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Canon EL-1 v2

0.9s Full-Power Recycling

Li-Ion Battery & Charger Included

Radio & Optical Control (2025-today)

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R1  R3  R5 II  R5  R5C  R6 III  R6 II  R6  R  R8  RP  R7  R10  R50  R50V  R100

Bodies Compared  RF Lenses  EF Lenses  Flash

Canon EL-1 Version 2 Speedlite Flash (23.7 oz./671g with included LP-EL battery, 24-200mm zoom head with 14mm wide panel and catchlight card, 0.9 second measured recycle time, measured GN 78'/24m at 35mm or 127'/39m at 105mm, $1,249). bigger. I got mine at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon, at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH.

This 100% all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to my personally approved sources I've used myself for way over 100 combined years when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Canon does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, non-USA, store demo or used flash — and all of my personally approved sources allow for 100% cash-back returns for at least 30 days if you don't love your new flash. I've used many of these sources since the 1970s because I can try it in my own hands and return it if I don't love it, and because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new flash before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I've used myself for decades for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.

Actual photo of LCD screen. bigger.

January 2026   Better Pictures   Canon Reviews   Canon Flash   Lenses   All Reviews

Original EL-1 (2020-2025)

B&H Photo - Video - Pro Audio I buy only from these approved sources. I can't vouch for ads below.

Introduction       top

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User's Guide   Recommendations

The EL-1 v2 is Canon's top professional flash. It's special because it uses a dedicated 14 Wh lithium battery that allows it to recycle completely from a full-power dump in just ⁹/₁₀ of a second. When you're shooting action or at fast frame rates, this is paramount to letting you shoot as fast as you want without having to wait for the battery and flash to catch up.

This version 2 is identical to the original EL-1. The only significant difference is that this v2 is quality Made in Japan while the original EL-1 had been dumped to Burma (Myanmar) for production. Bravo!

The two versions are identical in every way except for price and country of manufacture. Any technical differences are so close as to be completely insignificant.

It has a built-in fan so you can shoot longer and harder before it shuts off from overheating. It's rated for 170 full-power dumps with the cooling fan, or 50 without — which is also superb.

Most other flash units start to give up after 20 full-power dumps, while the EL-1 v2 can shoot at 1.1 FPS at full power for two and a half continuous minutes. Insane! Of course it's very rare that we'd ever be shooting at full power, so of course it shoots many more frames in TTL mode.

It easily shoots bursts at 20 FPS at typical power levels. My other pro flashes like my Canon 580EX II also easily shoot at 20 FPS at typical power levels; the big difference is that I can shoot longer bursts or at longer distances with the EL-1 v2 because it replenishes its main capacitor four times as fast.

Both versions lack the latest 21-pin "digital multi connector," so they can't work on the EOS R50 unless you buy an AD-E1 "Multi-Function Shoe Adapter." Good news is both versions have the usual 5-pin hot shoe so they work on almost every Canon camera ever made.

I got my EL-1 v2 at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon, at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH. Using any of these links when you get anything is a huge help to support this all-content website.

New since The Original EL-1 of 2020      top

Introduction   New   Good   Bad   Missing

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Now quality Made in Japan, bravo! The old EL-1 had production dumped to Myanmar (Burma).

EL-1 v2. bigger.

Now sells new for $1,249. (The original Burmese version sold for $1,100.)

Rated 340 full-power dumps on a charge versus 335 in the original EL-1 of 2020. So?

Full-power dumps rated GN 119'/36m at 50mm and ISO 100 versus 121'/37m in the original EL-1. So? In testing I find the V2 is slightly more powerful, so I'll call it even.

0.185 oz./5.2g lighter (23.680 oz./671.3 g versus 23.865 oz./676.5 g, actual measured weights with battery).

Good      top

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Made in Japan.

Fastest recycling ever, 0.9 seconds at full power! (runs at 20 FPS at most TTL and other power settings.)

Very consistent output from shot-to-shot at manual settings. My flash meter didn't vary at all from one shot to the next. Bravo!

Recycling progress bar — as if it matters with a 900 millisecond recycle time!

