SHANNY – SN600C Speedlite For Nikon

Product Description

SHANNY – SN600C Speedlite 

SN600C are the latest entry level flash from new Chinese manufacturer Shanny. And with a price tag of around $90 shipped, the SN600C would have to be a high a contender for the best bang for buck inexpensive ETTL flash currently available.

The SN600C are and basically a slightly dumbed down version of the SN600SC model previously reviewed here.

The SN600C still provide full features including HSS when used as an on-camera flash, and they also currently have full function when used off camera with the popular YN-622C TTL radio triggers.

 

Features the SN600C lack from the higher priced SN600SC ($120) –

 

• No Canon Optic Wireless Master Mode
• No Canon Optic Wireless TTL Slave Mode (Remote Manual Slave only), No Nikon Slave Modes.
• No receiver option for the Canon RT radio system (SN-E3-MD / RT Module)
• No flash firmware update method available
• No soft pouch supplied

 

 

SN600C Features

 

• Full Power – GN 62m (ISO 100 / 200mm)
• HSS to 1/8000th
• Flash Mode – ETTL /M / Multi
• 1st Curtain Sync / 2nd Curtain Sync
• FEC / FEB – 1/3rd Increments (±3 stops)
• Manual Flash – 1/128 – 1/1 output control (1/3rd increments)
• 20-200mm Auto and Manual Flash Zoom

 

• Manual Slave Mode for Canon Optic Wireless system (No ETTL in slave mode)
• S1 & S2 Basic Optic Slave Modes

 

• Full power recycle – from 1.8 seconds
• Supports Multiple Flash Groups
• Optic Channels – 4
• Supports Canon Flash Control Menus
• Custom Functions
• Sound Prompt
• Heat Protection
• LCD Back Light Can be Kept On
• Crop Sensor Auto Zoom Option

 

• AF Assist Light
• Full 360 Degree Swivel and Tilt Head (With Tilt Lock Button)
• Large Clear Dot Matrix LCD Screen
• Canon Like Interface
• Fast Clamping Metal Foot with Locking Pin (And Clamps Well)
• Good Build Quality

 

• External Battery Port
• PC Sync Port
• 2.5mm Communication Port (currently unused)

 

 

Limitations

 

• No flash firmware update method available
• AF Assist Light is good, but not great

• No Canon Optic Wireless Master Mode
• No Canon Optic Wireless TTL Slave Mode (Remote Manual Slave only), No Nikon Slave Modes.

• No receiver option for the Canon RT radio system (SN-E3-MD / RT Module)
• No Compatibility with Phottix Odin or Pixel King Pro (YN-622C work well)

 

 

Overview

 

SN600C are the current entry level Shanny flash, and basically a slightly dumbed down version of the SN600SC model previously reviewed here.

For off camera use the SN600C lack the Canon Optic Wireless Master and ETTL Slave mode (Remote Manual Slave only), though they are currently compatible with the inexpensive YongNuo YN-622C / YN-622C-TX TTL radio triggers, which are more convenient and reliable than the Optic Wireless system anyway.

For on camera use the SN600C are still full power, fully functioning ETTL and HSS flashes, providing nearly all of the function of a Canon 600EX-RT, though for a small fraction of the price.

Probably the one thing to be aware of with the SN600C is that they do not currently have any support for firmware updates. So saving a few dollars now could possibly cost money later down the track if you want to adapt to new camera and radio trigger models as well.

 

Build Quality

The build quality and function of the SN600C (and all similar Shanny flashes) appears surprisingly good. The case is almost identical to the Canon 600EX-RT, though you can see the plastic is a little bit less refined, and the main dial and buttons a little harder to operate.

The main current giveaway is likely the Shanny LCD screen is not as high a resolution. Though its still easy to mix this flash up with the original Canon 600EX-RT without realizing.

 

Secure Clamping Foot

The Shanny level lock clamping foot clamps tightly in the camera hotshoe, and does not allow the flash to slop around any more than the original Canon flash does.

The Pixel Mago are likely the other closest alternative to the SN600C, and the Mago have a much looser connection with the camera. And even the $180 YongNuo YN-600EX-RT currently have a similar issue.

So for on camera use, the SN600C are likely to hold up better to swiveling the flash head. Otherwise reliability issues can eventually be created by the flash foot slopping around in the camera hotshoe.

 

 

Tilt Lock

Another feature many third party flashes have been leaving out is a locking button for the flash tilt and swivel. Shanny have added a lock for the tilt motion only. And like the Canon 600EX-RT, this only locks into place when the flash head is pointed straight up, or faced directly forward.

