Best Value for Money Off-Camera Flash

Bought one of these to use off-camera and as a spare on camera. I like to vary between ETTL and manual off-camera and this seemed to give the best of both worlds at an amazing price.

The build quality (externally at least) is so far above the previous flashes released by Yongnuo. It looks and feels pretty much like the 580EXII which this is blatantly modelled on. For Canon users with a 580EXII the controls will be very intuitive as the layout and GUI again are based on the Canon design.

Performance is very consistent both on and off camera. I was so impressed I bought another and use these in preference to the 2 Sigma Super 530s I have. I have kept the Sigmas as backup as there are still reports of these flashes failing after a period. I'm not sure if that's just the people who have had a problem being more keen to review rather than those who haven't.

There are a couple of differences between these and the Canon 580EXII which should be noted as they could be a deal-breaker for some...

The 580EXII supports HSS whereas the 565EX does not.
The 580EXII can be used as Master whereas the 565EX cannot.

More minor differences are...
The 565EX has a more traditional screw-lock unlike Canon's sliding lock.
The battery door on the 565EX does not have the additional sliding lock (but the door on the 565 feels extremely secure).
The 565EX does not have the weather-proofing of the 580EXII.

Personally I'd rather have one 580EXII and three of the Yongnuos rather than 2 580EXIIs. I don't think there's a better value for money flash out there at the moment.

Nice flash to buy if you can't, or don't want to buy a 580EX.

I have bought this product to take photos in places that haven't got many light, such as churches, night clubs, and such.
I wasn't expecting much for such a low price, but I was surprised when I tried it. It can even be configured by the in-camera menu, so you don't have to remember how to control it from the flash body!
This flash is compatible with many Canon cameras, it is even compatible with an old EOS 300 (not digital, 35mm film SLR)! The TTL works fine.
The optical modes are nice, and easy to use. I have not tried the wireless mode for nikon and canon because my camera does not support it and I do not have a transceiver.
The light is much more powerful than a 430EX by Canon, close to the 580EX. Also it has a cardboard reflector, where the 430EX lacks of it. Its size is almost the same as the 580EX.
It lacks of High Speed Sync and Master Mode, but if you don't need them, this flash will do for the third of the price of a Canon 580EX. If you need them I would go to the Nissin 866 instead of the Canon 580EX anyway.

Sorry for my English, I'm Spanish.

Un flash dal basso prezzo ma dalle prestazioni eccezionali.

E' incredibile pensare che possa esistere un flash con caratteristiche simili se non uguali al Canon 580 EX II ma ad 1/4 del prezzo; invece sì ed è lo Yongnuo Speedlite YN-565 EX, eccellente numero guida, sistema TTL evoluto (ETTL II), controllo diretto da fotocamere dotate di controllo wireless (es. 7D, flash stroboscopico e manuale, che dire, un ottimo acquisto consigliatissimo.

Excellent for unserious photography, still immature for professionality.

I already own three Canon 430EX I & II and one Canon 580EX. I bought YN-565EX because I needed one stronger flash than 430EX but for lower price than 580EX has. And I needed a flash to have HighVoltage connector (for additional battery pack). 430EX does not have this, 580EX is overpriced so I went with YN-565EX.

I like the build quality. I also own some other products from Yongnuo and I knew that this item must be well built. And on my opinion it is. There is also good thing that the menu looks just like in Canon Speedlites. I like the factory menu options and that it allows many thing to change/improve.

But what I don't like is its uncertainty. I used it two times as off-shoe flash powered with new and full Eneloops and with 100% working receiver and it just did not fire. Once just, other three times no. On 1/8 manual power. So I do not use it for any very important thing where I can not afford stay without flash.
And I do not like its very uneven brightness of the flash. If I do continious shooting on manual flash program with power 1/1, I get seven firings before it needs some time to recycle. And from this seven flashes two are normaly exposed and all others are differently exposed. It is seen that from third to seventh firing the luminated area is every shot a little darker. I don not have this problems with 430EX's or even 580EX.