Rated for 50 full-power dumps before overheating without fan, or 170 full-power dumps with the cooling fan.

Internal cooling fan, if needed, for high-power continuous shooting.

Works as a radio and/or optical master transmitter or receiver.

Big LP-EL battery and charger included. It's similar to the LP-E6 batteries, but bigger.

The LP-EL battery charges with the included standard LC-E6 charger, the same superb charger included with most Canon DSLRs for the past ten years or more, so you probably don't have to carry an extra charger.

Wired PC sync terminal, radio and optical wireless sync.

Spectrum analyzer measures and displays best radio channels to use.

Manual power sets down to ¹/_8,192 in third-stops, not that anyone needs to set the flash 13 stops below full power!

L-class weather resistance, thus the red "L" line around the front.

Built-in infra-red autofocus illuminator.

Built-in continuous LED flashlight or modeling light; press the LAMP button.

LED modeling lamp adjustable for both brightness and color temperature!

Legible and well-lit LCD panel.

LCD panel shows battery charge, and the menu can read it in percent.

Fast, easy and obvious to setup and use.

It gets even better when you realize that the center control button also works as a 4-way joystick!

External power input socket.

The widest range of contortions I've ever seen for moving the flash head ±180º horizontally and from -7º to +120º vertically, meaning it can point behind you without having to rotate sideways!

Built-in slide-out 14mm wide panel and catchlight card:

Slide-Out Wide Panel & Catchlight Card. bigger.

Transmits color temperature information (which varies with power) to the camera for auto white balance optimization.

Continuous Shooting Priority Mode ("CSP") lowers the power by half and raises the camera's ISO by a stop in one action to allow the system to shoot continuously at twice the frame rate.

High-Speed Sync (HSS) mode.

Front- and rear-curtain modes.

Repeating strobe mode.

Olde-fashioned on-flash-metered "A" exposure mode, but only works properly if your camera lets the flash know the ISO and lens aperture.

Metered manual flash, but only with 1D series cameras.

100% U.S.A.-based high-quality technical support at (800) OK-CANON.

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Expensive: $1,249 — for a flash? My first car cost me a lot less than that.

While the LCD and the buttons themselves are well illuminated, the button markings are not, making most of the buttons useless in the dark:

Button markings are invisible in the dark. darker.

Missing      top

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No 21-pin "digital multi function contacts;" has only the traditional 5-pin hot shoe.

No remote cord socket; you can't use the SN-R3 cable. (Does have a classic Prontor-Compur (PC) terminal.)

No green fluorescent color conversion filter.

Compatibility       top

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I got my EL-1 v2 at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon, at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH. Using any of these links when you get anything is a huge help to support this all-content website.

The EL-1 v2 has a traditional 5-pin hot shoe, so it works with just about every Canon camera except for the EOS R50, which lacks those five pins. For use on the R50 or other mirrorless camera without traditional flash contacts, you'll need the AD-E1 "Multi-Function Shoe Adapter."

The EL-1 v2 does not have the newest 21-pin "digital multi function contacts" of the EL-5 and EL-10.

The EL-1 v2 uses Canon's E-TTL and Canon's E-TTL II flash control systems, which means it works on every Canon mirrorless camera, on every Canon DSLR and on most Canon 35mm EOS film cameras.

It won't work properly on the very old original TTL-flash system in the oldest 35mm cameras. Your camera camera needs to be compatible at least with the E-TTL system.

I doubt that you'd use this $1,250 flash with a 1987 EOS 620; even the most demented film shooters should be using a good EOS camera like the EOS-1V or at least an EOS-3, which should work fine with this. Geesh.

See the compatibility sections in Canon's manual if you have any specific questions, and I doubt you'll have any problems.

Specifications       top

Introduction   New   Good   Bad   Missing

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USA Version   Performance   Compared

User's Guide   Recommendations

I got my EL-1 v2 at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon, at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH. Using any of these links when you get anything is a huge help to support this all-content website.

Rated Power Output       specifications       top

*Guide Number at ISO 100. Divide the guide number by your distance in meters or feet and that's the aperture to use at full manual power.

