Canon Speedlite 420EX TTL Flash

Pros: Powerful focus assist, swivel head, fully e-TTL capable, remotely controllable, FEC capable, compact
Cons: Remote control only as slave, adds bulk and weight to the camera, no manual controls

So you got that fancy digital SLR camera but flash exposures still look kind of flat and unappealing. Red eyes are still not fully eliminated (despite pre-flash) and far objects underexposed. The problem is not your technique but the limited capability ...

Pros: Fully automatic, bounce capability, totally integrated with camera
Cons: a bit bulky, a bit expensive

The Canon 420EX flash is made to work with all Canon EOS SLR cameras (film and digital) as well as Canon's Pro-70/90 and PowerShot G-series digital cameras, though with older models some features will not be enabled, most notably E-TTL metering ...

Pros: Good all-around flash. Swivels and tilts. Uses AA batteries. Reasonable price.
Cons: A bit bulky. The mount is flimsy...make sure you seat it properly.

This is the flash that I chose for my new Canon EOS Elan-7E system (standard lens: 28-135 IS and 50/1.8). For my non-professional use and ability, this flash is probably overkill...as I will never use it as a slave (ie. a remote flash triggered by...

Pros: Cheaper, compact, lightweight, durable, advanced flash metering, wireless slave capability, and easy to use.
Cons: No master mode, no LCD, less features and less power than a 550EX flash.

Introduction

I have previously posted a review on the 550EX, and since I also own a 420EX, I like to give my personal impressions on it while making some comparisons with the 550EX. I realized that it will be like comparing apples with...

Pros: Swivel Head for Bounce Flash, High Power, Good Battery Life, ETTL
Cons: Bulky attaching to G1

The Canon 420EX Speedlite is one of the newest flash light by Canon, designed to work with EOS cameras (specifically Elan 7E) that is ETTL or TTL compatible. It also works with the Powershot G1 digital camera, which is what I used it for. There are ...

Pros: Very powerful and compact. Improves indoor photos
Cons: None

The 420EX is an external flash for the Canon EOS digital and film camera. It is a very compact flash that packs a powerful punch. I purchased the 420EX a year and a half ago for my Canon G2 digital camera. I can not believe how much the indoor photos...

Pros: 180-degree swivel for easy bouncing; unbeatable price; drastic improvement over your digital's built-in flash
Cons: Not as versatile as more expensive flashes; takes at least 4 seconds between flashes

My husband and I use the Canon Speedlite 420EX in our work as food columnists. We are very happy with this flash, which we use to enhance natural-light shots (not for studio work). With its 180-degree swivel, it's easy to bounce, and the light is very pretty. If your camera is for personal use, this flash would probably suit your purpose -- and you won't believe the improvement over your built-in flash. It really is great at enhancing natural light in magazine-quality photos (if we didn't have a studio at our disposal, we would have needed more specialized flash equipment).

The Speedlite 420EX is compatible with all Canon EOS bodies. You can use it as a slave, although I never have.
A tip: You'll want to use rechargeable NiCd batteries, which reduces the flash's recycle time from 7 seconds to 4 seconds. Also, if you're going to be shooting in situations where there are no white walls or ceilings or cards to bounce the flash off of, you'll find a diffuser handy (a translucent plastic cap that sells for about $17) to soften the direct flash.

Pros: Good flash power, good construction, small, affordable
Cons: No LCD display

I just bought this flash as a replacement for my old Speedlite 430EZ which does not work with my new 300D. Overall, this flash is outstanding. It has high power and good construction and very easy to use, and not that expensive (for a Canon product). This flash is really a good companion for the Digital Rebel 300D mounted with a 28-135 IS EF lens. Making overall size of the whole camera not too big, because I travel a lot and the size really does matter (compared to a 550EX).
The tilt and swivel capability is a plus, although I rarely use it.
Battery life is good, but I think it’s because I am using 2000mAH rechargeable batteries

The only thing that I missed in this 420EX is the blue back-lighted LCD display of the 430EZ, which looks cool. Now in the 420EX, the zoom ranges of the lens is represented by red LEDs. The good thing is that the 420EX is smaller than the 430EZ and a tad lighter.

If you just owned a Canon EOS Digital Rebel 300D, this is the perfect external flash for you.

Pros: not to big, good battery live, can be slave,
Cons: no manual flash exposure, no build-in bounce board,

i use this flash with eos digital rebel / 300d. it's very easy to use. but sometimes if i took a pictures of a white object, like person in a white shirt or a person in front of a white wall, it get underexposed. Since the camera doesn't have a flash exposure compensation, and the flash doesn't have a manual control, i had trouble with it. sometimes i used F.E lock to solve the problem, but it's to time consuming. I appreciate your comment on my review, and also help for my problem. thank you very much. (sorry for my bad english) -Jakarta, Indonesia.