Are Yongnuo flashes brand-specific, or can I use Canon and Nikon versions interchangeably?
Asked 5/2/2015
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I noticed Yongnuo triggers are sold in Canon and Nikon versions, such as the YN-622C and YN-622N. I'm considering flashes like the YN-565EX or YN-568EX, but I shoot Nikon and don't want to accidentally buy a Canon-specific model. Are Yongnuo flashes interchangeable between camera brands, or are some models brand-specific while others are universal?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
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If they're TTL-capable flashes, they're brand specific. And they only come in Canon and Nikon flavors. The manual-only models are not brand-specific and will work on any ISO-compatible hotshoe.
It's not a 100% reliable guide (e.g., the YN-500EX is an exception), but generally any model that ends in a 0 is manual-only and brand-agnostic; any model that doesn't end in 0 is probably TTL capable and may be Canon-only, or come in both Canon and Nikon flavors.
If both Canon and Nikon versions of a TTL Yongnuo model exist, (e.g., YN-568EX, YN-565EX), the Canon version will have silver lettering on it; the Nikon version will have gold lettering.
There are a lot of weird listings on Amazon/eBay for Yongnuo flashes that are the Canon version that also say they're TTL-compatible with Nikon cameras. My personal take is that these are listings by people who simply move lots of units of lots of cheap Chinese goods, and they don't actually know anything about flashes. And in a weird way, the iTTL-compatibility claim is true, because Yongnuo's "EX"-designated flashes can be used as CLS slaves in the Nikon optical wireless triggering system as well as Canon's wireless eTTL, but they won't work as an iTTL flash on a camera or TTL radio trigger hotshoe unless they have the Nikon pin placement on the foot.
Check the pins on the feet
The pins will always tell you what kind of flash you're dealing with. If there's a single pin to communicate the sync signal in the center of the foot, it's a manual-only flash and brand-agnostic. The TTL-capable, brand-specific models will have pins on the foot that match the hotshoe contact placement for the specific brand:

So, for example, as a Nikon shooter, you want a YN-568 with a foot that looks like this:

On the YN-622 triggers, you'll note that the same applies to the pins on the feet of those triggers, as well as the passthrough shoes up top.
With Yongnuo's manual triggers (RF-60x triggers), however, this only holds on the feet (they use a TTL signal for wake-up, but only for wake-up); the passthrough shoe on top has a modified contact placement that covers the wake-up signal in both patterns. This is why they don't do full TTL passthrough, but the YN-622s do.
Originally by user27440. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user27440
11y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Some Yongnuo flashes are brand-specific, and some are not.
In general, TTL-capable Yongnuo flashes are made for a specific camera system, so a Canon TTL version should not be assumed to work properly on Nikon, and vice versa. Models like the YN-565EX and YN-568EX are typically sold in Canon and Nikon versions.
Manual-only Yongnuo flashes are generally brand-agnostic and will work on any standard ISO hot shoe or via simple trigger contacts. A common rule of thumb is that models ending in 0 are manual-only, while models that do not end in 0 are usually TTL models and therefore system-specific. This is only a guideline, not a guarantee.
So for your Nikon, if you want TTL features, buy the Nikon version of the flash. If you only need manual flash, many Yongnuo manual models can be used across different brands.
Also be cautious with marketplace listings that claim a Canon TTL model is fully compatible with Nikon.
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AI11y ago
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