Recycling Time       specifications       top

Rated 0.9 seconds (900 mS) at full power, and that's what I measure. Bravo!

Much faster or instantaneous at lower (normal) powers.

Full-Power Shooting       specifications       top

Internal cooling fan, if needed, for high-power continuous shooting.

Rated for 50 full-power dumps before overheating without fan, or 170 full-power dumps with the cooling fan. This is insane; normal flashes get hot after 20 full-power dumps, and the EL-1 v2 can shoot at 1.1 FPS at full power for two and a half minutes!

Flashes per charge       specifications       top

Rated 340 at full power.

Many more at normal power levels.

Flash Durations       specifications       top

¹/₉₂₀ second (1.09 mS) at full power to ¹/_130,430 second (7.67 µS) at ¹/_8,192 power.)

(Original EL-1 rated ¹/₉₆₀ second (1.04 mS) at full power to ¹/_107,800 second (9.28 µS) at ¹/_8,192 power.)

Flash Head Zoom Range       specifications       top

24 ~ 200mm on full-frame.

Wide Panel: 14mm on full frame.

Flash Head Bounce Angles       specifications       top

±180º left and right.

-7º down to +120º up, which actually faces up and then 30º backwards!

Infrared Illuminator Range       specifications       top

Up to 33 feet (10 meters) in the center, 16 feet (5 meters) everywhere else.

Infrared Illuminator Coverage       specifications       top

Sprays infrared targets on the image as wide as seen with a 28mm lens (on full frame) to cover all the camera's AF sensors.

Sync Modes       specifications       top

Front or rear curtain, High Speed Sync (HSS), stroboscopic.

Wired PC (Prontor-Compur) socket or dedicated hot shoe.

Wireless via radio or optical control.

Modeling Lamps       specifications       top

Continuous LED or rapid stroboscopic Xenon discharge.

Wireless       specifications       top

Optical

Up to 50'/15m indoors.

Groups A, B and/or C.

Channels 1-4.

Radio

Up to 10'/30m indoors.

Groups A, B, C, D and/or E.

Channels 1 - 15 or Auto.

Wireless Radio ID 0 ~ 9999.

Quality       specifications       top

Flash made in Japan.

Battery made in Japan.

Stand made in Japan.

Filters (SBA-EL, SCF-ELOR1 and SCF-ELOR2) made in Japan.

Case made in China.

Power & Battery       specifications       top

Battery

Included LP-EL battery. bigger.

Included LP-EL battery. bigger.

Included LP-EL battery or optional CP-E4N External 8-AA Battery Pack.

Battery Level Indicator

5-segment icon.

Percentage readout in menus.

Battery health and full-power shot counter readout in menus.

Charging

Battery Charger LC-E6.

LC-E6 folding plug 100-240V 50-60 cps charger included.

Rated 2.2 hours to charge from 0% to 100%.

Size       specifications       top

3.32 × 5.87 × 5.37 inches WHD.

84.4 × 149.0 × 136.4 millimeters WHD.

Weight       specifications       top

23.680 oz. (671.3 g ) with included LP-EL battery, actual measured weight. (Original EL-1 actually measured 23.865 oz./676.5 g.)

Rated 24.02 oz. (681g) with battery and 19.97 oz. (566g) naked.

(Original EL-1 was rated 20.18 oz. (572 g) stripped naked.)

Operating Environment       specifications       top

0º ～ 45º C (32º ～ 113º F).

0 to 85% RH.

Canon's Model Number       specifications       top

7288C002.

Included       specifications       top

LC-E6 Battery Charger and LP-EL battery

Case

Included case. bigger.

Stand & Filters

Included Stand, Sto-Fen-style Diffuser (SBA-EL), ⅓ CTO (SCF-ELOR1) & CTO (SCF-ELOR1) Filters for Canon EL-1 v2. bigger.

Included SBA-EL Sto-Fen style diffuser on EL-1 v2. bigger.

Announced       specifications       top

16 July 2025.

Price, U. S. A.       specifications       top

January 2026

$1,249 at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

The old EL-1 sells for $762 ~ 826 used at KEH.

