Flash Units for Canon

1. Introduction

This note gives an overview of dedicated flash units compatible with Canon's E-TTL II that are made by Canon and selcted third-party manufacturers.

Disclaimer: I have not tested all the units listed in this note myself. The data have been copied from various sources, such as the manufacturer's web sites, private communications, manuals, discussion forums, and other sources. I've included it here “as is”. The information may not be complete or correct, and corrections are welcome.

For corrections, additional information, to share a review about one of these units, or just would like to comment, please use the comment section below (public) or the feedback form (private).

2. Canon Flash Equipment

In 1995, with the Canon EOS 50 (named ELAN II in the USA and EOS 55 in Japan) SLR camera, Canon introduced a new, sophisticated flash control system, known by the abbreviation E-TTL (Evaluative Trough The Lens). It replaced and obsoleted the earlier TTL and A-TTL systems.

Since 1995, E-TTL has been the foundation for Canon's dedicated flash control system, and all EOS bodies launched since 1995 (both film and digital) support E-TTL. EOS bodies that support E-TTL are called “Type A” in Canon's documentation (those that don't are called “Type B”).

Newer Canon DSLRs and Speedlites use a slightly improved version of the E-TTL system, called E-TTL II. E-TTL II is supported by all all Canon DSLRs except 1D, 1Ds, D30, D60, 10D and 300D). For the difference between E-TTL and E-TTL II, see this note. If you use an older E-TTL compatible Speedlite on a DSLR that supports E-TTL II, you will get the improvements that resides in the body.

This page only lists flash units compatible with the current generation of Canon digital cameras. If you are looking for a flash for a legacy body, please see our page about TTL-support and older cameras.

Canon DSLRs and flash

As far as I know, the built-in flashes on all current Canon DSLR models with a built-in flash have similar guide number and coverage.

The built-in flash has a guide number of 12 in manual mode (ISO 100, meters) and 11 in TTL mode. The coverage is roughly 27 mm on a DSLR with a sensor measuring 36x24 mm, and 17 mm on a DSLR with a sensor measuring 22.2x14.8 mm.

The x-sync speed on Canon DSLRs is either 1/200 (lower end models) or 1/250 second (higher end models).

Canon's E-TTL system allow a master flash to wirelessly control compatible Speedlites with infrared or visble light. The master flash can either be a hot-shoe mounted Speedlite, or the ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter. In addition the built-in flash of the Canon EOS 7D, 60D and 600D DSLRs can act as a masters for Canon dedicated flash units. The EOS 7D commander mode let the photographer use the on-camera flash to control up to three groups of off-camera Speedlites, while the EOS 60D and 600D commander mode only let the photographer control a single group.

ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter

The ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter let you control off-camera Speedlites wirelessly, by use of IR light. The original unit is made by Canon, but YongNuo makes an aftermarket version with the same model number (“ST-E2”) that is compatible with Canon's wireless E-TTL, and can be used as a direct replacement for the Canon transmitter.

The Canon ST-E2 measures 62 x 51 x 80 mm, and weighs 100 gram w/o. battery. The head is fixed. It uses one disposable 6 volt 2CR5 (lithium) battery and comes with a soft case. The price is around USD 225.

The YongNuo ST-E2 measures 63 x 63 x 82 mm, and weighs 115 gram w/o. batteries. It has a 135° swivel head. It uses two rechargeable AA NiMH batteries and comes without a case. The price is around USD 100.

Check availability of the Canon ST-E2: Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon UK, B&H, eBay.
Check availability of the YongNuo ST-E2 on eBay.

The ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter is not a flash. It is a hot-shoe mounted master unit that uses infrared light to wirelessly control other Speedlites compatible with Canon's wireless E-TTL control.

The ST-E2 can control the following Canon Speedlites: 420EX, 430EX, 430EX II, 550EX, 580EX, 580EX II. It also works with third party flash units that has built-in support for wireless E-TTL control.

The ST-E2 sets and controls all functions of its slave units. The flash output ratio between groups A and B can also be adjusted from from 1:1 to 1:8 in 1/2 EV steps (i.e. 1:1 to 1:3 EV).

The ST-E2 works fine indoors in moderate sized rooms. Outdoors you need direct line-of-sight between the ST-E2 and the remote Speedlites, and you may still experience areliability problems in bright sunlight. For reliable operation outdoors, most photographers prefer to use radio triggers instead of a light based flash control system.

E-TTL and E-TTL II Compatible Flash Units

Below are a set of tables that gives an overview over E-TTL and E-TTL II compatible flash units manufactured by Canon and selected third-party manufacturers.

For an ever wider selection of E-TTL and E-TTL II compatible flash units, use the DPanswers Flash finder to search our entire database.

You can see a more detailed description by clicking on the name of the flash. Most of the colums should be self-explanatory. The column “WL” summarizes built-in wireless modes: The character “m” means wireless E-TTL II master, “r” means wireless E-TTL II remote, “sf” means plain slave, and “sd” means digital slave (ignoring pre-flash).

E-TTL units manufactured by Canon:

E-TTL compatible units manufactured by Metz, Nissin, Sigma, Sunpak and YongNuo:

A Note About Guide Numbers

Note that if you use guide numbers (GNs) for doing comparisons, the guide number you'll find in most manufacturer's literature is for the zoom head at its maximum setting (e.g. f=105mm). This makes it difficult to make direct power comparisons with flash units from other manufacturers, who may list use another zoom setting as reference for GNs. For zoom head flashes, the tables above show the GN with the zoom head set to 35 mm coverage (24x35 mm sensor size), ISO 100, meters. In the full list of specifications for each flash, I try to list the GN for three different settings of the zoom head (35mm, 50mm, and maximum).