Flash for amateur photog (ie: not willing to spend much $)

[mattyjacobs]

In a couple of months time, I'll be flash shopping for my EOS 350d, and I thought I had settled on the Canon 430ex flash.

But, looking at the bargains that Poon has on offer, would any of those flashes be just as/more suitable, for around the same price? (I noticed the Sigma Flash EF-500 DG Super, and the nikons ... do they work with Canons?

As I mentioned in the title, I'm not a professional photographer, I'm not making money out of this, I won't be using this flash everyday, so I really don't want to pour too much money into it.

Thanks in advance!
Matt

EDIT: I have read the other threads, I just want to hear opinions of other flashes that might be another possibility...

[Mj]

matty... nikon flashes on canon won't be an option... I seem to recall the sigma getting some good results for some people back sometime ago, but in the long run you'll find that the canon flash will be more compatible.
Once you have a flash I think you might be suprised how often you do look to use it... unless of course landscapes etc are more your focus.

[adam]

I use the Sigma EF-500 DG Super.
It works fine with my 30D and 300D - offers similar functions to the Canon 550EX.
There's a list of differences between the Sigma flash and the 550EX here:
http://photonotes.org/reviews/sigma-ef-500-super/

It's great, but, I still want a Canon flash (I think the only reason is so I can use it with the ST-E2)

[mattyjacobs]

thanks for that link, Adam.

Would I be right in saying that the Sigma EF-500 DG Super is a better flash than the Canon 430?

[joey]

Hi Matty,

I haven’t used camera flashes very much. I have ordered myself SB-800 recently.
I found two interesting resources on this subject; You may find them useful and interesting too.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/

[adam]

The Sigma flash's features are similar to that of the 550EX which was the higher model than the 420EX (replaced by 430EX). I bought the Sigma flash because I wanted the features of the 550EX without paying that much (it was my first flash). It works fine for me, but I think that the 430EX would have enough "features" for me. I find that I rarely use the MULTI flash mode (set the frequency of the flashes), but most of the time I'll be using ETTL or Manual mode - which can be found on the 430EX, that's why I wouldn't mind using a 430EX instead.

I don't know if I could say that the Sigma is a better flash, it's got more power, and a few more features. But I think, the 430EX feels nicer though

To see what others thought, I searched up, but mostly found forum discussions such as
http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00FzeI
http://www.dpchallenge.com/forum.php?ac ... _ID=354347

[mattyjacobs]

Thanks guys! I'll most probably just go ahead with the Canon 430ex then.