The old EL-1 sells for about $796 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

EL-1 v2 box. bigger.

Optional Accessories      (what's included)   top

Introduction   New   Good   Bad   Missing

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I got my EL-1 v2 at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon, at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH. Using any of these links when you get anything is a huge help to support this all-content website.

OC-E3 Coiled Shoe Extension Cord.

CP-E4N External 8-AA Battery Pack.

Getting a Legal U. S. A. Version       top

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This section applies in the U. S. A. only.

I got my EL-1 v2 at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon, at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH. Using any of these links when you get anything is a huge help to support this all-content website.

EL-1 USA Warranty card. bigger.

Your flash must include a U. S. A. warranty card like the one shown above from Canon U.S.A., Inc. It should be on top inside your box as you open it. The serial number on the card must match the serial number on the sticker on the bottom of your flash head.

If not, you got ripped off with a gray market version from another country. This is why I never buy anyplace other than from my personally approved sources. You just can't take the chance of buying elsewhere, especially at any retail store, because non-U. S. A. versions have no warranty in the U. S. A., and you probably won't be able to get firmware or service for it — even if you're willing to pay out-of-pocket for it when you need it!

Shifty dealers may include color copies of a card from a legitimate U. S. A. item in a gray-market box, hoping you won't check serial numbers and catch their fraud. A card with the wrong serial number means nothing other than that you have no warranty coverage.

The serial number on the box on the sticker below the UPC code doesn't have to match, but it should. If not, it means a shady dealer took things out of boxes and was too sloppy to put them back correctly — and it means you got a used lens if anyone other than you took it out of the box.

If a gray market version saves you $500 the risk might be worth it, but for $200 or less I wouldn't risk having no warranty or support.

Always be sure to check yours while you can still return it, or just don't buy from unapproved sources or at retail so you'll be able to have your camera serviced and get free updated firmware as needed. Get yours from the same places I do and you won't have a problem.

Performance       top

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User's Guide   Recommendations

I got my EL-1 v2 at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon, at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH. Using any of these links when you get anything is a huge help to support this all-content website.

Measured Power Output       specifications       top

*Guide Number at ISO 100. Divide the guide number by your distance in meters or feet and that's the aperture to use at full manual power.

Recycling Time       specifications       top

0.9 seconds (900 mS) at full power, measured.

Much faster or instantaneous at lower (normal) powers.

Exposure       specifications       top

Exposure is mostly a factor of your own technique and your camera; your camera's TTL system is more critical to exposure than the flash, which is simply controlled by the camera.

Light Quality       specifications       top

I use the light orange ⅓ CTO or SCF-ELOR1 filter most of the time to warm the light.

Light is art; we all want something different.

Compared       top

Introduction   New   Good   Bad   Missing  

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USA Version   Performance   Compared  

User's Guide   Recommendations

I got my EL-1 v2 at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon, at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH. Using any of these links when you get anything is a huge help to support this all-content website.

More Canon Flash Reviews.

V2 Versus the Original EL-1

While people who've never owned one of these will quote the specifications that the v2 has very slightly less peak power and slightly more full-power flashes per charge, in my actual testing I found that the my v2 has slightly more peak power.

The slight variation I see in the measured guide numbers of my v2 versus my original EL-1 more likely come from variations in the furniture in my studio where I measured the original in 2021 and the v2 in 2026 rather than differences in the flashes.

The sticker and box say "v2;" otherwise they have the same power and battery life and recycling time and to 50 to 170 full-power shot limitations as the original unit. I'd get an original used one at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH, and not worry about buying one of these "V2." Typically something like this happens when Canon no longer can get a part to make the original, and has to redesign it to be the same product with newer parts, or it's the same product renamed just to justify a price hike, but otherwise, it's the same as the original!

The press release for the v2 was copied from the original 2020 press release that mentioned "new" controls and user interface and the built-in fan; in fact these are unchanged and no longer new in the v2. Hah!

The only real difference is if you care about it being made domestically in Japan (this v2) rather than having been dumped to Burma (the original EL-1).