Being for the tilt motion only, unfortunately this lock doesn’t remove any stress on the flash foot when swiveling the flash head (as the 600EX-RT lock does). Nevertheless some people do find this feature important when mounting heavy modifiers like the original Lightsphere’s etc.

 

 

TTL Exposures

The SN600C TTL exposures are very good and quite consistent, bounced or direct. And Flash Expsoure Compensation (FEC) adjustments are working as they should.

The early SN600SC we tested still had a few small quirks, thoug these appear to have been fixed nicely now with the SN600C (and production version SN600SC available now).

 

Otherwise the SN600C (and similar Shanny flashes) are very impressive for the remarkably low price compared to the Canon 600EX-RT. The power can really match the Canon flash, and recycle is considerably faster. HSS provides more light than the 600EX-RT flash, and the SN600SC even outperformed the 600EX-RT in shots before heat protection cut in.

One other thing to note, is although the YongNuo YN-622C TTL triggers currently work well with the SN600C, there is basically no compatibility with the Phottix Odin or Pixel King Pro.

 

Interface

 

The SN600C (and other current Shanny flash models) have an interface and LCD screen display very similar to the original Canon 600EX-RT. Quite noticeable though is the lower resolution of the Shanny screen, causing the characters to be displayed larger and more pixelated.

And the SN600C do not display a distance scale like the 600EX-RT does. This leaves room for the rest of the details to be displayed larger on the Shanny LCD. The SN600C also do not display the cameras aperture setting either, a camera symbol (lower left of the LCD screen) simply shows when the flash is in sync with the cameras settings.

The SN600C’s LCD screen is not as bright as the original SN600SC (possibly saving some battery power). Though still a little brighter than the Canon 600EX-RT’s default setting.

 

Up closer its easier to see the pixelated display. This is still very clear and easy to understand though.

Controls are very similar to the 600EX-RT. The Shanny dial is a little harder to spin, and buttons may be slightly harder to press, otherwise they are quite similar.

 

Mode

The main Mode button simply scrolls through ETT, M (Manual), and MULTI modes (just as the SN600SC does).

Unlike the Canon 600EX-RT the SN600C does not have the Ext.A mode (or an auto metering sensor on the front of the flash).

 

 

Wireless Button

Unlike the SN600SC, the SN600C Optic Wireless modes are quite reduced and very simple. There are only Manual Canon Optic Wireless Slave, and the basic S1 and S2 optic slave modes.

S1 is a regular optic slave, which fires the flash from the light of any other flash. And S2 ignores pre-flashes, so a TTL flash can be used to optically trigger the SN600SC in sync as well. (S1 and S2 can only work with manual power settings).

 

 

FEC (Flash Exposure Compensation)

FEC can be set directly on the flash with +3 or -3 stops of adjustment. Or via the cameras FEC adjustment.

Like the 600EX-RT, making an FEC setting on the flash overrides the cameras FEC setting.

And only FEC settings made directly on the flash are displayed as a number (+0.7 etc). FEC settings made on the camera are only shown via the scale and FEC symbol.

 

 

Custom Functions

8 custom functions are accessible directly through the flash interface –

• 01 – Auto Power Off
• 03 – FEB Auto Cancel
• 04 – FEB Sequence
• 08 – AF Assist Beam Firing
• 09 – Auto Zoom for Sensor Size
• 10 – Slave Auto Power Off Timer
• 20 – Sound ON / OFF
• 22 – LCD Light – 12 seconds / ON  / OFF

 

And 2 more custom functions are accessible through the Canon External Flash Custom Functions Menu –

• 02 – Modelling Flash Options
• 06 – Quick Flash with Continuous Shot

 

A couple of these custom functions which are often absent on similar third party flashes, and appreciated with the SN600C, are the option to leave the LCD back light on all the time, and Auto Zoom for Sensor size when using APSC crop sensor cameras.

 

 

Battery Level Indicator

The SN600C only show a battery level indicator symbol when the battery is running low.

 

Flash Power

 

As seen in the light pattern images bellow, it can be a little difficult to accurately measure and compare flash power between different speedlites, as the light patterns are not always even.

The SN600C (and similar Shanny flashes) are still quite clearly matching the Canon 600EX-RT for light output though. Bouncing or diffusing the flashes in direct comparisons, the light meter readings are virtually even all the way around.

So the Shanny flashes can really match the Canon 600EX-RT for power, where many other third party flashes like the YN-568EX II etc are at least 2 or 3 tenths bellow.

 

Light Pattern

 

Below is a direct comparison of the light patters produced by the SN600SC (the SN600C is the same) and the Canon 600EX-RT at each flash zoom length.

These are all shot at the same 17mm lens zoom length (on a Canon 7D), so that the full light patterns can be seen.

