Sunday 15 July, 2012   Marcus Kernohan   Flashguns, MeiKe, Reviews   7 Comments

MeiKe Speedlite MK580, first look

MeiKe sent us a sample of their Speedlite 580EX II clone, the MK580. Everything went well until we bricked it by plugging in a battery pack.

The MK580 has been designed to appear as similar as possible to the real Canon Speedlite 580EX II, but it lacks some internal features such as High Speed Sync, while adding others such as manual optical slave modes.

MeiKe MK580

From the outside, the MK580 is a dramatic improvement on the previous MeiKe offering, the MK951. The build quality is significantly better; while the 580 is heavier, it also feels significantly more robust than its predecessor. The pivot head feels much sturdier, though the weather-sealed hotshoe mount, which uses a plastic sliding lock rather than the traditional screw lock, feels flimsier.

The other significant improvement is battery-life: though we haven’t rigorously tested this yet, it seems to have shed the 951’s dreadful habit of draining batteries at a quite ridiculous speed – even, with the unit we tested, while switched off and not being fired.

MeiKe MK580 LCD control panel

The user interface on the MK580 is singularly messy: basic functions like toggling the flash to function as master or slave requires you to hold one button down while pushing an uncomfortably-placed wheel, and tinkering with settings on the flash itself is a generally time-consuming and often counter-intuitive.

That said, it did surprise in testing with how easy it was to change and refine settings from the camera itself (at least using the Canon EOS 600D we tested it with). The fact that, when using the flash mounted on-camera or with Pixel King wireless triggers the user is able to manually set most of the functionality goes some way to alleviating our irritation with the speedlite’s controls, but it’s not a perfect solution: some settings will always need to be changed on the flash itself.

Performance-wise, the MK580 is generally responsive and straightforward to use once you get the hang of its settings panel. The zoom motor is noisy and somewhat slow, which can make using the flash with a zoom lens slightly frustrating. However, the MeiKe 580 wins on price: at £115 ($180) it costs just a fraction of the authentic Canon 600EX.

To test the flash recycling time, I charged up a Godox Propac PB820 and plugged it into the 580, and it didn’t work. Now the flash won’t switch on even with regular batteries in. This seems to be an electronic fault and we are in contact with the manufacturer. We were only sent one sample unit so we can’t test anything else at this stage.

Additional images

Marcus Kernohan is a journalist and student based in Edinburgh. His first introduction to photography came at the age of eight when he inherited a Praktica LLC and was forced to spend hours wrestling with its idiosyncrasies. After a long lull, he has recently taken up photography again, covering events for The Journal newspaper.

  • http://www.theflasher.eu richard

    On the back of the meike 580 a button is clearly labeled with the high speed sync symbol! It’s the H with the lightning bolt next to it. Did you try to press this button before the flash stopped working?

    • David A. Selby

      The manufacturer confirmed that this flash does not have high speed sync.

  • http://onegreatstud.org Boresagreat

    Marcus & David,

    We’ve seen and tested three Canon 600EX-RT Flashes & two Nikon SB-910 Flashes and “Bricked” with ATG Elite Gold Battery Pack, Quantum Turbo Battery Pack, Nissin PS-300 Battery Pack. Two Nikon SB-910 to Quantum Turbo 3 Battery Pack.

    Tested & Resulted:
    All flashes have 4 AA Sanyo XX Eneloop (2.5Ah)
    All flashes were set at 1/1 Full Flash Manual Power
    All overheated & shut down
    As soon as they are ready, we fired them again
    They all died and front lenses melted & warped.
    All are still under warranty and they are going back for repairs.
    Guess Canon (Nikon) might called them “Pro Flashes” but could not pass these simple daily pro flashing from most photographers.

    These tests were compared with ATG Gold MG8k, Quantum QFlash, Nissin MG8000 Extreme and Metz 60CT-4 and Metz 76MZ-5 Flashes.

    At the end, the winner is?
    Two winners: ATG Gold MG8k and Nissin MG8000 Extreme.
    Have two flash heads.
    Use just 4AA Batteries or with battery pack for quick recycle down to 1.43 second.
    ETTL II or ITTL
    1st, 2nd and HSS (Auto FP)
    Audio Tone On & Off
    Auto Zoom
    AF Beam
    Wireless ETTL II (ITTL)
    One camera’s (Canon EOS-1D X) menu flash settings with Canon current bodies.
    Quad wireless flashes
    You do not need 24/7 HV Cable like Quantum QFlashes
    Color & rotatable LCD.

    Notes:
    Many elite & extreme flash photographers prefer the ATG Gold MG8k Flash because it has “Red Dot”.
    Red Dot means you do not need 4AA batteries inside of the flash.
    Flash is much lighter & run cooler.
    You can take and shoot it in extreme cold places without worrying about frozen battery.
    Tested in ATG, USA.

  • Zesix

    The Meike Speedlite MK-580 Flash is not the same as the Canon Speedlite 580EX II.
    For sure it’s much better than Canon Speedlite 430EX/430EX II/550EX/580EX.

