My road to the flashes I have now has
taken just one year so far, and I finally feel that I know the
feature set that I want. The first flash that I bought was a Vivitar
285hv. Then I moved up in features to a used Nikon SB-28dx, and after
that I got my first Lumopro LP160. Since then I have purchased
another LP160, and finally got two Yongnuo UN560 II flashes when my
SB-28dx died.
What I like about the Lumopro:
2 year warranty
Slave and trigger can be used at the
same time
What I like about the Yongnuo
1 year warranty
backlit screen
easy to use controls
1/3 and ½ stop flash power increments
built in wide angle diffuser
included bare bulb modifier
About six months ago, I was deciding
which manual flash to get. I looked at the Yongnuo YN-560 and the
Lumopro LP160. The Yongnuo was cheaper, and had a one year warranty,
but the Lumopro beat it with a better interface and a two year
warranty. I ended up going with the LP160. Now, a new model of
Yongnuo flash has been released, the YN-560 II. It improves upon the
weaknesses of the previous model, while still costing half as much
as the LP160.
I have previously owned both a Vivitar
285HV and a Nikon SB-28dx. However, this test will be a comparison
between my current flashes, YN-560 II and LP160.
Interface:
The best thing that can be said about
the LP160's interface is its simplicity .:
three buttons (zoom, power, and test) and two switch The power and
zoom options only move in one direction, meaning that if you want to
go one stop brighter, you have to press the button six
times. In comparison, the
YN-560 II's interface is much easier to use. Left and right on the
control pad give you one stop increments, while up and down give you
one-third or one-half stops. There are plus and minus zoom buttons,
as well as a mode button (switches from hot shoe to slave modes, as
well as a repeating mode). It also has a toggle button for the
sound: it can beep twice when it is ready to shoot after being
triggered.
The backlit display
works well, most of the time. It has a good side to side viewing
angle, but the vertical viewing angle is pretty terrible. It's really hard to see if you tilt the flash 30 degrees up or down. In
most cases, it's not a problem, but sometimes I like to put my
flashes in weird places, and the viewing angle means that I have to
reposition the flash to adjust it.
Mechanics:
Both these flashes have about the same
build quality. They feel like they are made out of quality materials
and both have metal flash shoes. The rotating and angling mechanisms
on the YN-560 II sound like they are much higher quality, whereas the
LP160 has a really plastic 'click' sound whenever you move the head
to a new location. In use, a couple things make the YN-560 stand
out: the battery door is captured on the YN-560 II, whereas the LP160
is not.
Also, the locking screw is much harder
to tighten down on the LP160 because of the wider base. Another nice
thing about the YN-560 II is that it has a 'Nikon' pin that can keep
it from falling out of hotshoes and triggers. Overall, I would trust
both these flashes with the same amount of abuse: I even 'drop
tested' both of them (for science!) from about 4 feet onto a hard
surface. Both survived.
Slave modes:
Both the YN-560 II and the LP160 have
'dumb' slave modes as well as 'smart' slave modes. I have tested
both of the 'smart' modes (ignores pre-flash) with the Nikon CLS
system, and they work great! The only problem with the YN-560 II is
that it ignores the hot shoe and PC jack when it is in the slave
mode. This is a pretty big plus for me with the LP160: I can have
both LP160s hooked up to triggers and in the slave mode, and be
certain that one will fire, triggering the other.
Other considerations:
While both the LP160 and the YN-560 II
include wide angle diffusers, the Yongnuo is built into the flash
head, alongside a bounce card. The LP160's diffuser is separate.
The YN-560 II also includes a bare-bulb style modifier, which I'm
sure I'll make use of. One other extra plus that the YN-560 II has
is the carrying case. I don't know how much use I'll get out of it,
but it does have a nice pouch to put the tabletop stand. Both these
extras are nice when you get a budget item.
Strobist review of the original YN-560: Second opinion
Link to seller's ebay page: YN-560 II
Note: only buy from here, there are
others that resell these flashes, but do not include the 1 year
warranty!
Link to buy the LP-160: LP-160
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