The Canon Speedlite EL-1 is in stock at B&H Photo

[Canon Rumors]

In an odd twist that is the saga of the Speedlite EL-1, it looks like Canon has a few left as they are in stock at B&H Photo. The Speedlite EL-1 was discontinued back in September and we are awaiting a new flagship Speedlite from Canon.

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[stevenskl]

If there will be a new flagship some day, what about users with an "old" R5 with the conventional hot shoe? What has Canon to offer for those photographers?

 

[jdale273]

If there will be a new flagship some day, what about users with an "old" R5 with the conventional hot shoe? What has Canon to offer for those photographers?

600EX II-RT, or a 3rd party flash

 

[kelly93]

best choice for third party flashes these days... Godox? looking for something portable, off camera, RT preferably, just want something reliable. had the old 600EX RT with the STS-E3, which was fine (but regrettably sold). Tried a 430EXIII RT and STS transmitter, what a bunch of garbage... completely unreliable and frustrating. Canon r5mii

 

[stevenskl]

The Canon 600 EX 2 RT is discontinued, as far as I know. Canon obviously wants us to buy a new camera, if we want a flagship flash.
I will maybe go with a Godox V100. But if Canon had something comparable, I´d prefer Canon.

 

[ashmadux]

Does the r62, r5/5ii, r3 etc have built in triggers for rt series?

I've had the original 600s for years now, but I've never even thought about it with these recent r bodies. I used to used them with the Canon trigger (St-e2... The one without any focus assist grrr)

 

[neuroanatomist]

Does the r62, r5/5ii, r3 etc have built in triggers for rt series?

No.

(St-e2... The one without any focus assist grrr)

No. But I guess if you're a troll, blaming Canon for your lack of knowledge comes naturally.

 

[GMCPhotographics]

I'm still running with a pair of Canon 600 EX RT's and a ST-E3 and a brace of westcott umbrellas and small foldable stands. I've not found any need or urge to upgrade, side grade or change vendor. The mkII doesn't really worth any big $$/feature to justify a change and likewise for any of the current / cancelled offerings. Sure the newer flashed have more shots per cycle and a quicker cycle time, but it just means I shoot slower and adapt your shooting style.

 

[domo_p1000]

The 'discontinued' memo never seemed to make it to the UK - I admit that I have not been hunting for the EL-1 since buying one, but I don't recall there ever being a shortage. Granted, it is a slightly niche purchase and in recent months the price increased by £200 to an eye-watering £1300 ($1633), but they are in stock in most major photographic stores with the notable exception of the Canon UK Store that has not a single Speedlite in stock!

 

[VegasCameraGuy]

I love my EL-1 other than the fact I can hear my credit card crying every time I use it. When you're running and gunning, the EL-1 is the only powerful flash that recycles instantly and doesn't lock up from over heating. My biggest complaint about it, besides the cost, is it's too heavy to mount on the hotshoe. Combining my R5, battery grip, Boomerang L bracket, and the EL-1 works great except for the weight of the package. It would be nice if someone would offer a potato masher style flash like the old Metz 402 with a battery pack for electronic cameras. It was a lot easier to carry the battery pack and capacitors on a shoulder strap rather than attached to the camera.

 

[koenkooi]

I love my EL-1 other than the fact I can hear my credit card crying every time I use it. When you're running and gunning, the EL-1 is the only powerful flash that recycles instantly and doesn't lock up from over heating. My biggest complaint about it, besides the cost, is it's too heavy to mount on the hotshoe. Combining my R5, battery grip, Boomerang L bracket, and the EL-1 works great except for the weight of the package. It would be nice if someone would offer a potato masher style flash like the old Metz 402 with a battery pack for electronic cameras. It was a lot easier to carry the battery pack and capacitors on a shoulder strap rather than attached to the camera.

A few of the older flasher had a port for a battery pack, I keep hoping Canon adds a USB-C PD port for that and charging.

 

[diegopisante]

The main problem with Canon Speedlights is the radio range, 30 meters is not enough. It should be at least 300 meters.
The EL-1 is a beast and my main flash for everything.

 

[Slappy_G]

Given the absolutely horrendous wireless connection issues with all of Canon's RT flashes, the right move actually would have been to cancel it and design a proper, working wireless protocol, like every one of their competitors do for 1/3 the price. To keep selling this thing at this ridiculous price with the still-broken wireless capability is almost criminal.

