Canon EL-10

2.5s Full-Power Recycling, Wireless Radio Commander and Slave

Only works on the newest EOS R1, R3, R5 II, R6 II, R8, R7, R10 and R50 cameras.

Introduction   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Performance   Compared   User's Guide  

Recommendations   More

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-10 Flash

Canon EL-10 Flash (13.7 oz./388g with 4-AA eneloop, measured GN 19m/63' at 35mm or 29m/95' at 105mm, measured 2.5s recycle time, $199). bigger. I got mine at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

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.

 

November 2024   Better Pictures   Canon Reviews   Canon Flash   Lenses   All Reviews

Phil Steele's Advanced Off-Camera Flash course

EL-1 (2020 - today)

580 EX II (2007 - 2012)

EL-5 (2022 - today)

430EX III RT (2015 - 2024, when it was reincarnated as this EL-10!)

320EX (2011-2017)

EL-100 (2018-2024)

 

Canon EL-10 Flash

Canon EL-10 on included stand. bigger.

 

Canon EL-10 Flash

Canon EL-10. The rear LCD is not particularly visible, and the green backlight is very dim, only for use in pitch black. bigger.

Please help KenRockwell.com

Adorama Pays Top Dollar for Used Gear

Amazon

B&H Photo - Video - Pro Audio

Crutchfield

I buy only from these approved sources. I can't vouch for ads below.

Introduction       top

Introduction   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Performance   Compared   User's Guide  

Recommendations   More

This EL-10 is a well-featured, small-sized and reasonably-priced flash with a very flexible zoom head.

The big gotcha is that it only works with the very newest cameras with a Multi Function Shoe, which as of November 2024 are the EOS R1, R3, R5 II, R6 II, R8, R7, R10 and R50 cameras. It will not work with any other camera.

This EL-10 is a newer version of the 430EX III RT (2015 - 2024) that replaces the universal shoe with the new weirdly incompatible shoe, removes the infrared AF illuminator, removes optical IR slave ability, removes the ability to change the LCD backlight to orange (from green), removes the lock on the tilting head, no longer includes the SBA-E2 bounce diffuser or the SCF-E2 tungsten filter that all came included with the 430EX III RT. For about $100 used (How to Win at eBay) the 430EX III RT is actually a better, more compatible version of this EL-10 for half the price. The 430EX III RT works with just about every Canon camera made since about 1999; the only incompatibility is that the the R50 has only the new shoe and needs this EL-10; for any other Canon camera the 430EX III RT might be a superior choice for much less money.

I got my EL-10 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

New Since 430EX III RT      top

Introduction   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Performance   Compared   User's Guide  

Recommendations   More

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com New weird and not very compatible Multi Function Shoe replaces the standard 5-pin shoe, so it

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Only works with the very newest cameras with a Multi Function Shoe, which as of November 2024 are the EOS R1, R3, R5 II, R6 II, R8, R7, R10 and R50 cameras. It will not work with any other camera.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com No more infrared AF illuminator.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com No more optical IR slave ability (radio transmit/receive only).

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com No longer includes the SBA-E2 bounce diffuser.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com No longer includes the SCF-E2 tungsten filter.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com No more lock on the tilting head.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com No more ability to change the LCD backlight to orange from green.

 

Good      top

Introduction   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Performance   Compared   User's Guide  

Recommendations   More

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Compact and full-featured.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Wireless Radio Transmission (commander) and reception (slave). It even can fire up to 15 other cameras wirelessly and simultaneously! (No optical wireless ability.)

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Fast recycling, 2.5 seconds at full power with 4-AA eneloop.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Fast, easy and obvious to setup and use.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Built-in slide-out 14mm wide panel and catchlight card:

Canon EL-10 Flash

Canon EL-10 Wide Diffuser and Bounce Card. bigger.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Slow Sync.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com HSS High Speed Sync.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com FE Lock.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Metered Manual flash exposure.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Second Curtain Sync.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Transmits color temperature information to the camera for auto white balance.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Manual power sets down to 1/1,024 in third-stops, not that anyone needs to set the flash 10 stops below full power!

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com 100% U.S.A.-based high-quality technical support at (800) OK-CANON.