EL-1/v2 Versus the World

The EL-1 v2 stands out for its insanely fast recycling. If I'm shooting action, the EL-1 v2 is the flash to have.

If I'm not shooting loads of bursts at 20 FPS, then I always have my compact 320EX in my case ready to go for everything else.

The EL-1 v2 is a monster flash, but doesn't feel as heavy as you'd think. It dwarfs other full-size professional flashes like my trusty 580EX II:

Canon EL-1, 580EX II and 320EX Flashes Compared. bigger.

* Actual measured values.

These all take the same pictures, and have surprisingly similar maximum power outputs.

The 580EX II has slightly more maximum power than the EL-1 & v2, while the EL-1 & v2 recycles over four times as fast. Even at its maximum zoom of "only" 105mm, the 580EX II still has more measured power than the EL-1 v2 does at its 200mm setting; don't be fooled by the zoom head ranges!

The 320EX is much smaller, and impressively has almost as much maximum power (and therefore range) as the the EL-1 v2.

All four can shoot bursts at lower power at 20 FPS; the difference is how many frames it can shoot before it loses steam. While the EL-1 v2 is built for this, I'm also impressed at how the EL-100 also has no problem keeping up with long bursts at fast frame rates.

Compared to Current Flashes

(roughly to scale—>)
	EL-1 v2	EL-5	430EX III RT	EL-100
Full-power GN at 24mm*	76' / 23m	70' / 22m	56' / 17m	53' / 16m
Full-power GN at 50mm*	90' / 27m	105' / 31m	80' / 24m	67' / 20m
Full-power recycling*	0.9s	0.9s	3.0s	3.1s
Battery	LP-EF	LP-EF	4 AA	2 AA
Remote Control	Optical & Radio	Radio only	Radio or Optical	Optical only
Txmttr and/or Slave	Txmttr or Slave	Txmttr or Slave	Txmttr or Slave	Txmttr or Slave
Foot	Standard 5-pin	Multi-Function only	Standard 5-pin	Standard 5-pin
Works with	Just about every EOS camera, digital or 35mm, made since the late 1990s.	Only the newest cameras since about 2021 with the "Multi-Function Shoe."	Just about every EOS camera, digital or 35mm, made since the late 1990s.	Just about every EOS camera, digital or 35mm, made since the late 1990s.
Infrared AF Illuminator	Yes	No (uses white LED)	Yes	No
White LED	Yes	Yes	No	No
Weight w/battery, oz.*	23.7 oz.	20.7 oz.	13.9 oz.	8.4 oz.
Weight w/battery, g.*	671 g.	586 g.	394 g.	239 g.
Made in	Japan	Taiwan	Taiwan	Taiwan
Introduced	2025 July	2022 November 02	2015 July 08	2018 September 06
Gone by	current	current	current	current
Price, 03/2021	n/a	n/a	$299
Price, 09/2022	n/a	n/a	$299	$149
Price, 08/2023	n/a	$399	$299	$149
Price, 01/2026	$1,249	$349

* Actual measured values.

All four can shoot bursts at lower power at 20 FPS; the difference is how many frames each can shoot before it loses steam. The EL-5 and EL-1 v2 are the best for this, and the EL-1 v2 adds a fan to keep the flash cooler and let you shoot longer before it overheats.

EL-1 v2 versus EL-5

The EL-1 v2 works on almost all cameras, while the EL-5 only works on a few of the newest cameras.

The EL-1 v2 is for people who need to use it on older cameras without a Multi Function shoe, as well as the newest cameras.

The EL-1 v2 is bigger.

The EL-1 v2 and EL-5 use the same battery, while the EL-1 v2 includes a charger. Canon expects you to provide your own with the EL-5.

The EL-1 v2 has many more external connectors like external power and PC corded sync.

The EL-1 v2 includes more accessories like a diffuser and filters.

The EL-1 v2 has a fan to let you shoot at maximum power for more bursts before the flash melts or slows down.

The EL-1 v2 has more internal processing power than the EL-5; the EL-5 as a digital-shoe only flash actually offloads some of its processing to the camera's processors!