The SN600SC results are quite good, and closer to the Canon 600EX-RT than many other third party flashes.

(These are all shot at 5500K, so this also provides some idea of the color difference between the 2 flashes as well).

 

And below are some tests showing the flash zoom matched to a full frame camera lense zoom.

 

Manual Power Levels

 

Accuracy between the SN600C manual power levels are very good, all within 1 tenth of a stop between levels.

Even the Canon flash shows some variation here, with 1.3 stops between 1/2 and full power.

These results were recorded with the flashes mounted in a softbox to avoid any hot spots, and in exactly the same position and settings etc. The SN600C equals or betters the 600EX-RT output at any power level.

 

	SHANNY SN600C			CANON 600EX-RT
			Diff. EV			Diff. EV
1/1	F 16			F 16
			0.9			1.3
1/2	F 11	+ 0.1		F 8	+ 0.7
			1.0			1.0
1/4	F 8	+ 0.1		F 5.6	+ 0.7
			0.9			1.0
1/8	F 5.6	+ 0.2		F 4	+ 0.7
			1.1			0.8
1/16	F 4	+ 0.1		F 2.8	+ 0.9
			1.0			0.9
1/32	F 2.8	+ 0.1		F 2.8
			0.9			1.1
1/64	F 2	+ 0.2		F 1.4	+ 0.9
			1.1			0.9
1/128	F 1.4	+ 0.1		F 1.4
.

 

ETTL Exposures

 

The SN600C ETTL exposures appear to be very promising, and the exposures have been quite consistent.

There are no issues noted at different zoom lengths, or metering modes etc, as other flashes have suffered from recently.

Evaluative and Average Metering also appear comparable to the Canon 600EX-RT results.

 

Recycle Time

 

The SN600C’s full power recycle time is from around 1.8 seconds using a good set of Eneloop batteries. Compared to the Canon 600EX-RT at around 2.6 seconds with the same batteries.

This is quite an impressive difference as the Shanny flashes really are matching Canon for light output. So Shanny are not dialing down the light to achieve these faster recycle times.

And the SN600C have a High Voltage Port for external battery packs, if faster recycle times are needed (around 1 second and under).

 

Overheat Protection

 

The SN600C user manual states that after 20 shots the flash recycle will be slowed to protect the flash from overheat damage.

Though just like the SN600SC, in practice when compared directly with the Canon 600EX-RT, I found the SN600C would outperform Canon’s aprox 47 full power shot limit before shutting down the flash in overheat protection mode.

The SN600C’s full recycle time indicator does slow well before the full shutdown. Though the flash would still fire on the early quickflash ready indicator, and this showed no loss in light compared to waiting for the full recycle indicator. So in practice this still produces more shots than the 600EX-RT.

After 50 or 60 shots the flash will shut down though to cool for 10 minutes or so.

 

Flash Duration

 

There is nothing particularly notable about the SN600C’s flash durations. Most speedlites, being IGBT flashes, have a fairly long flash duration at full power, and increasingly very short durations at lower power levels.

Due to the long duration at full power, most speedlites lose around 3/10ths of a stop of light from around 1/160th shutter speed moving up to a 1/250th maximum x-sync speed. The Canon 600EX-RT results are shown below, and the SN600C are results are quite similar to this.

Color & Consistency

 

As seen in the flash pattern images further above, the SN600C have a slightly cooler color temperature than the Canon 600EX-RT (figures to come later).

There is also very little colour change at different power levels, as speedlites generally do not suffer much from colour shift issues at different power levels.

 

AF Assist Light

 

Shanny have implemented their own unique AF assist light pattern. This is a single AF light for all focus points, unlike the Canon 600EX-RT, which use a more sophisticated second light pattern when outer AF points are selected.

The Shanny AF light is probably just a little better than the recent AF lights found in the YN-622C-TX and current YongNuo flash models, in that there is not quite as much gap in the light pattern for a focus point to fall completely between any pattern.

The SN600C AF light appears to be the same as the SN600SC shown below, though the lines are actually now vertical with the SN600C. So the horizontal lines may have just been the pre-production flash.

These samples where taken at 1.8m (or 6 feet) from the subject, and at the zoom lengths as noted.

 

 

For on-camera flash use, practicality of the AF assist light is likely one of the biggest differentiating features between the less expensive third party flash options, and the original Canon and Nikon etc flashes.

These AF lights are slowly becoming more refined and practical though, and the recent YongNuo and Shanny lights are generally still quite reasonable now. Though Canon do still have a good advantage here at this stage.

 

Ports

 

Following the Canon 600EX-RT design, the SN600C (and similar Shanny models) all provide a screw lock PC sync port, and a high voltage external battery port.