But after all for the money it is offered, this product is not good but very good. Compared to other similar not very known brand names of flashes, no-one offer so many good factors in one flashgun for price like YN-565EX costs.
If I ever need another good flash for low cost and will not use it in a professional way, I will go with YN-565EX. It is enough good.
For every serious job like weddings, prom nights and similar, this flash is still under a question mark. Maybe it will work perfectly but.... what if not?
I would not take risk anymore. I did two times and have bad experiences and I will not again. Until they will improve its performance.

If your wondering what flash to get, this is it. Don't spend more for less.

This is an excellent flash for the money. For Canon users in particular this flash works well as a wireless slave flash using either a commander unit like the ste2 or a 580EXII Flash. If you have one of the newer Canon bodies like the 60D or 600D these have wireless ettl flash built in and works fine with these flashes. They are well built and the controls are easy to use and allow for plenty of fine tuning to your own preferences, the ettl works brilliantly. These flashes are a lot more power hungry than the previous models such as the YN-468 but they can accept power from an external power pack to compensate for this.

For the money, these are the best flashes for cost out there right now without question.

I am a professional wedding and fashion photographer and when I'm at shows or weddings I need to know I can rely on my gear as it can be 4-6 hours straight taking photos of hundreds of outfits and models in a show. This flash has never let me down and it also runs a lot cooler than the previous 468 model which tended to overheat.

Loving my new YN 565EX Flash

I now use the Yongnuo instead of my Canon 580 ex ii as I get better results. The only time I use the Canon now is when I need High Speed Sync. It also works well off the camera with the Yon triggers. For the price it's awsum :)

It's a jewel

It's a great aproximation to Canon 580 EXII, now it's my secondary speedlight using Canon 580 EXII as primary.
The functions as main flash are so great as 580ex is, the only difference is yongnuo can't act as master in E-TTL wireless.
High end value for money, it works perfect with all on camera flash menu in my 5D MKII, also with Pixelking radio system.

Ottimo Flash E-TTL, ottimo rapporto prezzo/prestazioni

Sintenticamente, è un ottimo clone del Canon 580EX-II nella forma e nelle funzioni.
Prevede 3 modalità di funzionamento:

- E-TTL: viene regolata in automatico l'intensità del lampo.
- Manual: intensità del lampo impostata in modo fisso da 1/128 a 1/1 della potenza totale.
- Multi: serie di lampi in successione, per fotografia creativa.

Le uniche funzioni che mancano sono:
- HSS, ovvero la possibilità di usare il flash con tempi inferiori al tempo di sincronizzazione della cam (intorno a 1/200). Utile per foto sportive o foto all'esterno, in occasione di forte illuminazione.
- non è Master Wireless.

Rispetto al Canon, puo' essere impostato, non solo come Slave Wireless, ma anche come Slave ottico (il Canon se non sbaglio prevede solo Slave Wireless).

Why buy a Canon when you can save lots of MONEY and get the same product

This product is a Canon with a different name, it works very well, TTL is great and so is putting it in manual and setting the camera to shutter priority and then turning the power of the flashgun down a couple of notches. EXCELLENT VALUE FOR MONEY GET ONE AND FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF.

Great quality at a great price!

I bought the 580EXII a while back and it ended up being faulty! The YN-565EX is a superb flash gun at a fraction of the cost f canon't leading flashes! Its powerful, is fully Ettl compatible, has a full manual mode, runs on AA batteries the same as the canon equivalent.... great unit. What it doesn't have is fast sync... no problem since I do not use it. Neither is it a master flash like the 580EXII. If you don't need those functions this flash is a superb money saver!!! The flash works off camera and on. For £450 cheaper than the leading canon Units its a no brainer.... wish I had invested in this unit instead of my 580EXII. 5*