*Guide Number at ISO 100. Divide the guide number by your distance in meters or feet and that's the aperture to use at full manual power.

*Guide Number at ISO 100. Divide the guide number by your distance in meters or feet and that's the aperture to use at full manual power.

User's Guide       top

Introduction   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

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User's Guide   Recommendations

I got my EL-1 v2 at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon, at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH. Using any of these links when you get anything is a huge help to support this all-content website.

See also Canon's EL-1 v2 User's Guide PDF and Phil Steele's Advanced Off-Camera Flash course.

Battery       user's guide       top

I didn't even bother to unwrap the new LC-E6 charger that comes with the EL-1 v2; it's the same charger I've been using with my DSLRs for many years, so I just popped its new LP-EL battery into my old charger and I'm good to go.

Canon suggests removing the battery from the flash if left unused for a long time, as it could over-discharge and damage the battery.

If the 5-segment battery charge icon isn't precise enough for you, you can read the battery percent by pressing the rear SUB MENU button, then turning the wheel to "information" and pressing the central control button.

If you want to know even more (like battery health and how many full-power flashes you've made), press the center button again.

Colored Filters       user's guide       top

Included Stand, Sto-Fen-style Diffuser (SBA-EL), ⅓ CTO (SCF-ELOR1) & CTO (SCF-ELOR1) Filters for Canon EL-1 v2. bigger.

Pro practice is to filter your flash to match the ambient light. Otherwise subject and background take on different color casts — yuck!

In daylight, no filter is needed as the flash matches daylight.

Indoors with tungsten or 3,200K or 2,700K lighting, use the deep orange filter to make the flash match the ambient light. With most cameras set to Auto White Balance the system will magically reset to match the flash because the EL-1 v2 has little feelers that detect which filter you're using and sets the white balance accordingly. Clever!

Using the deep orange filter indoors will prevent very warm backgrounds or blue people. You get either one or the other or a combination of both if you don't match the flash to ambient light, but use the filter and all should look awesome.

Also use either orange filter to taste when the flash is used for fill at sunset — but set your white balance manually to preserve the orange glow to taste (otherwise the Auto WB will try to make everything look too blue).

If I can't avoid shooting under fluorescent light, I use a a small piece of green fluorescent conversion filter taped over the flash. Canon doesn't include one of these.

For manual exposures, the light orange filter eats up ⅓ stop of light, and the deep orange filter uses 1 full stop of light.

Getting 20 FPS       user's guide       top

Obviously you can't shoot at 20 FPS at full power if it takes 0.9s to recycle, however we almost never actually shoot at full power.

Even at quarter power (which is still a pretty hefty blast), you can get off two shots at the 20 FPS rate, and at 1/8 you can get off 4 shots at 20 FPS, and so on as the power level drops.

Power levels are usually much less than this in typical TTL shooting. Depending on how close you are to your subject and the level of ambient light, you'll be able to make longer and longer bursts at 20 FPS — and the EL-1 v2 is always back up and ready for another burst a second later.

If you're close enough you conceivably could shoot all day at 20 FPS. It all depends on how much power you're using, which depends on how close you are and the ambient light for fill.

The EL-1 v2 can recharge its capacitor from 0% to 100% in 0.9 seconds (beat that, Porsche), and if you're shooting at low enough power the EL-1 v2 can keep its capacitor full all the time as you blast away; a blast at 1/10 power only brings the capacitor down to 90%, for instance.

So yes, most of the time it works just fine with my R5 at 20 FPS. I'm astonished at just how hot and heavy it blasts away for 20 FPS bursts as I'm shooting; no other flash has been able to keep up as well as the EL-1 v2 does.

Multiple Light Setups       user's guide       top

I always use battery powered flash on top of my camera for fill flash when photographing people or pups in strong sunlight, as well as most kinds of light.

For multiple light setups, I use plug-in-the-wall, stand-mounted wired studio strobes, which saves me having to screw around with all the maddening wireless settings. I use one optical slave plugged into my powerpack to trigger the whole wired system wirelessly from any basic on-camera flash and I'm done.