 

Bad      top

Introduction   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Performance   Compared   User's Guide  

Recommendations   More

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Only works with the very newest cameras with a Multi Function Shoe, which as of November 2024 are the EOS R1, R3, R5 II, R6 II, R8, R7, R10 and R50 cameras. It will not work with any other camera.

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com No Infrared AF illuminator; uses annoying multiple bursts of flash instead.

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com The rear LCD is not well lit and often not particularly visible.

 

Missing      top

Introduction   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Performance   Compared   User's Guide  

Recommendations   More

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.comOnly works with the very newest cameras with a Multi Function Shoe, which as of November 2024 are the EOS R1, R3, R5 II, R6 II, R8, R7, R10 and R50 cameras. It will not work with any other camera.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No Infrared AF illuminator; uses annoying bursts of flash instead.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No optical slave or commander ability (radio commander/slave control only).

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No -7º tilt down.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No repeating stroboscopic mode.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No diffuser included.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No colored filters included. So? Use gels and tape as I've done since the 1970s.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No exposure confirmation beep; if you run out of flash power at long distances or in daylight you'll have to see it on playback rather than hearing some sort of beep or lack thereof.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Buttons are not illuminated.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No PC sync terminal.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No remote cord socket; you can't use the SN-R3 cable.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No external power input socket.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No 1970's-style on-flash-metered "A" exposure mode.

 

Compatibility       top

Introduction   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Performance   Compared   User's Guide  

Recommendations   More

 

I got my EL-10 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

The EL-10 only works with the very newest cameras with a Multi Function Shoe, which as of November 2024 are the EOS R1, R3, R5 II, R6 II, R8, R7, R10 and R50 cameras.

As of November 2024 there is no adapter to let this flash work on any other camera.

It uses a special new foot with 15 gold-plated pins to talk to these new cameras through their 21-pin Multi-Function Shoes. Note the lack of traditional contacts; the 15 gold pins now do everything:

Canon EL-10 Flash

New Multi-Function Shoe. There are no regular contacts, just a bunch of tiny gold ones. bigger.

The advantage of this 15-pin digital connector is that the EL-10 can use the camera's processing power, rather than needing its own signal processing. Older flashes like the EL-1 need more processors to do all the processing themselves.

Cameras have loads of processing power available while they're not crunching just-shot images, and flashes only need this computational capacity just before the image is captured when the camera is more idle, so we all win since we don't need to pay to duplicate processing power — if you have a compatible camera.

These 15 pins connect to Canon's new 21-pin Multi Function Shoes. Here's the easy way to identify a Multi Function Shoe:

Canon R8 Multi Function Shoe

Canon R8 Multi Function Shoe

R8 Multi Function Shoe. bigger.
R8 Multi Function Shoe. bigger.

 

The EL-10 won't work with cameras with only a traditional hot shoe lacking the tiny contacts:

Canon R100 Traditional Hot Shoe

Canon R100 Traditional Hot Shoe

R100 Hot Shoe. bigger.
R100 Hot Shoe. bigger.

 

Specifications       top

Introduction   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Performance   Compared   User's Guide  

Recommendations   More

 

I got my EL-10 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

Rated Power Output       specifications       top

At full power
Rated GN*
Measured GN*
14mm Wide Panel
40' / 12m
31' / 9.4m
24mm
68' / 21m
50' / 15m
35mm
83' / 25m
63' / 19m
50mm
97' / 30m
71' / 22m
105mm
133' / 40.5m
95' / 29m

*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 1.5 seconds at full power with 4-AA eneloop, or 2.5s with alkalines.

I measure 2.5 seconds with my 15-year-old AA eneloop cells.

 

Flashes per charge       specifications       top

Rated 260 at full power with 4-AA eneloop, or 210 with alkalines.

Rated up to 1,700 at low power with 4-AA eneloop, or 1,400 with alkalines.

 

Flash Head Zoom Range       specifications       top

24 ~ 105mm on full-frame.

Wide Panel: 14mm on full frame.

 

Flash Head Bounce Angles       specifications       top

-150º left and +180º right.

0º down to +90º up.

