Yongnuo YN-560 IV and YN-560 TX Review
Yongnuo are a Chinese manufacturer of flashes and other photographic accessories. In this review, I'll be looking at their YN-560 series of flashes. As of writing (July 2015), there are four versions of the YN-560 flash - denoted YN-560 I to YN-560 IV. Each of the successive YN-560 models adds newer features and, as of today, I only recommend getting the YN-560 IV model, as it's almost as cheap as the older models but adds more features.
The YN-560 TX is the transmitter unit which is useful for off-camera flash. I'll be looking at that a little later on. Although these Yongnuo flashes come in far cheaper than flashes from brands such as Canon and Nikon, they are very well built, with the quality not far behind that of the top Nikon flashes such as the SB-910. I feel that they're tougher than lower-end flashes such as the Nikon SB-700.
The YN-560 TX is the transmitter unit which is useful for off-camera flash. I'll be looking at that a little later on. Although these Yongnuo flashes come in far cheaper than flashes from brands such as Canon and Nikon, they are very well built, with the quality not far behind that of the top Nikon flashes such as the SB-910. I feel that they're tougher than lower-end flashes such as the Nikon SB-700.
It's important to note, however, that these Yongnuo YN-560 series of flashes are manual control only, meaning they don't offer TTL metering. This means you have to adjust the flash power manually and the flash won't be able to determine the power of the flash by itself. For example, you have to use experience (as well as trial and error) to adjust the flash's power output to correctly expose your shot. Since this can be difficult, I only recommend these flashes for use as bounce flash or inside modifiers in a studio environment. For shooting on-camera as fill flash, for example, I would recommend a TTL flash.
If you shoot Canon or Nikon, the Yongnuo YN-568-EX is a great TTL flash that's not too much more expensive than these YN-560 IV flashes. For the Fuji system, which I personally shoot, there's not as much variety of flash options. You can get Fuji's own EF-42 or the new Nissin i40, but I've found a cheap TTL flash called the Eachshot MK320, which I'll be looking to get to use and review soon.
If you shoot Canon or Nikon, the Yongnuo YN-568-EX is a great TTL flash that's not too much more expensive than these YN-560 IV flashes. For the Fuji system, which I personally shoot, there's not as much variety of flash options. You can get Fuji's own EF-42 or the new Nissin i40, but I've found a cheap TTL flash called the Eachshot MK320, which I'll be looking to get to use and review soon.
Basic Flash Features and Performance
The YN-560 IV flashes perform excellently. Firing at full-power with a fresh set of NiMH rechargeable batteries, the flash recycles very quickly, ready to fire again in less than three seconds. This is comparable to the best Canon and Nikon flashes. Firing at around 1/8th power, the flashes recycle instantly and are ready to shoot as soon as it's finished firing.
Being a manual flash, it's very light on features, but very easy to use, just use the up and down buttons to adjust the power, which goes in 1/3rd stops. To adjust by 1 full stop, use the left and right buttons. The flash features a built in diffuser and bounce card, which is used to create a catchlight in the subject's eyes. Unlike Canon and Nikon flashes, these Yongnuo YN-560 IV flashes don't come with pop-on 'stofen' style diffuser caps or coloured gel caps. Since these are expected to be predominantly used off-camera, this is no big deal. You can buy coloured gels in a sheet and use double sided tape or velcro to attach them to the flash head.
The flash features full tilt functionality, flipping up and down 90 degrees (pointing at the subject to pointing upwards vertically). It rotates anti-clockwise 180 degrees, but clockwise only 90 degrees, strangely. It doesn't rotate around in a full circle like some flashes do. It comes with a carry pouch and a flash stand which allows you to stand the flash up on a table.
The power output of the flash is excellent for the price. At ISO200, 1/180s and f/11, shooting into a white wall, the YN-560 IV on full power gives a brighter image than the Nikon SB-700 at full power, meaning it outputs more light. I don't have a Nikon SB-910, but I would assume that the YN-560 IV is between the SB-700 and SB-910 in power. At about a third of the cost of the SB-700 and a fifth the cost of the SB-910, this is great value for an off-camera manual flash.
Being a manual flash, it's very light on features, but very easy to use, just use the up and down buttons to adjust the power, which goes in 1/3rd stops. To adjust by 1 full stop, use the left and right buttons. The flash features a built in diffuser and bounce card, which is used to create a catchlight in the subject's eyes. Unlike Canon and Nikon flashes, these Yongnuo YN-560 IV flashes don't come with pop-on 'stofen' style diffuser caps or coloured gel caps. Since these are expected to be predominantly used off-camera, this is no big deal. You can buy coloured gels in a sheet and use double sided tape or velcro to attach them to the flash head.