Or at least, be honest and just disable the wireless connectivity and sell it entirely as a weatherproof tethered flash.

 

[SHK1]

I have the EL-5. So far it has proven to be a very reliable and solid performer. I use it a lot for macro focus stacking and have never had an issue with recycle time even for big stacks. I also find it reliable with the ST-E10. I think many complaints about Canon wireless stem from people who use the system in places where the 2.4 GHz band is very busy.

 

[dirtyvu]

I still love my pair of 600EX II-RT speedlites. I mix them in with my Westcott FJ400 lights. Use both Westcott and Canon with my ST-E3-RT (Ver.2) trigger or my Westcott FJ-X3 M trigger though I lean the Westcott because I like the UI more. Rechargeable lights sound cool as long as I can swap batteries. Waiting for a light to recharge is no bueno. And having to carry multiple lights just for battery capacity is also no bueno. AAs are terrible but I can swap them quickly.

 

[ClikSand]

I’ve had the Godox V100 for my R5/R6 for the past week and it sure seems like a winner to me for US$350. I’m getting a second one. I can’t think of much to criticize about the Godox flash system, which continues to improve each time they bring out a new unit. The V100 has an excellent new color screen and menu system, 100Ws of output (in effect it’s a shoe-mount AD100 Pro plus trigger), new cooling scheme to handle the extra power, a port for their outboard battery pack if you need it which I don’t, and (so far) seemingly quite solid build quality.

 

[stevenskl]

I’ve had the Godox V100 for my R5/R6 for the past week and it sure seems like a winner to me for US$350. I’m getting a second one. I can’t think of much to criticize about the Godox flash system, which continues to improve each time they bring out a new unit. The V100 has an excellent new color screen and menu system, 100Ws of output (in effect it’s a shoe-mount AD100 Pro plus trigger), new cooling scheme to handle the extra power, a port for their outboard battery pack if you need it which I don’t, and (so far) seemingly quite solid build quality.

Can you control the V-100 also via the R5´s menu? Could you also control groups of V-100 flashes via the R5´s menu? I know, there is the X3 transmitter, but I´m still interested, if you could do that via camera menu, as well.

 

[GMCPhotographics]

Given the absolutely horrendous wireless connection issues with all of Canon's RT flashes, the right move actually would have been to cancel it and design a proper, working wireless protocol, like every one of their competitors do for 1/3 the price. To keep selling this thing at this ridiculous price with the still-broken wireless capability is almost criminal.

Or at least, be honest and just disable the wireless connectivity and sell it entirely as a weatherproof tethered flash.

I think Hitachi designed this system under license for Canon and they are both under contract. Hitachi make flashes fr most major brands, all under licence and due to specific patents owned by different brands, some feeatures or work arounds are required for each brand. Frankly it's a quagmire.
Ever since the RT range, Canon's flashes have become so expensive and overburdened, I think they have completely lost their way.
Canon seem to have really pulled back with their accessories on the R mount cameras. From grips, flashes, covers, clips or even extension tubes. There's a lot of gaps and holes in the range.

 

[koenkooi]

I think Hitachi designed this system under license for Canon and they are both under contract. Hitachi make flashes fr most major brands, all under licence and due to specific patents owned by different brands, some feeatures or work arounds are required for each brand. Frankly it's a quagmire.
Ever since the RT range, Canon's flashes have become so expensive and overburdened, I think they have completely lost their way.
Canon seem to have really pulled back with their accessories on the R mount cameras. From grips, flashes, covers, clips or even extension tubes. There's a lot of gaps and holes in the range.

I keep hoping for an updated set of macro flashes, for a much lower price than the current ones. I really like my EL-5, I can do most of the settings on the camera and the 'tap shutter twice' to ignite to modelling light is very helpful for focussing in lowlight or doing macro.
But it's missing nice things like a socket for external power and a USB-C socket for charging. It is also expensive for what you'd get compared to Godox.

The new fangled hot-shoe is also under-utilized, we have a mic, an audio box, some flashes and a flash controller. Where is the DJI receiver, like they have for Sony? Where is the powered-by-hot-shoe GPS unit? Or the EOS-M style external viewfinder?