 

Sync Modes       specifications       top

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

 

Modeling Lamps       specifications       top

Rapid stroboscopic Xenon discharge, which is useless for people photos because everyone covers their eyes!.

 

Wireless       specifications       top

Optical

NONE.

 

Radio

2.405 ~ 2.475 GHz.

Rated up to 100'/30m indoors.

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

Channels 1 - 15 or Auto.

Wireless Radio ID 0 ~ 9999.

Up to 9 hours shooting time with alkalines before it shuts off.

 

Quality       specifications       top

Canon EL-10 Flash

Certifications & Serial Number. bigger.

Flash made in Taiwan.

 

Size       specifications       top

2.78 × 4.58 × 3.87 inches WHD.

70.6 × 116.3 × 98.3 millimeters WHD.

 

Weight       specifications       top

13.700 oz. (388.4g) with 4-AA eneloop, actual measured weight.

Rated 10.1 oz. (287g) empty.

 

Operating Environment       specifications       top

0º ~ 45º C (32º ~ 113º F).

0 to 85% RH.

 

Canon's Model Number       specifications       top

6579C001.

 

Included       specifications       top

Flash.

Stand.

Warranty and basic get-started guide. (full manual is online, not in the box.)

Case:

Canon EL-10 Flash

Canon EL-10 included case. bigger.

 

Announced       specifications       top

05 June 2024.

 

Price, U. S. A.       specifications       top

28 November 2024

$199 at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

Get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

05 June 2024

$249.99 MSRP at introduction.

Canon EL-10 Flash

Canon EL-10 Flash

Canon EL-10 Flash

Box. bigger.

Box Back. bigger.

Box End. bigger.

 

Accessories      (what's included)   top

Introduction   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Performance   Compared   User's Guide  

Recommendations   More

 

I got my EL-10 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

These filters from the 430EX III RT (2015 - 2024) should work (not included):

SBA-E2 bounce diffuser SCF-E2 Color Filter

 

Performance       top

Introduction   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Performance   Compared   User's Guide  

Recommendations   More

 

I got my EL-10 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

Measured Power Output       performance       top

At full power
Measured GN*
Rated GN*
14mm Wide Panel
31' / 9.4m
40' / 12m
24mm
50' / 15m
68' / 21m
35mm
63' / 19m
83' / 25m
50mm
71' / 22m
97' / 30m
105mm
95' / 29m
133' / 40.5m

*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       performance       top

2.5 seconds at full power, measured with 15-year-old AA eneloop cells reading 80~100% charged on my ZTS tester.

2.6 seconds at full power, measured with 15-year-old AA eneloop cells reading 40~80% charged on my ZTS tester.

 

Exposure       performance       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.

Exposures are all wonderful on my R5 II.

 

Frame Rates       performance       top

It shoots at 8 FPS with the electronic shutter of my R5 II.

It shoots at 12 FPS with the electronic first-curtain shutter of my R5 II.

It shoots at 11 FPS with the mechanical shutter of my R5 II.

 

Power Control & Integration       performance       top

Oddly the EL-10 doesn't shut off when I turn off my R5 II, although it will time-out and go to sleep. Its data communication sadly isn't all that fluent.

By comparison, my 2006 Nikon SB400 turns on and off magically on today's Z cameras all by itself; much better communication.

The the EL-10 does turn back on by itself when my R5 II wakes up.

Pressing the LCD illuminator button on my R5 II does not turn on the flash's LCD illuminator. Poor form here, Canon!

 

Compared       top

Introduction   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Performance   Compared   User's Guide  

Recommendations   More

I got my EL-10 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.

More Canon Flash Reviews.

 

Versus the 430EX III RT (2015-2014)

This EL-10 is a newer version of the 430EX III RT.

Sadly this EL-10 removes many features from the 430 EX III RT; the 430EX III RT is actually a better, more compatible flash.

The 430 EX II RT looks the same and works the same, assuming you're using features common to both flashes:

Canon EL-10 Flash
Canon EL-100
Canon EL-10 Flash
Canon EL-100

For about $299 new or about $100 used (How to Win at eBay) the 430EX III RT is a better, more compatible version of this EL-10.

The 430EX III RT works with just about every Canon camera made since about 1999; the only incompatibility is that the the R50 has only the new shoe and needs this EL-10; for any other Canon camera the 430EX III RT is a superior choice.

