Maintaining and repairing Yongnuo vs Canon speedlites

Question

This is somewhat a multi-part question, mostly related to my split-decision on whether to buy a YN560-II (or a several of them) for much less money than buying Canon alternatives (one Canon 580EX II and another or multiple Canon 430EX IIs).

I'm concerned on maintenance and repair and whether it is possible or justifiable to repair Yongnuos if something goes wrong versus repairing Canons.

To some it may sound like nitpicking, but I would like to get into multi-light off-camera photography and as I am just starting budget is an issue.

My actual questions:

1. What are the most common issues that would require repair of a speedlite?
2. How often did you need to repair your units? I know this is too general, but a ballpark figure, yearly, once in 5 years or never would give me a good idea...
3. As Yongnuo should be "a copy" of Canon is it much different for maintenance and repair? Because what's good about a cheap flash that no one will repair when it breaks?

I plan to use these to shoot something around 500 exposures or less a month. And TTL is not an issue because I prefer to use manual mode.

Answer 1

About two years ago I bought a set of three YN460II flashes (only manual, no TTL) to use alongisde a Canon 430EXII, mostly for taking portraits. I bought them for about $40 each considering them pretty much disposable.

To my surprise, all of them are still going strong. I have dropped them many times (by accident of course, not for fun!) and so far none of them broke.

As a side note, I have found the simple +/- buttons and LED interface of the YN460II much simpler to use than the full blown LCD interface of the 430EXII. Consider that you can see the power easily in the dark and from a distance, whereas on the 430 you have to get close and turn on the LCD backlight first.

Answer 2

Here are answers for your questions based on my YN-465 and all the research I did before getting it:

1. What are most common issues that would require repair of a speedlite?

   The number one cause of speedlight damage is dropping it - if you drop it and you are unlucky it will break.

   The "professional" series (models 5xx) are supposedly much better at surviving impact than the older 4xx model.

   The original yongnue flashes had 3 major problems - plastic foot, bad battery door design and sometimes a bad capacitor - all of those has been fixed in the later models (both later 4xx models and all 5xx models).

2. How often did you need to repair your units?

   I have an older YN-465 that has the plastic foot and bad battery door I mentioned above, I only got it a few months ago and I use it a lot, a few days ago I dropped it (it fell from a lightstand to the floor) and damaged the battery door - but it still works perfectly (the radio trigger receiver that was attached to it did not survive).

   When it breaks (probably when the battery door stops closing due to the damage from dropping it) I'll buy a new one, maybe a newer model with the new battery door design (and also an optical slave and zoom reflector that the 465 doesn't have).

3. what's good about a cheap flash which no one will repair when it breaks.

   First, it's good because you can get a complete 3 point light setup including lightstands, umbrellas and radio triggers for about the price of one Canon 430Ex flash

   If you get the really cheap YN-460:

   YN-460: $40 each on eBay 
   Westcott 750 lightstand: $30 each on Amazon
   Cheap generic umbrella holder: $4 each on eBay
     (or you can get a better one for about $7 and not have
     your flash fall to the floor like mine)
   Radio trigger transmitter and 3 receivers set: $26 on eBay
     (or you get get one receiver and use the optical slave for about $15)
   Umbrellas: $5.50 each on eBay
   
   Complete 3 point setup: $264.50
   
   One Canon 430EX: $279 on sale on Amazon right now
   

   Second, the most expensive YN manual flash costs about $75 (the cheapest costs $40) at that price buying a completely new flash will probably costs you less than the repair cost of a Canon flash.

Answer 3

I have a Canon 580EX, 580EX II, and 430EX. They've been fired a number of times. How many? I have no clue. I've used them professionally since they've been introduced. I've never had any of them fail.

That said, if you're only using them in manual mode, I'd look at some older Vivitars. No point in spending money on technology you won't use. You can buy a brand new Vivitar 283 for $80, and it will work great on manual mode.

Why do you prefer manual? TTL has quite a bit of a learning curve, but once mastered, it's a lot faster than manual. :)

Answer 4

Yongnuo no longer support their flashes - only repair. Earlier they simply replaced with a n new one. It almost seems that they at first collected the experience of their flashes ability to break, then understood the main weak place(s) and just changed this/these element(s) all the time.

This means that you have to wait approximately 1 month while the item come to you after being repaired. It's sad.