Will a Yongnuo YN-560 II work with a Nikon D3500?
Asked 6/27/2019
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I’ve been offered a Yongnuo YN-560 II speedlight at a good price and want to know if it’s compatible with a Nikon D3500. I’m mainly trying to find out whether it will work on the camera hot shoe, and whether there are any limitations compared with newer flashes.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
7y ago
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A YN-560 II could be a suitable flash for off-camera use, Strobist-style, but it's cheap for a reason: it's 3rd-party Chineses manufacture, and it's an older model. It's been superseded by the YN-560 III, the YN-560 IV, the YN-660, and YN-560Li models, and most of us prefer Godox these days to Yongnuo for expansion options. Unlike its younger brothers, the YN-560 II has no built-in radio triggering or remote power/zoom control.
For on-camera use, particularly if you're event shooting and won't have the time to constantly be adjusting power, it's not particularly suitable. The other reason it's so cheap is that it's system-agnostic, single-pin, and manual-only (ditto the Amazon Basics flash and the Neewer TT560, both of which, I suspect are a rebranded Godox TT560). The only thing a camera hotshoe can tell the flash is when to fire. There's no TTL (automated power setting based on metering), no HSS (high-speed sync), or camera menu communication, as there would be with a more expensive iTTL-capable flash for a Nikon camera.
I would recommend budgeting between $100-$200 for a first/only flash purchase, and say look at either a used SB-600/700/800/900, or a Godox TT685 II-N (at this time; flash tech moves fast in the cheap Chinese manufacturing sphere—this recommendation could be quickly outdated). The Nikon will be better for on-camera use; the Godox for off-camera use, so how you intend to use the flash can have a lot to do with what flash is right for you.
See also:
Originally by user27440. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user27440
7y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes — the Yongnuo YN-560 II will fire on a Nikon D3500, because it uses a basic single-pin hot-shoe connection. However, it is a manual-only flash, so you won’t get Nikon TTL metering or other automatic flash features. You’ll need to set flash power yourself, and likely zoom as well.
That makes it more suitable for off-camera/manual flash use than for fast-paced on-camera shooting where automatic exposure control is helpful. It can still be useful as a budget flash, especially in simple setups.
Its main drawbacks are that it’s an older model and lacks built-in radio triggering or remote power/zoom control found in some newer options. If you want to use it off-camera, you may need separate radio triggers, though it can also be used as an optical slave with the usual line-of-sight limitations.
So: compatible, yes — but basic, manual, and best if you’re happy working without TTL automation.
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