The flash features full tilt functionality, flipping up and down 90 degrees (pointing at the subject to pointing upwards vertically). It rotates anti-clockwise 180 degrees, but clockwise only 90 degrees, strangely. It doesn't rotate around in a full circle like some flashes do. It comes with a carry pouch and a flash stand which allows you to stand the flash up on a table.
The power output of the flash is excellent for the price. At ISO200, 1/180s and f/11, shooting into a white wall, the YN-560 IV on full power gives a brighter image than the Nikon SB-700 at full power, meaning it outputs more light. I don't have a Nikon SB-910, but I would assume that the YN-560 IV is between the SB-700 and SB-910 in power. At about a third of the cost of the SB-700 and a fifth the cost of the SB-910, this is great value for an off-camera manual flash.
Radio Control Features - YN-560 IV
The Yongnuo YN-560 IV differs from the previous iterations of the YN-560 series due to its off-camera radio-control features. The original YN-560 was crude and difficult to adjust do to its lack of an LCD screen and friendly interface. The YN-560 II added an LCD screen and a more intuitive control style. The YN-560 III added an in flash receiver so it could act as an off-camera flash without a receiver (e.g. a Pocketwizard) and the YN-560 IV adds a transmitter as well as receiver.
This means that the difference between the YN-560 IV and YN-560 III flashes is that the YN-560 IV can be used on camera outputting light as well as triggering other YN-560 IV and YN-560 III flashes off-camera wirelessly via RF. Since the YN-560 IV and III flashes are only slightly different in price, I would recommend going with the YN-560 IV flashes to give you that functionality.
The off-camera RF triggering works quite well. In studio, it's more than reliable enough to be used professionally. I've never had any mis-fires and adjustments can be made on the on-camera flash which controls all other flashes. This means you can adjust the power of the other flashes by using your on-camera flash rather than having to walk over to the off-camera flash. This is very convenient and handy. You can group each of the flashes into individual groups, each group will fire with the same power. For example, if you find that one flash for the key light isn't powerful enough, you might want to use 3 key-light flashes and assign them all to group A. If you set group A to fire at 1/2 power, all three flashes will fire at 1/2 power. In addition, you might want to use another flash as the fill light and assign that to group B and fire at 1/4 power. Using multiple flashes and having them at lower powers (e.g. 4 flashes at 1/4 power instead of 1 flash at full power) allows you to have quicker recycle times.
This means that the difference between the YN-560 IV and YN-560 III flashes is that the YN-560 IV can be used on camera outputting light as well as triggering other YN-560 IV and YN-560 III flashes off-camera wirelessly via RF. Since the YN-560 IV and III flashes are only slightly different in price, I would recommend going with the YN-560 IV flashes to give you that functionality.
The off-camera RF triggering works quite well. In studio, it's more than reliable enough to be used professionally. I've never had any mis-fires and adjustments can be made on the on-camera flash which controls all other flashes. This means you can adjust the power of the other flashes by using your on-camera flash rather than having to walk over to the off-camera flash. This is very convenient and handy. You can group each of the flashes into individual groups, each group will fire with the same power. For example, if you find that one flash for the key light isn't powerful enough, you might want to use 3 key-light flashes and assign them all to group A. If you set group A to fire at 1/2 power, all three flashes will fire at 1/2 power. In addition, you might want to use another flash as the fill light and assign that to group B and fire at 1/4 power. Using multiple flashes and having them at lower powers (e.g. 4 flashes at 1/4 power instead of 1 flash at full power) allows you to have quicker recycle times.
Radio Control Features - YN-560 TX
The Yongnuo YN-560 TX is a transmitter unit that can trigger and control YN-560 III and YN-560 IV flashes off camera. Compared to using a YN-560 IV on camera to trigger, the TX has several advantages.
It's cheaper, much lighter and it allows you to trigger 6 groups (instead of only 3 on the YN-560 IV on camera). Thus, it's much better value and offers more functionality if you only need to trigger flashes and don't actually need an on camera flash. For example, if you're using your camera in studio, the TX might be a very good addition to have. It comes in at less than the YN-560 IV flash, so it's very affordable and handy to have. Since it's so much lighter than the YN-560 IV flash, sometimes I prefer to use this at events where I can just leave several lights around the corners.
It's cheaper, much lighter and it allows you to trigger 6 groups (instead of only 3 on the YN-560 IV on camera). Thus, it's much better value and offers more functionality if you only need to trigger flashes and don't actually need an on camera flash. For example, if you're using your camera in studio, the TX might be a very good addition to have. It comes in at less than the YN-560 IV flash, so it's very affordable and handy to have. Since it's so much lighter than the YN-560 IV flash, sometimes I prefer to use this at events where I can just leave several lights around the corners.