Anyone knowledgeable on Yongnuo flashguns?

Got one in the post today that I bought on eBay and I'm very disappointed, as I haven't heard a bad word about them on here.


I have the YN560 and it seems to be very temperamental when it comes to firing.

I was playing with it earlier today, had it on both my Olympus and Canon and it was going grand. Tried to use it with my Metz in slave but the metz refused to fire alongside the Yongnuo.

There's a pilot/test button on the back, which I've been playing with too, adjusting the power and such, and just generally becoming familiar with it.


Then it decided to stop working. I know the batteries were OK, because I changed them over with the Metz and the Metz was fine, I even charged them up and tried again and nothing. When I press the 'pilot'/test button on the back of it, i can hear a 'pop' sound, that you usually hear when the flash fires on a lower power, but no flash.

Hammered the test button for ages in anger. Did a google search and someone reckoned their Yongnuo's bulb had blown, and that was the cause. So i gave up on it and put it away. Took it out again a few minutes ago and pressed the test button on the back a few times and nothing for the first few clicks, but then it decided to start working again.


I don't know if the flash is knackered or if I'm doing something wrong here? I flicked through the manual and the troubleshooting pages (or lack thereof) don't really mention anything about it not firing (except that it shuts itself down after lots of bursts to avoid overheating and that the light on it must be red for it to fire, to show it has recycled).


Anyone got a Yongnuo and had similar issues? I feel like hopping it off the wall! :mad:



Cheers

Thecageyone

I have a YN-460, so far so good, it's never miss-fired or failed to work. I get a few days out of fully charged batteries.

I'm firing it with cheap triggers too. The only thing I can't get going is continous shooting flashes. It'll flash once when I rattle off 5fps. Though after reading up on that I think I'm better off, as most say it's a sure fire way to blow your flash.

Maybe mine is just fcuked then. Worst thing is it'll probably cost more to send it back, than to just buy a new one (not that I plan buy it again).


The Metz is like a little box of heaven in comparison. I'll give it a day or two to sort itself out before I smash it in bits with a hammer*.


*I might not actually do that.

Borderfox

Have a look over here http://photography-on-the.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=35

Seen some replies to that brand before, did a quick search and these came up http://photography-on-the.net/forum/search.php?searchid=23129053

Cheers Borderfox. I've been Googling a fair bit though, and I think I'm one of a few people who managed to get a completely knackered YN560.

I have however, found a lot of issues with YN in general from looking for advice on what to do with my current one. As with Cagey above, apparently they don't like to fire all the time, and even if you take your time with them, regardless of how hot they are, they still like to shutdown for a few minutes after so many shots to avoid overheating.

I can't be dealing with that. I'm no pro, and I'm still just learning, but that kind of inconsistency will drive me up the walls. I'm gonna try and get a refund and put it towards another Metz 48 AF-1. The Metz, aside from the broken foot, which is entirely my own fault anyway, has never given me even a small tiny bit of trouble and has never failed to fire.

Three times the price, though. Get what you pay for, I suppose.

Thecageyone

Mine will repeat fire when on the hot-shoe, just not when wirelessly triggered. Though I probably haven't got it set up right. I use it in manual mode mostly. You're probably right in that you get what you pay for, I couldn't justify paying €200 for a Nikon one. For around €60 I got a unit that will pop a flash every time up to 30 feet away. I've even tried triggering it from another room ,where it can't 'see' the trigger and it worked fine


Sounds like you just got a dud. Send them a message on ebay and complain that you want them to cover postage for returning it.

Thecageyone

Thecageyone wrote: »

Mine will repeat fire when on the hot-shoe, just not when wirelessly triggered. Though I probably haven't got it set up right. I use it in manual mode mostly. You're probably right in that you get what you pay for, I couldn't justify paying €200 for a Nikon one. For around €60 I got a unit that will pop a flash every time up to 30 feet away. I've even tried triggering it from another room ,where it can't 'see' the trigger and it worked fine


Sounds like you just got a dud. Send them a message on ebay and complain that you want them to cover postage for returning it.

