Canon 550 EX Flash for G6, G5, G3, G2, G1, Pro1, Pro90 & all EOS SLR Cameras Reviews

Average Customer Rating - 4.8 out of 5 stars

13 customer reviews

Exceeded expectations!, May 25, 2001
This is a very powerful flash with effortlessly understandable settings. The zoom range have been perfect for portraits and photojournalistic style. I use it most on a bracket and hold had absolutely no problems. It works amazingly well directly on the the shoe-mount also. Perfect.

Expensive but worth it, especially for eos digital rebel, November 18, 2004
I a short time ago bought a digital rebel about a month ago. Love the camera, my hoary 380EX speedlight integrates with the camera but just doesn't propose enough cycle speed to keep up next to continuous mode on the Rebel. This flash does the job for the Rebel and the plug for the external battery pack promises even better see once I grab that item. Another big selling point that really makes this component worth the cash, is that it has its own infrared focus assist hurricane lantern which the digital Rebel lacks. When this flash is mounted on your digital rebel, you don't get that annoying set of express flashes that the camera has to set off to focus within low light when using the built-in flash. The Rebel body uses the infrared focus assist on the 550EX to focus the lens; this feature alone is worth the big bucks this child costs. The flash has tons of features that most of us might never use, but as a advanced amateur I'm glad they're there so I can play next to that if I should choose to try out some fancy stuff. The wireless slave capability is handy but you've got to enjoy at least one more 420EX, 550EX or 580EX to use that. I similar to the digital readout on the back of the flash and also the two way bounce team leader, it's important to note that you hold to press a button to make the head turn any side to side or up/down---this should make the head sturdier than I've see on some units that get loose after awhile and drive you nuts. This section is a HONKER--really big, and, no lightweight either. Get yourself a big deep camera rucksack if you want to lug this thing around with you. What's the difference between this and the 580EX? The 580 have very slightly faster cycle times and offers some fancy different automatic flash exposure bracketing modes, for me anyway it wasn't worth almost two hundred dollars more for the 580. All of the newer EOS camera bodies are fully supported by this unit, it also works on older EOS bodies but within are functions available on the newer ones that aren't there on older stuff. I resembling this flash it covers well, cycles fast and the controls are honourably intuitive and easy to use. When you get yours don't lose that book, Canon doesn't appear to have them online anywhere I can find and I've seen places that want to charge you 18 bucks for a unknown one.

Top-End Flash Unit, July 20, 2000
This is Canon's top of the line flash unit. The record of features is extensive for this camers:

* Dedicated to Canon cameras. * -7 to 90 degree bounce. * -90 to 180 degree swivel. * E-TTL and TTL metering. * auto-zoom pave the way. * high speed shutter sync. * rear-curtain sync. * flash exposure compensation. * flash bracketing. * strobe flash. * Manual-flash mode. * Back-lit LCD screen.

The most having presence part of this flash is the ability to execute E-TTL sync among multiple flash units. This allows you to locate various flash unit around the subject and trigger them symultaneously. The flash output is adjusted based on the E-TTL and a flash ratio to be precise set up between the flash units.

The flash unit also includes a distance size that will read the film speed and aperature from the camera to let you know the capacity the flash can be used for. Fast film and a wide aperature will recurrently cause the effective length to go off the failure of the scale (18 m).

This flash is not for everyone. If you prefer to point and shoot, then this flash is probably more than you'll want. However, if you prefer to think about how the flash should be used or purloin the flash out of automatic mode then this flash is what you should be looking at.

If you can do without the big speed sync and remote operation, then the Canon 540 EZ may also be worth looking at.

Outstanding piece of equipment, October 4, 2001
This unit perform exactly as it is described it will. It's worth seeking out a product description on the source of your choice. Easy to use in automatic modes, and fully capable of scheduled time a great variety of situations through it's manual modes.

Easy to swot up interface, fast recycle times, good battery-operated life, solid construction, expansive coverage. I never think twice around including it in whatever shoulder bag I'm carrying, indoors out out.

Master-slave capability will meet the wishes of many pros and most all avocational photographers. Hot shoe or bracket mounted, it deliver.

I've always had a strong bias for untaught light, but this unit have helped me get beyond that to optimize marginal or difficult lighting situations. It have expanded my horizons as an amatuer photographer.

Great Flash! Great Price!, April 15, 2009
Two years on, and I still love the flexibility of this flash! It is worth every penny!

KIller E-TTL Canon flash, July 7, 2004
Get 2 of these bad boys (or the 420EX) plus the ST-E2 Transmitter and you rule wireless multiple flash photography! That's right: 2-head flash set-ups JUST like the pros do it.

Nothing better than Canon's SUPERB "E-TTL" flash sensing ... and the 550EX is a high-powered workhorse you can rely on. Expensive but worth the bucks.

Wireless E-TTL, March 24, 2005
The best point of this flash is the wireless E-TTL feature. With two 550ex's one will work as a master and one as a slave and with the ST-E2 both flashes can be rotten camera and fired E-TTL. The draw backs are: price, no manual control within slave mode for greater light control, and size (this thing is big). The plus side weigh out the negatives. It is a great flash.

canon 550 ex, February 18, 2004
Excellent flash for my canon 10d. Adorama saved me roughly $140.00 dollars. Service was great.

Excellent flash (though soon obsolete), August 27, 2004
This is an absolute do-everything flash, beside master/slave operation, wireless control of multiple channels for slave flashes, A:B:C lighting ratio control (better than the ST-E2's mere A:B ratio), full manual or automatic operation, strobe effects at selectable Herz rates and power, and even a small panel that serves any to widen its flash coverage to 17mm or simply provide a catchlight in a model's eyes when using bounce flash. Range is excellent, freestyle life is very upright and can be compounded with one of the battery pack. The light itself provides excellent color, and a red lamp close at hand the base adds a much more accurate and smaller number harsh focus assist lamp than most of Canon's cameras provide.

If you enjoy an SLR, you'll almost certainly want an external flash. You can provide fill flash to trim down shadows in subjects eyes etc. during harsh daylight shots, rob the flash off the camera to eliminate repulsive shadows, and avoid the shadows caused by larger lenses and onboard flashes.

Minor quibbles: most DSLRs own crop ratios of 1.3x or 1.6x, but don't pass this information on to the 550EX, which wouldn't effort anyway. This means the flash thinks you want greater coverage than you really requirement (i.e. it will give you a 50mm's angle of flash coverage, when you only inevitability an 80mm's), so you waste a lot of flash power and don't procure optimum recycling times. Also, the interface is a little non-intuitive.

If you want a slave- or onboard-only flash and don't call for all the extra features, the considerably cheaper 420EX is for you. That said, if you do want all the extra features, the 550EX is still not for you. You want the 580EX, slated for October 2004 release, which fixes the minor issues near the 550.

Canon 550 EX Flash, August 6, 2007
The Canon 550 EX Flash is an excellent flash. The flash works perfectly on my Canon Rebel XT. It has allowed me to give somebody a lift great pictures in dark locations. The lights it provides is excellent.

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