Review: Canon 550EX flash

This flash was, for several years before the release of the 580EX, Canon’s top of the line dedicated flash for the EOS system. It packs a good punch (guide number = 180 feet at 105mm) and has a number of fine and useful features, particularly when used together with a second 550EX or a 420EX.

For regular flash on camera photography it does everything you would expect a modern flash to do. The ETTL metering works just fine, though it can be fooled, as you would expect, by tricky situations. The flash coverage automatically adjusts for focal length between 24mm and 105mm, which is useful. And you can raise or swivel the flash for bounce lighting. Flash compensation can be set with push buttons on the flash or set on most Canon bodies. You also get second curtain sync, manual flash settings and flash exposure lock.

If you’re only going to use the flash on camera, though, you probably might do just as well with a much cheaper Vivitar 283 or 285HV, either of which can be bought new for less than $100. For straightforward indoor flash situations you won’t see much difference.

Where the Canon flashes shine is in their ability to be linked up in master-slave arrangements. You can use any 550EX as a master; you can use another 550EX or a 420EX as a slave; and the ratio between them can be adjusted between 8:1 and 1:8. You can also buy a separate controller, the ST-E2, which can run synced 550EX or 420EX flashes off-camera.

You don’t need to be a studio lighting genius to use this setup. Shooting informal pictures of people indoors – a kid’s birthday party, for example – you can set one 550EX on a bookshelf or mantel to one side and aim it at the ceiling, and use the on-camera 550EX as master and for fill. Set the flash ratio between them to about 1:4 for black and white, or perhaps 1:2 for color, and you’ll have wonderfully natural looking lighting on everyone’s face, quite painlessly.

The control signal is a burst of light fired by the master flash just before the actual flash. Outdoors, you need to position slave units so their sensors – unfortunately located on the front of the body – can “see” the main flash unit. Indoors, reflections take care of this.

The 550EX is well constructed of heavy plastic but is not indestructible. It takes 4 AA batteries, which it consumes about as quickly as any other flash of its kind. Keep plenty of batteries on hand.

It costs about $320 new at most reputable dealers.

Dec, 9, 2004