I don't see them paying for the postage, unfortunately.


Yeah, mine won't even fire when on the hot shoe. Won't fire at all, actually, though it 'pops' like it's trying to, and it still 'overheats' despite not actually working.

I think i'll consider it a relatively cheap lesson learned. I'll just stick with my Metz. The one I got on ebay cost me €180, which is three times what I paid for the Yongnuo, but I just would rather the safety of knowing it won't act up on me (well, so far, so good, at least).


Cheers both of ye for your help here.

TinyExplosions

You say you used it on both your Canon and your Olympus -could one of those potentially have fried the flash (do they both have the same pins as each other?)

I have the 560 and have so far not had an issue, but then trigger it wirelessly and have never had it on the camera hot shoe.

I'm not too knowledgeable about that kinda stuff, to be honest, TinyExplosions, but my Metz 48 AF-1 has been on both cameras and never had an issue firing.

The last time the YN560 fired for me, it was in Slave (1) mode, and i was just letting the Olympus on-camera flash do it's little 'strobe light' routine, to see if the YN560 would pick up on any of the flashes.


It went off once or twice, but then died again. When I press the 'pilot' button, it makes a small noise, but doesn't fire.


I contacted the seller, and he offered to pay the cost of posting it back to him without me even asking, so fair play to him, and i think that's enough to warrant a mention;

This is him;

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/hk-econcept/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686



Seems like a nice enough bloke. I doubt he'll be too happy when he sees how much An Post want to send the parcel back!

Thecageyone

Good stuff, these sellers often offer to do this to keep your business, and their good rating Hope you get a good one next time. I would say you were just unlucky, it might even have taken a knock during transport. Tell the seller to wrap the next one like a baby

TinyExplosions

Fair play on the seller, and it may well be that you got a dud -there's plenty of info out there on the fact that quality control on the Chinese stuff can be.. mixed at best, though for me the price was what made me give 'em a chance -even if it doesn't last long, it's worth the 60 odd quid for what I've gotten out of it already.

Let us know how the next one goes though!

BanzaiBk

I have a 465 and a 560, the 465 is liable to "pop" like you described. I bought via dealextreme and they offered to replace the unit but return postage was nearly 20€ which was nearly 3/4 of the price I paid of the unit anyway. It happens 1/10 times so I decided to live with it.

Thecageyone

What kind of recycle times are you guys getting with your units? That's my only gripe about the 460, it takes on average 7 seconds to reload.

I was talking to the eBayer and he said that he gets a lot of hassle with the Yongnuo's. In his own words, he reckons about 15% of them are faulty, and he checks them before sending them out.

He said I could have a refund or replacement, but he'd rather give me a refund, which I'd be more than happy with.


I think I'll save my monet and invest in a Metz 48 AF-1 for Canon. It'll cost more but I just feel more comfortable with Metz after my experience with the one I own.


I'd also like to invest in some studio lighting/backdrop too, so I'll have plenty to put the money towards. Think I'll steer clear of Yongnuo from now on though. Heard nothing but good things about them until I got one, now I'm hearing lots of bad and 'unreliable' stories. It'd be too frustrating for me.

BanzaiBk

Thecageyone wrote: »

What kind of recycle times are you guys getting with your units? That's my only gripe about the 460, it takes on average 7 seconds to reload.

With the 465 and regular alkalines I get an average of 9 seconds per recycle. With NiMH eneloops it's about 5/6 seconds. With the 560 and alkalines I get about 8 seconds per recycle and with the eneloops it's about 5/6 seconds. They are slower than "branded" units but fine for my amateur use

Thecageyone

I'm using Nimh batteries too, 7 seconds is fine for portraits and general home shooting. I'd like if it would charge up quicker for when doing shoots for other people so there's not that pause between every shot, but it's not so bad.