| Author: | | New Member Registered: July, 2013 Posts: 2 | | Review Date: September 4, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $44.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Output, swivel head, wireless capability, metal shoe, price, manual power control | | Cons: | No HSS, no trailing curtain sync in Manual mode, incomprehensible instructions | |
I have a 360FZ that I'm completely satisfied with, save one limitation - the non-swiveling head. For the price I paid, the Yongnuo doesn't have much to complain about. It seems well built, and the head swivels smoothly with positive detents. The metal foot is a move up from the 360FZ. The manual is almost unreadable, and very little help when I discovered that my particular unit needed a firmware update. It's relatively easy to do, once you've spent an hour on the web gleaning the necessary steps. Yongnuo's website is partially English and mostly Chinese, so you need to know what you're looking for before you access it.
Would I pick the Yongnuo as my primary flash? No. It's a inexpensive way to add power and versatility to your flash system.
| | | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: November, 2014 Posts: 2,080 | | Review Date: January 4, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $79.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | P-TTL works, good build quality, easy to use | | Cons: | None for the price | |
Others have commented on the lack of HSS but for this price I don’t expect it. I also don’t expect master control capabilities at this price.
What I do expect is working P-TTL and I absolutely get that. I also expect a sensible interface and it has that. This flash is really easy to use because of a quality interface and display. The unit feels at least as well built as my other Yongnuo flashes (560 III which are working well so far).
Yes it is not a top of the line Metz or Pentax flash but it works and delivers a whole lot of bang for the buck.
Even if you have a nicer Pentax or Metz flash this makes for an affordable backup flash.
For people who that don’t need HSS or master capability or have a tight budget this flash gets a 100% endorsement from me.
And honestly, there is a lot of complaints about the lack of third party support for Pentax. Here is an example of a useful and very affordable product.
I discovered there is a 3rd manual for the flash that others might find useful.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/attachments/60-accessory-memory-articles...ser-manual.pdf | | | | | New Member Registered: July, 2018 Posts: 22 | | Review Date: December 10, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $80.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Pricepoint, feature packed | | Cons: | Bulky, battery life, no HSS, wonky automatic zooming, no wireless master, plastic construction | |
This flash packs a lot of features and quality but not without some issues or features not really working.
Sometimes this flash is advertised as HSS capable: it's a lie. It can't and the producer webpage doesn't claim HSS.
Another thing not working is automatic zooming with zoom lenses. It zooms to minimum focal lenght but It only makes a step further of you zoom but no more than that. Yep, with original Pentax zooms.
Another issue is the battery drain, it's bloody fast and the flash will be delayed with almost dry batteries.
It also doesn't have a power jack and it lacks the capability of being a wireless master flash, only slave.
Now let's speak about what works: it's wireless p-ttl capable, it has a built in reflection board and wide panel, AF ASSIST BEAM WORKS (and it looks like Predator), the LCD is readable without problems and easy to navigate and the support speaks english and answers.
Last bad point for this unit: they don't give you the USB cable for firmware updates. And since they used a MINI-B USB port, it really is bad move. Anyway, my unit didn't need firmware updates.
I think this flash is ok as main unit only for amateurs, or as wireless slaves for professional photograpy with multiple flashes.
| | | | | Loyal Site Supportaxian Registered: September, 2013 Location: Texas Posts: 503 | | Review Date: September 14, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $90.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Price, well built, swivel, good output. | | Cons: | Overheat | |
A great unit for the price. The build feels good. Plenty of output. Easy to use interface.
The only issue I've experienced is with overheating on hot summer days, but this is no more an issue with this unit than any others so I don't fault this unit for that.
Recommended.
| | | | | | | Loyal Site Supporter Registered: August, 2013 Location: Axton, VA Posts: 461
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 12, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $79.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Power output, speed of changing flash compinsation, metal mount | | Cons: | no HSS | |
This is a great unit for the money. I shoot weddings and a powerful PTTL unit with a tilt and swivel head is a must. The power output is quite a bit more than my AF360. The speed that you can change the flash compensation on the gun is much faster than my AF360 and faster than changing in camera with more latitude to reduce or increase the compensation. With two of my three AF360 mounts being broken over time, the metal mount gives me a much better feeling that it will last for a prolonged period. The unit seems to give plenty of shots per set of batteries. An added bonus is that it is not as loud when it fires than the AF360.
I would have given this flash a 10 if it had HSS
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: January, 2009 Location: East Bay Area, CA Posts: 6,620
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 10, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $71.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | inexpensive, P-TTL, many features | | Cons: | wierd layout, cool light temp | |
My Pentax AF-540 flashes both have some issue or another so I picked up one of these Yongnuo 585ex to see if it was worth the price. Features are good, has almost everything you'd expect from the Pentax flash.
I havent compared power output but from the events I've shot so far, it seems to be as bright as i've ever needed. I do notice the color temp is somewhat cooler than I like so I need to remind myself to always shoot with a CTO gel attached.
The controls and manual are just screwy to me, not nearly as intuitive as the Pentax 540, but I'm sure I will get used to it.
Battery life seems acceptable. I can get through a busy event on a single set of freshly charged (4) AAs.
Can't beat the value here, so I will probably buy at least one more.
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: March, 2011 Location: Ontario Posts: 89
6 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 31, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $71.25
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | PTTL! Wireless - Good power - Good feature list - well made and sturdy | | Cons: | Lacks ability to be a wireless master | |
This unit is solid and pretty slick. Full PTTL and wireless slave (3 modes) compatibility are great features to have and at souch an amazing price. $71.25 including shipping.
Not mentioned in the features above is a full swivel and tilt head, with a wide angle panel and a catch-light reflector built-in - just like the Pentax units.
Controls are easy to operate and the display is very legible. The back-light works very well. All in all it works as advertised, but in my testing the guide number is a little optimistic, but not by much. It mounts up solidly with little play or flex. Auto zoom is nice and works as expected. In fact everything works as expected.
My unit came with firmware 16.11. I went to the Yongnuo website and downloaded the updater software and the V16.18 firmware. The updater installed easily, however there were no explicit instructions for the YN585EX. I followed the instructions for the YN685 and everything worked perfectly. I took about 5 seconds to download the V16.18 firmware and other than the software manual not mentioning the YN585EX explicitly everything wen honky dory.
2 thumbs up on this unit!
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