The third socket shown to the right, is a threaded mounting point for the Canon SB-E2 reporter style flash brackets. This is a fine thread, not a regular 1/4″ 20 thread for attaching to umbrella swivels etc.

Just out of the top right of the frame is also a 2.5mm mini-phone style socket. The SN600SC use this is a communication port for attaching an external Shanny radio receiver (and not a wireless shutter release port as the 600EX-RT provides), though this port currently has no function in the SN600C.

 

Battery Compartment

 

Again Shanny have closely followed Canon’s design with the battery compartment and door. The door has the same sliding release button, and even a rubber weather seal like the Canon flash.

The batteries follow the same Canon format as well, and this all helps for people used to using the 600EX-RT already, or using both flashes together.

 

 

Third party TTL Radio Trigger Compatibility

 

YongNuo YN-622C –

 

The SN600S appear to be providing full function with the popular YongNuo YN-622C and YN-622C-TX.

Keep in mind though the YN-622C-TX at least currently have a USB port. So YongNuo can change the YN-622C-TX in the future possibly affecting compatibility, and the SN600C then do not currently have any firmware update function to adapt to this if needed. This may never actually become an issue, though it is something to consider and be aware of as these are 2 different companies.

At this stage though, the SN600C are looking to be one of the best bang for buck economical flash option currently available for use with the current YN-622C and YN-622C-TX.

 

Other Third party TTL Radio Triggers

 

Phottix Odin – Have no compatibility with the SN600C at all (Odin receivers will not even fire them).

Pixel King Pro – Only fire the SN600C at the manual power setting set on the flash (even in TTL mode). No other functions or remote control.

 

Accessories

 

Unlike the SN600SC, the SN600C do not come with any padded case. Only a plastic base stand is provided.

No diffuser cap is provided either, though Canon 600EX-RT size accessories will fit the Shanny flash head.

The boxes the Shanny flashes come in are a nice solid box, with a solid lid that slides off the top.

 

 

The included Shanny user manual (leaflet in this case) are nothing flashy, though they are quite easy to understand in English compared to Pixel or YongNuo manuals etc.

 

SN600C Compared To

 

Pixel Mago –

The recent Pixel Mago are currently the closest similarly priced alternative to the SN600C. The Mago are a full featured HSS flash, with full Canon Optic Wireless Master and Slave modes, and a higher resolution LCD screen. As well as an LED video light option, and an all important USB port for firmware updates.

The SN600SC are otherwise generally more refined still though, with a more solid clamping foot, and a standard Canon external battery port instead of a proprietary one as the Mago has.

The SN600C are compatible with the YN-622C, where the Mago are not. The Mago would be the best economical option for use with the Pixel King Pro, where the SN600C are not compatible there.

At the time of writing this the Mago firmware has also taken a backward step, with ETTL exposure issues (which currently makes the choice pretty easy if you need ETTL).

 

YongNuo YN-568EX II –

The SN600C would be a very economical alternative to the current YongNuo YN-568EX II, providing an external battery port the YN-568EX II do not have. As well as an overall more contemporary design, and a little more power.

The YN-568EX II still have the reassurance of guaranteed compatibility with the YN-622C though if that is important to you.

The emergence of the Shanny flashes has seen YongNuo reduce the price of the YN-568EX II from around $175 to as low as around $120 now. Though the SN600C ares still quite a reasonable saving.

 

Otherwise there are not currently many other comparable alternative flashes with HSS enabled at the SN600C price. Most other HSS enabled flashes start around the $120 mark, which is also the price of the Shanny SN600SC.

 

SN600C Specs

 

Click to Expand 

 

Compatible Cameras

 

Canon 1100D, 1200D, 550D, 500D/T1i, 350D, 600D, 650D, 700D, 60D, 70D, 7D ,7DII, 6D, 5D II, 5DIII

(NOT suitable for Canon 1D II, 1Ds II, 1D, 5D, 1000D )

Compatibility with other camera models still needs to be tested.

 

 

Summary

 

As an economical ETTL and HSS enabled flash for on camera use, or use with the YN-622C radio triggers, the SN600C are a great alternative to the higher priced Shanny models. They are looking to be the best bang for buck inexpensive flash currently available for either of those uses at this stage.

The lack of firmware update support is one thing to consider though, as this could possibly cost you more if you intend upgrading cameras etc in the future. This is the same situation with the YN-568EX for example though, which have previously been the most popular alternative over the last few years (and at twice the price).

So the higher model SN600SC may also be worth considering as well if you’re interested in upgrades, or possibly moving to the Canon RT radio system eventually. Otherwise the SN600C are a great flash for the price, provided they hold up to be as solid and reliable as they appear to be so far.

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