Test Drive: Yongnuo YN-560

UPDATE: AVOID. IT'S A DOG.

Six months in, there have been enough reports of dead or dodgy YN-560s that I cannot in good faith recommend this flash. IMO, if they would put $5 more into build quality and tweak the interface, they could have (or, could have had) a real winner.

Here is a direct quote, from a retailer who sold them in the UK:

"I had piles of dead ones out of the hundreds we bought. We sold them off as dead in batches of 10 for $10 a piece. Other than a fail as soon as we tested before shipping, some were brand new. But YongNuo offer resellers only a 30 day warranty, and it has to get to them inside the 30 days. That's two weeks shipping from them, 2-3 weeks to return = no warranty."
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After months of rumor-fueled anticipation, I finally got my grubby little hands on a production model YN-560 speedlight.

The new, $85(!) flash has two important features which potentially potentially make it an good addition to a lighting photographer's bag: A built-in slave and an external sync jack.

Any shoe-mount flash with that kind of bling deserves a look.

First impressions, after the jump. Read more »