 

Versus Current Flashes       compared       top

(roughly to scale—>)
Canon EL-1 Flash
Canon EL-10 Flash
Canon EL-10 Flash
Canon EL-100
Canon EL-100
 
Full-power GN at 24mm*
63' / 19m
70' / 22m
50' / 15m
56' / 17m
53' / 16m
Full-power GN at 50mm*
87' / 27m
105' / 31m
71' / 22m
80' / 24m
67' / 20m
Full-power recycling*
0.9s
0.9s
2.5s
3.0s
3.1s
Battery
4 AA
2 AA
Remote Control
Optical & Radio
Radio only
Radio only
Radio or Optical
Optical only
Txmttr and/or Slave
Txmttr or Slave
Txmttr or Slave
Txmttr or Slave
Txmttr or Slave
Txmttr or Slave
Foot
Standard 5-pin
Multi-Function only
Multi-Function only
Standard 5-pin
Standard 5-pin
Works with

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Just about every EOS camera, digital or 35mm, made since the late 1990s.

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Only the newest cameras since about 2021 with the "Multi-Function Shoe."

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Only the newest cameras since about 2021 with the "Multi-Function Shoe." green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Just about every EOS camera, digital or 35mm, made since the late 1990s. green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Just about every EOS camera, digital or 35mm, made since the late 1990s.
Infrared AF Illuminator
Yes
No (uses white LED)
No (uses blinding flashes)
Yes
No (uses blinding flashes)
White LED
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Weight w/battery, oz.*
23.9 oz.
20.7 oz.
13.7 oz.
13.9 oz.
8.4 oz.
Weight w/battery, g.*
676 g.
586 g.
388 g.
394 g.
239 g.
Made in
Myanmar
Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan
Introduced
2020 October
2022 November 02
2024 June 05
2015 July 08
2018 September 06
Gone by
current
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

$299

$149

Price, 11/2024

$299 new or $100 used **

About $114 used**

* Actual measured values.

** If you know How to Win at eBay.

All four can shoot bursts at lower power at 20 FPS (this EL-10 seems limited to 12 FPS on my R5 II); the difference is how many frames each can shoot before it loses steam. The EL-5 and EL-1 are the best for this, and the EL-1 adds a fan to keep the flash cooler and let you shoot harder and longer before it overheats.

 

Versus Some Great Used Flashes       compared       top

Personally I prefer my older flashes because they work with all my cameras and cost much, much less than the latest new flashes:

(roughly to scale—>)
Canon EL-10 Flash
Canon 580RX II
Canon 320EX
 
Full-power GN at 24mm*
50' / 15m
71' / 22m
67' / 20m
Full-power GN at 50mm*
71' / 22m
101' / 31m
80' / 24m
Full-power recycling*
2.5s
4.1s
2.4s
Battery
Remote Control
Radio only
Optical only
Optical only
Txmttr and/or Slave
Txmttr or Slave
Txmttr or Slave
Slave only
Foot
Multi-Function only
Standard 5-pin
Standard 5-pin
Works with
red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Only the newest cameras since about 2021 with the "Multi-Function Shoe." green ball icon © KenRockwell.com green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Every EOS camera made since 1987.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Just about every EOS camera, digital or 35mm, made since the late 1990s.

Infrared AF Illuminator
No (uses blinding flashes)
Yes
No
White LED
No
No
Yes
Weight w/battery, oz.*
13.7 oz.
18.1 oz.
13.1 oz.
Weight w/battery, g.*
388 g.
513 g.
373 g.
Made in
Taiwan
Japan
Taiwan

Introduced

2024 June 05
2007 February
2011 February
Gone by
current
2012
2017
Price, 03/2021
n/a
About $100 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

About $65 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

Price, 09/2022
n/a
About $90 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

About $50 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

Price, 08/2023
n/a
About $85 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

About $50 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

Price, 11/2024
About $85 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

About $65 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

* Actual measured values.

The similarly-sized 320EX has more maximum power and therefore range than the EL-10 at 24~50mm zoom settings, while at 105mm the EL-10 has a little more power because the 320EX' zoom head stops at 50mm.