    I’ve purchased three of this flash and I am very happy with it.
    Then I later send two away for modification so I do not have to use 4AA. This way I can shoot in extreme long cold shooting when I am out in the fields & less weight holding the camera/flash/lens. Remember when your car won’t start out in the cold due to weak or not enough CCA on the battery?

    The service center told me that this has no Automatic Sensor (non- TTL Auto) whereas the 580EX II & SB-910 do. Even though the manual showed it has one, which is just an eye’s window with no Auto Sensor inside.

    And they provided me some very helpful information vs Canon’s.
    The flash head assembly is totally different from the 580EX II.
    Pushing & pressing the tap to move the head is not needed.
    The CN (Custom Functions) has only 2 while the 580EX II has more.
    You can not adjust the CN into Auto Sensor like you can on 580EX II.
    You can not set to HSS although the sign is shown on the back.

    Beside those limitations, the MK580 has good features over Canon.
    1. Has PC Sync Socket. None on 430EXs/550EX/580EX.
    2. Has HV Socket. None on 430EXs.
    3. Has audio tone. None on Canon.
    4. Has Master Modes. None on 430EXs. But you can use it with EX II & EX-RT.
    5. Has better Metal Hotshoe. Yes, better than 580EX II and 600EX-RT.
    6. Has wireless IR flash from any camera using or has a flash. Canon can not do.
    My Metz 60CT-4 with ATG Hasselblad H4D can trips the MK580 by wireless IR.
    And the MK580 can be set-up to disregarded the pre-flash. A major plus on this.
    7. If your Canon 580EX II has worn or ripped rubber hotshoe, rubber PC Sync, rubber
    Tripod, rubber HV Socket or burnt/melted Fresnel Lens- don’t pay high prices from
    Canon. Use MK580′s.
    8. If you can’t afford or need the Canon 580EX II or 600EX-RT has a Master to set
    wireless IR flash on your Canon 430EX II. Then these are my suggestions:
    A brand Meike Speedlite MK580 or a used Canon 550EX (which is most likely
    going to die on you) or a used Canon 580EX (same as 550EX & has no PC Sync)
    or used Canon 580EX II.
    9. For under $200.00 USD, why would you want to buy another 430EX II which you
    can’t do wireless IR flash (unless you have 7D, 60D and T4i)?
    10. Been using this flash on my 1D X and 1Ds Mark III and 7D without any problem.

    FYI:
    Using HSS will kill your flash very quickly. I don’t use this much.
    At the same time your flash will put out full power so you can get some correct exposures. That’s because you lose about 3 F Stop.
    It’s like using a quick battery charger. Harms your battery & shorten the life.

  • Frank

    Zesix, thank for those tips.

    I will order Meike MK580 so I can get a master on my camera to control three of my 430EX II.

    I like this flash over the 430EX/430EX II/550EX/580EX because it has PC Sync, Metal Shoe, HV Socket and can do wireless flash.

  • http://www.facebook.com/mark.fennes Mark Fennes

    I bought two of this Meike MK580: they are FAR AWAY from the power of the original 580ex and 580 ex II. I must always compensate 2 stops up.

    Comparing it to Yongnuo YN 565 EX the Meike is also LESS powerful. I am really not happy, seems just a bit more the pop-up flash. I hate to shot with +2 or more stops because this clone is “weak”. Nothing about officially declared on Meike website about GN. I contacted Meike several times asking about detailed specs but without any answer (I filled their online form with differents email per message).

    Conclusions are that this product isn’t a good product and the Meike isn’t serious enough to deserves our money. Estetically is the exact mirror of the original one, really well cloned. I confirm if feels solid too BUT that’s it! It is useful like a toy because I repeat, other clones like YN 565 EX are much better than this. If you need an original paperweight, you can buy the Meike MK580. If you need a flash… sorry but look away, this isn’t good! You are warned out: money thrown out the window. Not much money (about 140 $) but always thrown out the window.

  • http://www.facebook.com/eiapoce Enrico Iapoce

    I just finished testing the MK580 on my Canon 6D.

    I’d like to write here my comments as this is the first page that comes out when googling for a review of the unit.

    I’ve got this strobe with the deliberate intention to use it as a master for my 430EX II. The first thing to note is that it’s working, but with some drawbacks. I mainly take pictures at high ISOs in dark environments (discos).

    Positive aspects of the MK580: Can drive E-TTL II throught wireless communication. Can set a A:B ratio. Can be programmed from the Camera Menu and the back weel is quite handy when setting the ratio on the fly. Build quality is extraordinary for the price.

    Negative Aspects: While shooting at more than 1600ISO f3.5 the lamp is likely to overshoot. This is a problem that is somehow present also on the 430EX II – I have to use the diffuser on the MK580 to reach ISO 2500 and/or close the aperture down to f4.5 (while shooting closeups). In wireless mode most of the times the E-TTL fails and underexposes the pictures. A correct exposition can usually be archieved by setting a +1.3 – +2 stop compensation on the flash. Lastly is a bit too heavy for prolonged one hand operations, specially when shooting vertical.

    Conclusion: a bargain for the price but be prepared to experiment a lot with the settings to reach the desired effect.

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