Customer Reviews
Highly Recommended for Novice Shooters 
2008-06-23
I received this the day before my wife's birthday party so I didn't have time to do practice shots with it. Being a brand new DSLR enthusiast (less than a month), I basically had to convince my wife that I know what I'm doing and I'm glad to say this flash didn't let me down. The wife was so happy with how the photos turned out that she immediately uploaded them to a popular website and ordered the prints. While there is still a lot to learn on how to effectively use the flash, you'll learn a lot of things while shooting. I didn't have enough time to read the manual but with only a few shots, I was able to quickly learn the basics. In comparing the photos I took using the on board flash vs. the Speedlite 430EX, the Speedlite's definitely came out much better. This thing lights up an entire room measuring about ~500 sq. ft with no problem. Just like everyone else, my favorite features are the tilt and swivel giving you a lot of flexibility in the way you light up your subject. As far as load times is concerned, I took about 250 pictures and the flash's load time was very fast the entire time on a freshly charged 2800 NiMH rechargeable batteries. Thanks Amazon for fast delivery!
The flash came securely packaged including a good quality case, Slave Flash Stand, user guide and registration card.
Shot with:
Canon Rebel XSi 450D w/ 18-55mm IS lens
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens
Great addition to my Rebel XTi set-up 2008-06-12
Fabulous flash. Love the swivel head and all the angles you can get for great lighting. A must have for any serious amateur photographer.
Great Flash 2008-06-09
I love this Flash. It's a great accessory for many Canon Digital SLR's including the EOS Rebel XTi I have. I like how I can rotate and position the flash for whatever direction I want to send the light. For my usage many times I needed to point the flash 45 degrees up, and the rotating head allowed me to maintain that 45 degree angle no matter if I held my camera normally or sideways. I would suggest all users invest in a diffuser though.
Great right out of the box 
2008-06-07
Note: this is a "first impression" review. I plan to update it with further experience later on.
I was a little worried that a hot shoe mounted flash would complicate shooting, but I felt that i needed a better flash due to my ever-expanding lens collection for my Rebel XT.
I opened the box, connected the flash, put some batteries in and turned it on. I hit up a book store with tons of books crowded all around, causing some very dark little aisles- a perfect location to test this sucker out. And it worked from the first shot on. Sure, there's a little bit of a learning curve with the movable head (which is really awesome and helps get that "just right" image). It can really do a lot of the work for you and the pictures look great (clearly an improvement over my rebel xt's pop-up flash). I'm never shooting indoors without this!
Good Buy 2008-06-06
I didn't buy this from Amazon but dun know why asked to review. I have the flash gun and have been using it very frequently especially for macro shots. This is one superb and affordable flash gun you. Highly recommended!
Great unit, great price 2008-07-17
This flash makes great light. In my apartment we pretty much get nothing but nasty, dim, yellow light. The pictures I take with this flash make a world of difference. The thing rotates nearly 360 degrees, so you have the option to bounce it just about any kind of way you can imagine. Very flexible.
This flash comes with a little stand that is great if you're using it remotely. Use a 580EXII flash or an STE-2 transmitter for that. It sucks that Canon's DSLRs don't have a commander mode for the pop-up flash, but that's not fault on the 430EX.
Anyway, what else is there to say? It's a great unit. There's no real need to spend more money on the 580EXII unless you need the transmitter option, IMHO.
Excellent Flash! 2008-07-17
I bought the 430EX just a few weeks ago and right out of the box it was easy to use. The swivel and tilt is awesome for getting that more natural light look when bouncing the flash. It's does a wonderful job. The recycle time is great. I've used it at a wedding and several other occasions now and have not had any issues with lag or waiting around. I highly recommend it. I've head the 580 is awesome but if you're looking to save a little money, you will not be disappointed with the 430!
A great start for any photographer 2008-07-16
The canon 430EX is a capable and versatile flash. I have owned it for about 4 months now and I can say that it opened up a whole new world of photography for me. The advantages you get from flash can really only be understood once you have it mounted and you start taking pictures. The power output was more than enough to light up a medium sized living room when bounced from the ceiling. The controls are easy to understand, and canon's E-TTL is amazing in situations with changing light where you don't have the time to readjust. That said the true strength of this flash is that it can be used as an optical slave for canons 580 EX line of flashes. If you are anything like me you will soon start to want to move your flash off of your camera and start taking pictures with lighting from different angles. This makes the combination of the 430EX and the 580EX nearly priceless, as you can set them up 580 on camera and 430 anywhere else within communication distance, and you can let them do the dirty work. Will it come out perfect every time? No, but it is a hell of a lot better than having run back and adjust them every time lighting changes.
The only problems I have with the 430EX is it doesn't have a PC port, so you have to by a hot shoe adaptor if you want to use it with skyports or ebay triggers. The second thing is that the shoe mount is made of plastic. This isn't a big problem because I have never felt like it was going to break, but it is always nice to have piece of mind.
Nice alternative to the 580EXII 2008-07-02
The 430EX performs quite admirably for just about everything I needed it to -- save photos in larger venues, for which the 580EXII is the better choice. A few things about the 580EXII that may sway you toward plunking down more of your hard-earned cash:
-- a lever, not a friction dial, to attach to the shoe
-- takes an outboard battery pack
-- longer throw
-- can control slave units
-- weatherproofing
If any of these is highly important to you, it's worth saving up for the 580. If you want a highly dependable, easy to use flashgun and getting the highest possible performance isn't critical, the 430 should be ample for you.
The shots you can take with the 430 are functionally identical to those with the 580 if you mainly take photos indoors, in smaller venues, with good white ceilings and walls to bounce off. The 430 is also smaller, which counts for something for most folks. Goes forever on one set of batteries. I've taken > 1500 shots with one charge on a set of NiMh batteries, and still no warning lights or slow warm-up time. Amazing.
Shopped around...great flash unit! 2008-06-26
After shopping for a flash for my recently purchased Canon Powershot G9 I was stuck between an aftermarket unit or the pricer Canon430EX. I chose to take the plunge and purchase the 430EX. Though there was a more powerful model available than the 430EX, I did not want to spend more than the cost of the camera.
After receiving the unit, I knew I chose wisely. It's a phenomenal unit that syncs with all the features of the G9 and provides fantastic illumination at some of the distances I've worked in. I have not yet played with the manual features (and may never have to).
If you're budget minded and caught between this unit and an aftermarket flash, this is the one!
