Yongnuo YN-465 Speedlite

I really like how the dial works.

A lot of friends ask me for advice when it comes to camera gear. I have been looking for some reasonably priced speedlights that I can recommend. After spending a small fortune on a body and lens, it is hard to fork out the $$ for stuff like flashes, memory cards, etc.

I did a little reading about Yongnuo speedlites. I thought I would give one a shot. I ordered the YN-465 from ebay for $65. This was the most affordable flash that claimed TTL AND manual controls. Note: I order the Nikon version of this flash.

While I more often use my flashes in manual mode, it is great to be able to throw a flash on top of my camera and forget about settings, by putting it into Automatic/TTL mode. 

I had high hopes for the Yongnuo YN465. My biggest concern was: does it really work in TTL mode?

Click to read the rest.

Nikon SB-800 &  Yougnuo YN465.

THE GOOD:

• TTL - The TTL feature works (more details and sample shots below).

• Build quality is good. It feels solid.

• The round dial is simple to use. I like it a lot. 

• The lights on the back provide simple visual feedback without having to decode information on a screen.

THE BAD:

• No optical slave (allows the speedlite to be triggered, by seeing the flash of other speedlites). I knew this going in, but figured TTL was worth the trade-off. Some Yongnuos have built in optical slaves.

• No zoom head. Once again this wasn't a big deal in exchange for TTL. But it would be nice to have.

• The plastic foot seems a flimsy, and the plastic seems a softer than the feet of other flashes I have owned.

• Radiopopper JrX Studio compatibility - no. While the Radiopoppers will trigger these flashes, an RP cube + JrX Studio transmitter won't adjust the output from the transmitter dial. If you don't know what I am talking about. Don't worry about it. But it is a bit of a bummer. 

TTL - Does it really work?

I tried this speedlite on a D90 (18-55mm VR lens). I used the flash in program, aperture priority, and shutter priority modes. I took one picture with the YN-460, and then put an SB-800 on the camera. I know those two speedlights aren't comparable but it I took pictures in a relatively small area, and just wanted to compare TTL ability.

Wow. I was really surprised at how well the Yongnuo flash performed when compared to the Nikon SB-800. There is a lot of technology packed into the SB-800, but the YN465 more than held its own.They actually returned pretty similarly exposed shots. See the examples.

SUMMARY

For the price, this speedlite was awesome. I would feel comfortable telling a friend to buy one. However, I am not sure if it is worth not buying a Nikon or Canon flash. You could pick up a used Nikon SB-600 or Canon 430 EX on craigslist for between $150 and $200. But if you want a flash with TTL, and also want to go off camera I think it is a terrific deal. With two Yongnuo speedlites, you could do some pretty creative two light set-ups for half the price of a used Canon/Nikon entry level flash. 

I bought mine for $65 shipped (mine didn't come with a detachable diffuser).

You can buy it direct from Yongnuo for $72 shipped (you pay a little more but get the front diffuser).

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My box didn't fare well in during shipping.

Notice at 1/4 of a second. I had to have a relatively long exposure for the dark room.