Product Description

Further development of Canon's flagship Speedlite has led to the production of the 580 EX II. This is the premier Speedlite for all photographers, including professionals. Newly designed to match with the EOS-1D Mark III in terms of improved dust- and water-resistance, body strength, and the ability to control flash functions and settings from the camera menu (EOS-1D Mark III only). Other features include improved communication reliability through its direct contacts, and recycling time is both 20% shorter than the 580EX and is completely inaudible. Optional External power supply - compatible with Dust- and water- Resistant External Power Pack, Canon battery pack CP-E3 and Transistor Pack E Unit Dimensions - 3.0 x 5.3 x 4.5 inches /76 x 134 x 114mm; Weight - 13.2 oz./375g, without batteries (4 AA alkaline batteries add 3.5 oz./100g)

Product Details

• Brand: Canon
• Model: 1946B002
• Released on: 2007-05-10
• Dimensions: 4.00" h x 5.00" w x 8.00" l, 4.00 pounds

Features

• E-TTL operation with all EOS digital SLRs; PowerShot G2, G3, G5, G6, and Pro1; and the following EOS film cameras - EOS-1v, EOS-3, Elan 7N series, Elan 7 series, Elan II series, Rebel T2, Ti, K2, GII, G. / TTL operation with all other 35mm EOS SLRs, and Canon T90
• Guide Number 190 (at ISO 100, feet) / 58 (meters); flash head at 105mm zoom setting
• About 100 to 700 Flashes with fresh AA-size alkaline batteries / Uses Four AA-size batteries - alkaline, lithium, or rechargeable Ni-MH usable (we advise using optional rechargeable batteries for long lasting service)
• AutoFocus Assist Beam
• Fourteen Speedlite Custom Functions built-in; set on Speedlite's LCD panel

Manufacturer Description
Further development of Canon's flagship Speedlite has led to the production of the 580 EX II. This is the premier Speedlite for all photographers, including professionals. Newly designed to match with the EOS-1D Mark III in terms of improved dust- and water-resistance, body strength, and the ability to control flash functions and settings from the camera menu (EOS-1D Mark III only). Other features include improved communication reliability through its direct contacts, and recycling time is both 20% shorter than the 580EX and is completely inaudible.

Speedlite 580EX II Flash Highlights

• Approximately 20 percent faster recycling time compared to 580EX
• Superior build quality, including a metal foot for higher rigidity
• Max Guide No. 58 at 105mm setting (GN 190, feet)
• Auto conversion of flash coverage with compatible digital SLR cameras
• White Balance info communicated instantly to compatible digital SLR cameras
• Full swivel, 180 degrees in either direction
• AF-assist beam, compatible with all AiAF points on every EOS SLR
• Dust- and water- resistance to match the EOS-1D Mark III

Customer Reviews

Great product
I've just started using the product, but so far it fully meets my expectations. Good power, nice color balance, and easy to use.

deceptive Amazon promotion
I don't have any problem with this flash, but I do have a problem with Amazon. It said that there is a fifty dollar coupon, so I assumed (incorrectly) that my price would the 370.00 less the coupon for 320.00 Low and behold I found out 370.00 was the price after the coupon. No one is selling this darned flash for 420.00. I wish flakey practices and gimmicks like this would stop. I'm really frustrated.

Canon Speedlite 580EX II - The best, period.
Three Canon 580EX II speedlights form the core of my location lighting kit, supplemented by 2 Canon 540EX speedlights. The 580EX II is fast, powerful, easy to use, flexible, built like a tank and is smarter than you and I combined. The 540EX has the same Master/Slave, ETTL and manual circuitry as its newer cousin, about as much power, and sells on Ebay for about $200 or so. The 580EX II is very flexible, very dependable, has a fast recycle time, has twice as much power as a Nikon 800 flash, and the fastest control panel operation I have ever used. The key is a circular control wheel to change modes and settings, similar to the circular wheel on the back of most Canon DSLRs. The design is so good that Nikon stole it for their new generation 900 flash unit.

Canon EX series flash units are controlled by coded pre-flashes rather than infrared light, as are Nikon units. These pre-flashes happen so quickly that one can barely see them. The 580EX II can control three separate groups of flash units (a,b,c) with a virtually unlimited number of flashes assigned to each group. With ETTL operation, one can set the lighting ratio of each group independently through a seven f/stop range, from 8:1 to 1:8. In Manual mode, the output of each group can be set from 1:1 to 1:128 power. The list of options goes on and on: multi-flash setting for true "stroboscopic" effects, auto or manual zooming of the flash coverage from 24mm to 105mm, a wide-angle panel that extends this to 14mm, and a cool little pull-out white card to bounce some light into your subject's eyes when you are bouncing the flash unit off the ceiling or wall or whatever you can find. It syncs with high speed Canon shutter speeds, has automatic or manual matching of the unit's color temperature output to the camera's white balance setting, and full integration with the Canon 40D, 50D, 1D MkIII and, I believe, the new 5D MkII. I control my master 580EX II unit directly from the menu of my Canon 40D camera. The master unit can be set to not fire with the other flashes and still send out the pre-flashes to control all of the slaved strobes. I know I've forgotten a bunch of less frequently used features; the instruction book is about 250 pages long. Oh, did I mention that the flash head swivels 360 degrees from either left or right and points straight ahead and straight up and at any angle in between? Makes it easy to point the flash head into a bounce umbrella or the corner of a room and still aim the sensor at the master flash unit.

I tried to determine the maximum outdoor range over which the 580EX II would trigger a slave flash, and gave up at 175 (measured) feet, when I had run out of driveway and was standing in the woods. I'll test it again someday and see when I reach its limit. And, the 580EX II and 540 EX strobes, when used as masters, can still control all three groups of slaves (in manual mode, not ETTL) when triggered by a sync cord (580EX II) or a wireless remote (both the 580EX II and 540EX).

All in all, the best portable flash I have ever used during a 35 year career in photography.