Even the most basic studio strobes are about tens times as powerful as the EL-1 v2 so I can stop down more and shoot at ISO 100 for much sharper images, and studio strobes are built to live on light stands and don't require the fiddling needed to attach little flashes like the EL-1 v2 to a stand — and I never have to change batteries in my studio strobes. My one optical slave always fires everything, so I spend zero time cursing at units not firing.

If you want to mess around with battery powered multiple lights with the EL-1 v2 go right ahead, but I don't use battery powered shoe-mount strobes for multiple light setups. My entire pro strobe system, complete with stands and umbrellas, cost me half of what an EL-1 v2 costs — and I've been using the same set of used studio strobes for close to 20 years! Today you can get a complete set of wired strobes, stands and umbrellas for $400 new!

I doubt the EL-1 v2 has enough power to work well (meaning being able to shoot at at least f/8 at ISO 100) with umbrellas. If I have to shoot a gig at another location, my whole strobe system pops into one case and I'm on the road.

High-Power Battleshort       user's guide       top

"Battleshort" is military term used in complex combat and weapons systems, like a US Navy destroyer. It's a setting that overrides safety shutoffs if we're engaged in active combat, where being able to continue to fight is more important than worrying about some piece of overloaded gear shutting down. Battleshort bypasses all the safety shutdowns and makes everything keep going.

Hidden in the "DON'T DO THIS" section of Canon's manual is that if you open the battery door after the flash shuts down from overheating, it cancels the shutdown!

Don't do this, unless you don't mind risking melting or setting your flash on fire — but if your life or career depends on getting the shot, there you go.

Recommendations       top

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I got my EL-1 v2 at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon, at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH. Using any of these links when you get anything is a huge help to support this all-content website.

The EL-1 and this v2 are for people who need super-fast recycling and the ability to belt out loads of high-speed bursts again and again in ways that would melt any other ordinary flash.

This v2 is identical to the original EL-1 except that this new v2 is made in Japan. If you don't mind a flash made in Burma, then a used EL-1 does exactly the same thing for two-thirds the price of a new EL-1 v2.

Shoot news, sports, action or events for a living? Get yourself an EL-1 v2. Need ultrafast recycling or need to shoot lots of rapid bursts at longer distances? Get yourself an EL-1 v2. Need to shoot hard and heavy without waiting for your flash to cool off? Get yourself an EL-1 v2.

If you're not shooting so hard and fast, any other Canon flash works as well for a lot less money. A flash is just a xenon tube, a capacitor and a battery. Exposure is controlled by the camera's TTL system, not by the flash itself. Two of my favorites are my fully professional professional 580EX II and my compact 320EX. The 580EX II is even a little bit more powerful than the EL-1 v2, and either of them are available used (see the links at each review) for less than one tenth of the price of a new EL-1 v2, which does the same thing if you're not trying to shoot fast bursts or at full power all day, every day — but ooooh, I so love the EL-1 v2 for shooting all my portrait sessions at 20 FPS in short bursts to get lots of similars which lets me pick the absolutely best expression of several. This alone can give you a competitive professional edge where you didn't think you need speed; just shoot three-shot bursts where you used to shoot just one frame and see what happens.

I got my EL-1 v2 at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon, at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH. Using any of these links when you get anything is a huge help to support this all-content website.

Is It Worth It?

It is, if you need speed and can afford it.

If all you need is an on-camera flash for general shooting and don't shoot that hard or fast to need the speed, then no, it isn't worth it if you actually have to work for a living and money matters. Get a 580EX II for about about $100 used if you know How to Win at eBay and it will take exactly the same pictures with even a little bit more range.

See also Is It Worth It.

This 100% all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to my personally approved sources I've used myself for way over 100 combined years when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Canon does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, non-USA, store demo or used flash — and all of my personally approved sources allow for 100% cash-back returns for at least 30 days if you don't love your new flash. I've used many of these sources since the 1970s because I can try it in my own hands and return it if I don't love it, and because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new flash before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I've used myself for decades for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.

Thanks for helping me help you!

Ken.

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