09Sep Yongnuo YN568EX II Canon Flash – First impressions
The Yongnuo YN568EX II showed up this weekend while I was out of town filming and I shot this quick unboxing video to go along with my first impressions. Not sure why, but I also received two softbox flash adapters with my order from Amazon. The softbox adapters are a little big for my taste, but they were unexpected and free, so thanks Amazon.
In my hand the build quality of the Yongnuo YN568EX II feels decent, solid, and well built, though there is still a noticeable difference between the plastic used on the Canon 580EX II and YN568EX II. The rotating flash on the YN568EX II takes a little more force to turn, but doesn’t “click” as loudly as the 580ex. Buttons click nicely and generate a satisfying tactile feel.
Menu systems work very similar to the Canon 580ex II. A long press on the YN568EX II is required to get to the Master/Slave, HSS, chimes, and channel settings. Sub menu selections are made with the 4 way selector switch.
From left to right we have the YN568EX II, Canon 580EX II and YN565EX II. The buttons and layout on the YN568EX II are similar to the 580EX II however the on/off switch requires a long press instead of a simple click and the scroll wheel is replaced with a 4 direction selector. The buttons themselves are a noticeable upgrade when compared to the YN565EX II, and cosmetically the black on black looks nicer to my eye then the white on black used on the YN565EX II.
The YN568EX II (center) is slightly shorter and a few millimeters chubbier than the 580EX II and the battery compartment layout incorporates a slightly different design. Canon uses a slide lock latch on the 580EX II which provides an extra layer of protection, while the YN568EX II slides into place without the extra locking switch.
In this quick test, I set the Yongnuo YN568EX II up in HSS Master mode and set the Canon 580EX II to optical slave. The YN568EX II managed to trigger the 580ex II with the proper settings and without issue.
In previous Yongnuo models “Flash C.Fn settings” in camera were disabled. However with the YN568EX II I found the menu enabled and was able to fiddle around with a few extra flash control features. The Canon 6d body I was testing seemed to see the YN568EX II as a fully supported Canon flash. The limited number of shots I fired off with the Yongnuo YN568EX II were exposed correctly and the focus assist beam was nice and crisp.
A preset feature of the YN568EX II is a chime that plays each time the flash has recycled. While I can see why this feature would be handy, it was one of the first things I disabled. I do not enjoy my flash beeping at me when it’s ready for the next shot.
So far I feel like the Yongnuo YN568EX II is a pretty solid flash head for the price. I’ll spend some more time playing around with it before I post a full review.
October 25th, 2013 at 4:40 pm
Just got 3 from Ebay auctionzone1168, one of it has battery cover issue but they ship it to me any way, it took them 2 months to replace the defective unit and didn’t return any of my return shipping cost, If you going to get one, buy it from other place.
So far run several shoot with it, It does everything you ask for. It’s good flash to work with.
January 7th, 2014 at 9:12 pm
Well, buy from a local photo shop and you won’t have the trouble.
March 10th, 2015 at 7:04 am
Unfortunately, not everyone has a “local” camera shop. The closest one to me is hours away…
March 10th, 2015 at 6:28 pm
My local shop is 2 1/2 hours away in Denver.
November 19th, 2013 at 9:21 am
If one were to want to attach this unit to a light stand, what adaptor would you use? Thanks in advance.
November 19th, 2013 at 11:56 am
This is one of the most common light stand adapters. If you don’t mind waiting for a few weeks you can save a few dollars and buy them on ebay from china.
November 19th, 2013 at 12:20 pm
Thank you very much!
December 20th, 2013 at 7:35 am
hi!
very nice comparison of the flashes, I received my Yongnuo 568EX II today, but it won’t work on my EOS 7D… do you maybe know anything about this camera-flash combo that is known to not work properly?
greetings!
December 20th, 2013 at 9:10 am
The 7d has a lot of flash settings, In photo mode you’ll want to find those settings and enable HSS and ETTL. On the flash head you’ll probably want to set it to master and also enable HSS and ETTL. That should get you started. After that you’ll want play around with different settings and get a feel for what you want your flash to do.
April 4th, 2014 at 10:51 am
I know this is an old post Dee Jay but there is a Energizer branded version at futureshop/bestbuy for about $100 now. My friend uses it and finds it comparable to the 580ex… except recharge time is slightly slower.
April 21st, 2014 at 8:07 pm
do you know if i can install a better beamer on it
January 29th, 2015 at 4:46 am
I wanted to know if this flash work on Canon 700D ( Rebel T5i )
January 29th, 2015 at 7:16 am
Yes.
October 21st, 2015 at 6:00 am
Hi Vincent
Please help, I am looking to trade my Nikon SB 700 for a Yongnuo YN568 EX II Flash, I went to play with one and didn’t have the user manual on hand. I couldn’t seem to find out if the flash has “”TTL-BL” Like the Nikon SB700 has.
This feature balances the ambient lighting to the flash power output if u fire with a bald front facing flash, this helps when in sunlight to light up the subject and balance the overall exposure.
Please help I do assume that if it has an auto focus beam this will work.
May 15th, 2016 at 2:39 am
I want to know whether yongnuo 568ex ii supports canon eos 80d?
May 20th, 2016 at 6:29 pm
Yes it will.