Buying an external flashgun is one of the more prudent things people can do when advancing their photography. Simply acquiring the capability to add control of light is highly beneficial in adding creativity to the shot. Herein comes the flexibility that a feature packed flash brings. YN560 Mark III The Yongnuo 560 Mk III is a China made flashgun that rips off the Canon 580EX Mk II with aplomb. The outer shell’s appearance is a dead giveaway, especially noticeable to Canon users. Nevertheless, consumers win here in being able to acquire a cheap manual flash with advanced features. The Mk III continues the feature set from the Mk II that are very useful to me as a amateur Strobist. The ability to recycle fast with LiMh batteries (I personally use Eneloops and Powerex) that allows me to fire off 9fps bursts with 1/4 power flash; the cheerful beep that tells me when the flash is ready; the large, legible LCD screen that instantly conveys important information such as flash output levels and zoom settings. Another standard feature is the slave mode that is triggered by light from another flash. This feature is still divided into S1 and S2 (retained from the Mk I and Mk II), the former being the normal slave mode while the latter is the slave mode that ignores any TTL pre flash. It is advisable to experiment with both S1 and S2 to get your desired results, especially with OEM flashes like the SB910 I use (I’m primarily a Nikon user).Some added features the Mk III has over the Mk ii are as follows: -Integrated 2.4ghz remote trigger -An accompanying blue led that indicates changes to power and zoom levels -Some ergonomic changes to button function. The main reason why people will get the mkiii would be the wireless trigger. This 2.4GHz wireless remote trigger does not need a driect line of sight between the trigger and the sensor in front of the flash. This means that one can have greater flexibility in deploying the flash, such as behind corners, under and above objects as well as within light mods. Another advantage is the ability to fire of 9FPS burst rates as there is no need for a master flashgun to be “9FPS” ready so that the slave flash can fire off rapidly. This is invaluable for action stopping shots like water splashes and athletic event shots. With added features come added complexity Now that the YN 560 flash is up to its 3rd iteration, the operation of this manual flash has gotten harder to grasp. When you first use the flash, if you are the impatient sort who has no time for instruction manuals, the usage of the group, channel and wireless control function may not come naturally to you, even if you are long time user of the Mark II. However, let me mitigate that for you by pointing out the important controls.

Button Layout of the Yongnuo Mk III
Button Layout of the Yongnuo Mk III

To use the wireless control function with a paired YN TX560 Press the last two buttons to “sync” the active flash to the TX controller.  The screen of the flash/flashes will then show a jumbled screen with all LCD displays active. The blue LED at the bottom will also light up. After about 3-5s, the screen will revert to normal and show the settings that you have inputted from the TX560. This should be done before usage of the flashes.

Arrows indicate what to press to "Sync" your flashes
Arrows indicate what to press to “Sync” your flashes

In conclusion, here are the pros and cons of this combination Pros:

  • Advanced wireless control features at a very affordable price (SGD$99 for the YN560 MkIII and $60 for the TX560)
  • No need for more receivers, therefore reducing hassle and further expenditure. No wires involved means less safety hazards and greater convenience during the shoot.
  • No need for a dedicated speedlght to control the slave flashes. Allowance for high speed shooting using the slave flashes.
  • Uses ubiquitous AA batteries (you will need 6, 4 for the flash and 2 for the TX 560)
  • Large, clear LCD screens on both the YN560 Mk III and the TX 560.

Cons:

  • Convoluted controls for a manual flash. TX560 manual has to be read.
  • No TTL capability (but what were you expecting for the price?)
  • Large screens, yes. But these are also crammed full of information
  • Cryptic presentation of the advanced settings that are not intuitively understandable.