But…but…what if your battery pack shorts out one day? Any local store or gas station mini-mart would have AA batteries you could buy. But they won’t have a charged, dedicated Li-ion battery pack for your flash.
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Canon Speedlite EL-10 rumored for later this year [CR2]
- Thread starter Canon Rumors
- Start date
How so?
Granted, it was a mess of confusion when it was first announced, with conflicting information (from Canon) on compatibility.
But once the new multifunction shoe was in people’s hands, it turned out pretty well IMO. Just like EF lenses, all the old-style flashes and transmitters work on the new shoe, but without an adapter needed (unless you need weather-sealing). New accessories (of which there are only two so far) work on the new shoe but not the old one, just as RF lenses don’t work on DSLRs.
Still, it is something of a mess in terms of sorting out the compatibility. Reminds me of Nikon F lenses with the AF motor in the body vs the lens. Two EL- flashes are old shoe, one is new. The R50 has a hotshoe that’s not backward compatible (needs tfe adapter), the R100 has the old shoe. But for those last two, probably not a big deal as those are entry-level bodies with a built-in flash that’s all most people will ever use with them.
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I used to have seven 600ex-RT. Sold them all and switched to Flashpoint (Godox rebadged, I think.). Excellent and affordable. I wanted more power without having to deal with the cumbersome task of ganging them together. Very happy.
I was also sick of having to charge and maintain so many blasted AA batteries.
That said, if Canon had big lights I'd have gone that route, just because I love Canon.
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I feel like the successor to the 430EX III-RT won't use the LP-EL battery or have the new multi function hot shoe. It would still use AA batteries and use the old 5 pin hot shoe. The 430EX series takes a generation or even 2 for features of the top of the line model to appear. It may have a less powerful LED AF Assist Beam or completely drop it in favor of Intermittent Flash Firing (main tube strobing). But I still feel that it would have an LED AF Assist Beam that may NOT be as powerful as the EL-5. Or maybe a user selectable option for LED and Intermittent Flash Firing (main tube strobing). Like how the current 430EX III-RT is set up with Intermittent Flash Firing (main tube strobing) is the default option.
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Probably no LP-EL (higher end feature and would require the flash to be too large), but I’m pretty sure it will have the new multifunction shoe.
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For some reason I feel like Canon won't go that route with the hot shoe. Since it's considered low midrange now. Maybe there won't even be an LED AF Assist Beam and main tube strobing will be used. That's what Canon did when they discontinued the 220EX and replaced it with the 270EX. But in that case they dropped the IR AF Assist Beam. But they left a big incompatibility with older cameras because they don't have the hardware to support main tube strobing.
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The multifunction shoe is on cameras ranging from the $680 R50 to the $6000 R3 – pretty much the entire range except for the <$500 R100. The EL-100 has the old shoe, the EL-1 will be updated with the new shoe at some point, and the 430 replacement will likely have it, even though it’s been pushed down by the EL-1 coming in as a new top end above the 600/EL-5 level.
What would be cool is a battery-free small, low-power flash that draws power from the body like the ST-E10.
That wouldn’t surprise me at all.
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The reason I said that they would use the old shoe is because it seems like automatic brightness control of the LED AF Assist Beam and other features. Requires the use of a camera with the multi function hot shoe. Or even cameras such as the R3, R7 & R10 which don't support it do support other features that the speedlite has to offer. Intermittent Flash Firing (main tube strobing) doesn't require the multi function hot shoe and if said replacement speedlite comes. It'll be compatible on older R series cameras like the R5, R6, RP, R & R100 (this camera is new but has the old hot shoe). It would also be compatible with DSLRs released from 2007 onward. Maybe newer R series bodies will drop the LED AF Assist Beam and rely on an external speedlite's AF Assist Beam. Just like Canon did with their DSLRs. Then on APS-C bodies rely on the pop up flash for AF Assist when the camera needs it. It would be cool if the speedlite could draw power from the camera's battery. But for a small compact speedlite not a powerful like the EL-100 for instance if it were available in the multi function hot shoe.
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Since the multifunction shoe was launched, Canon has not launched a hotshot accessory for the old shoe. They did release one body with the old shoe, the bottom-of-the-line R100. They even released a new off-camera cord for the new shoe. Canon wants people with older cameras to buy newer cameras, not give them a reason to keep using older cameras by releasing new accessories for them. Seen any new EF lenses launched lately? No, I didn't think so.
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I must've been tired last night I was mixing up the 430EX series with the EL-100. But the 430EX series will get the new shoe. I don't think the EL-100 will though until at least a generation or 2.
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The EL-100 was basically a replacement for the 270-EX II (though personally, I prefer the form factor of the latter). When replaced with a MkII, the EL-100 will almost certainly get the multifunction shoe as well, but probably that replacement will be some time away.
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For Canon, the lp-el is higher end... which amazes me. One of the reasons I sold all my 600ex-RT was the AA batteries. They were fantastic flashes, however, even my Flashpoint speed light has a lithium ion battery and is the same size as the 600ex.
Granted, I have no experience with the 430ex and don't know off hand how it's size compares to the 600ex. If it is smaller, couldn't there also be a smaller battery pack?
I'm sure there may be some who prefer AA batteries for the fact it can be found almost anywhere if the AA craps out. I solve this by carrying an extra battery anyway, and did so when I was packing 630ex also.
Anyway, I rarely use a speedlight anymore. I just keep wondering why Canon would stick with AA.
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I’m sure they could use a smaller Li-ion battery, and perhaps the EL-10 will have that. If the EL-10 ever comes (this CR2 says later in 2023, but there was a CR2 post saying it would come in 2021).
The big advantage to the LP-EL is the blazing fast recycle time compared to AA (the Canon is a bit faster than the Flashpoint, as well). The disadvantage is that the battery discharges over time much more than something like an eneloop AA. With my EL-5, the battery drops from 100% to out of power in about 6 weeks sitting unused. I've left eneloops in a 600EX for a year and they have plenty of charge left.
Like you, I don't use speed lights that often. Personally, I use eneloops for many things around the house (especially lighted decor for various holidays), and I probably have over 100 of them cycling through always with 10-20 fully charged and waiting to be used...and they can sit for months like that. With the EL-5, I have to remember to charge the LP-EL the day before I'll need the flash, and if I forget, I'd be SOL if I didn't have four 600EX units and charged batteries always ready to go in them.
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This is why I like the USB PD charging functionality on the camera bodies: very easy to top things up before shooting.
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The other solution is to have >1 battery, which is what I do with my R3 and R8. I'd do that with for my EL-5, except with the 600's there's really no need.
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It would be cool if the camera could power a small speedlite. Such as a hypothetical EL-100 Mark II. Just something small and portable not high power. But that won't be until years down the road. I wonder what an EL-10 would look like physically and feature wise too. The current 430EX speedlite is smaller than the version 2 was. It is also quite small compared to the 600EX series.
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