Flash Gear

Even a powerful and agile Pocket Lenses Ninja needs an extra light now and again. This is going to be a VERY brief and succinct gear recommendation page because I don’t have much flash gear to recommend to you. Why? Well, the way of the Pocket Lenses Ninja focuses (pun intended) on the lightweight, the agile  and the powerful. Too much gear can weigh you down. But since light is such an essential part of photography, portable, powerful, and lightweight sources of illumination need to be addressed. Not enough light can trash a picture. Control the light and you’re on your way to crafting the image you want. It’s for this reason that I’d like to share with you my FAVORITE  flash gear.

The brand below that I’ve chosen is functional, powerful, easy to use and works with “just” about any camera system.

Browse my recommendations and if you like what you see, you can buy it through my affiliate link to Amazon. You’ll pay the same as you normally would, but a small portion comes back to me to help support the site. Thanks!

Yongnuo YN560 III: About $70: BUY IT HERE

This is an awesome flash. I LOVE this flash. I have 5 of them. I use them all the time. You’ll only need one unless you plan to set up a studio and do multi-strobe lighting setups. Okay, on to why I love it. It’s inexpensive. Compare it to the $700 Canon 580 here. They look almost identical. They have approximately the same “power” (guide number). They have almost the same features (the Canon has more). But this simple flash just works. It’ll even do some things that the Canon won’t (slave mode triggered by any strobe-burst from any camera with an onboard flash. You don’t “need” a hot shoe). These have built in wireless receivers (see below). You don’t have to attach it to your camera for it to work. I love this flash.

Yongnuo RF-603 Wireless Flash Trigger: About $30 (for a set of 2): BUY IT HERE

You can only use this if you have a “hot shoe” on your camera. They make models for most major brands (Canon, Nikon, etc.). You put one on your hot shoe, the other on the flash unit. You can use this on just about any flash unit. (unless it’s the 560 III above. Read on.). You take a picture and it triggers the flash remotely using radio frequency. Nuf sed. Very cool. Bonus: You can use these as remote shutter triggers too! You attach one to your camera via a cable, then you can trigger your shutter by pressing the button on the other one! Groovy! Bonus: you only need ONE of these if you have the Yongnuo 560 III mentioned above since it has a built in wireless receiver. But they are sold in pairs.

Yongnuo YN560-TX Flash Transmitter: About $60: BUY IT HERE

This is a relatively new piece of photo gear. I LOVE this and ordered one right away. I use it all the time. One of these will not only fire, but also CONTROLS the 560 III flash (see above). That means I can setup my flashes for a multi strobe shoot and control each flash unit without having to walk up and adjust each one individually. I can remotely control both the power and the zoom of the flash. SuperGroovy!

MY SETUP

I carry one YN560 III speedlight and one YN560-TX transmitter in my mirrorless camera bag just about ALL the time.

A disclaimer: The above links to products are “affiliate” links. If you click on them and buy the product through Amazon, I’ll earn a small commission. You won’t pay a penny more than you would have if you bought it on your own. I all of the above products and can, in good conscience, recommend them. -Sonny