The 580EX II has twice the power of the EL-10 and therefore 40% more range than the EL-10, as well as having a longer zoom range and more features, but it's also bigger.

 

User's Guide       top

Introduction   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Performance   Compared   User's Guide  

Recommendations   More

 

I got my EL-10 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

See also Canon's EL-10 User's Guide PDF and Phil Steele's Advanced Off-Camera Flash course.

 

Watch the Connectors!       user's guide       top

Conventional hot shoes were pretty much indestructible, however these tiny new pins can be delicate.

Use more care watching out for the tiny pins on the flash, and likewise try to keep crud and water out of your camera's shoe. Canon suggests being careful not to force the flash too far forward when sliding it into the camera's shoe.

If you're in messy conditions, consider using the shoe covers included with some flashes and cameras when the flash isn't on your camera.

 

Colored Filters       user's guide       top

It comes with no dedicated filters or diffusers.

So? No flashes did years ago; we made our own from colored sheets of filter material used in stage and screen production.

You could buy the SBA-E2 bounce diffuser and/or the SCF-E2 tungsten filter, but all we did decades ago was tape gel filters to the flash, or if I get fancy, use peel-and-stick Velcro to attach filter material I've cut to size.

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 SCF-E2 tungsten filter or tape a piece of orange CTO color-conversion filter over the front of the flash to make it match the ambient light and 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 a filter and all should look awesome. Use a full CTO for complete conversion, and fractional CTO for a more mild effect if you set the camera's white balance to match the flash and then the background will be warmer.

Also use an 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).

Here's a decades-old SCUBA trick underwater in daylight: use a piece of full CTO filter over your flash to match tungsten and set your camera to manual tungsten white balance. Now whatever's lit by flash (think close-up people, fish or colorful plants) looks normal, while the background lit by ambient daylight will look very blue! Cool, huh?

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

 

Getting 12 FPS       user's guide       top

Obviously you can't shoot at 12 FPS at anywhere near full power, 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 high rates, and at 1/8 you can get off 4 shots at any rate, 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 12 FPS — and the EL-10 is always back up and ready for another burst a second later.

I get up to 12 FPS with my R5 II; I can imagine higher rates at closer distances, higher ISOs or larger apertures or with different cameras. Experiment and see; in each case how fast you can go depends on many factors and how many frames you can get off depends on how much power you're using and the frame rate.

 

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 or cars 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 (or built-in) flash and I'm done!

Even the most basic studio strobes are about tens times as powerful as this EL-10 so I can stop down more and shoot at ISO 100 for much sharper images.

Studio strobes are built to live on light stands and use light modifiers like umbrellas and soft boxes and don't require the fiddling needed to attach little flashes like the EL-10 to a stand — and I never have to change batteries in my plug-in-the-wall 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-10 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 not much more than one EL-10 costs — and I've been using the same set of used studio strobes since 2003! Today you can get a complete set of studio strobes, stands and umbrellas for $499 new!

I doubt the EL-10 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.

 

Recommendations       top

Introduction   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Compatibility   Specifications   Accessories

Performance   Compared   User's Guide  

Recommendations   More

I got my EL-10 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.

The EL-10 is a very competent flash if you look at it as if it was a fresh new flash for the EOS-R multi-function shoe system, but it looks like a ripoff when you realize it's really a Mark IV version the 430 EX III RT, but with half its features and accessories removed!

This EL-10 is a great little flash, just that the 430 EX III RT is even better.

If you're a dog agility photographer you need an EL-1 or EL-5 for lots of bursts of fill at high frame rates.

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. Used flash works great at the fraction of the price. Two of my favorites are my fully professional professional 580EX II and my compact 320EX. Both of these are available used (see the links at each review) for less than half the price of a new EL-10, which does the same thing.

I got my EL-10 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.

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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Performance   Compared   User's Guide  

Recommendations   More

 

I got my EL-10 at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

Canon's EL-10 User's Guide PDF.

Phil Steele's Advanced Off-Camera Flash course.

 

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Thanks for reading!

 

 

Ken.

 

 

 

28-29 Nov 2024 (from EL-10 05 Jun 2024, 07-09 Aug 2023)