good 3rd party manual speedlights

Naftoli

im in the market for some manual off camera speedlights, which i plan to use as backlights (replacing my alien bees) by weddings for the dancing mostly on top of 12ft lightstands. anyone have experience with Yougnnou, sunpac, vivitar, lumopro, etc or know of any websites with good comparisons ?

Skipperlange

I've heard that LumoPro is great. I haven't used them. Here are two good write-ups:

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2010/06/lumppro-lp160-quad-sync-v20.html

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/06/quad-sync-lumipro-strobist-flash-pops-four-ways/

Mgarber

From what i've heard, Nissin makes the best quality off-brand speedlights. Their 580ex equivalent supposedly has some kind of ceramic heat-sink'amajiggy.

I think your main problem with off brand lights is going to be cycle times, and meltiness. So be sure to try one out somewhere before ordering.

If you don't want to use power-packs, I recommend Sanyo black rechargeable AA batteries.

Naftoli

Thanx Skipperlange and Mcgarber i did alot of research, in the end i went with the Youngnou 560 II i bought 2 of them for 80$ each, they are great! check out my review! http://www.naftolig.com/blog/2013/1/youngnou-560-ii-speedlight-review-and-comparisson

Mgarber

guide number of 58 for less than $100? That is very interesting.

Naftoli

yep these flashes are awsome! will be posting a part 2 of the review soon, where i compare it too the SB910 and other nikon speedlights

EYESIC

I have the Yongnuo 565EX, they don't have High Speed Sync, but everything else is awesome, It can be set as slave. Have not had any problems with mine, and I've dropped them several times from stands. I would give them a try.