. Flash exposure compensation lets you adjust the flash output. Without this feature the camera will automatically blast out the amount of light it thinks is appropriate. Being able to dial this down (or sometimes up) is very handy. The 420EZ lacks this feature.

Don't buy an EX flash unless you plan on upgrading your camera body to a new model sometime. EX series flashes support E-TTL, which is Canon's latest flash technology, but your Rebel doesn't support E-TTL for the simple reason that it didn't exist when the Rebel was designed.

Another option, if you just want simple low-power onboard flash, is to get a small non-zooming E series flash. They don't tilt or bounce and lack exposure compensation, but are fine for taking snapshots of friends at restaurants. You could combine with of these small flashes with the off-shoe cord for US $40 or whatever and get bounce flash, albeit with a limited range.

Really it all depends what you want to use the flash for.

-- NK Guy (tela@tela.bc.ca), October 30, 2001.

In case there was any ambiguity about my previous note about E-TTL... your camera will work fine with any EX series flash, since they all support TTL and E-TTL.

The reason I don't think there's any point to you buying an EX flash is simply that you're paying for features you can't use unless you upgrade your camera to a newer model.

-- NK Guy (tela@tela.bc.ca), October 31, 2001.

on third party flashes and problems : http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=005Jub

-- F Catry (fcatry@compaqnet.be), November 02, 2001.