Canon gives a massive boost to the radio range of its popular EL-5 Speedlite flashgun for mirrorless cameras

Canon EL-5 flashgun on camera being held in someone's hand, with a smartphone with the app in the other hand — (Image credit: Canon)

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Compatible models

Alongside the Canon EOS R8 Mark II that was launched today, Canon is also releasing an update of its EL-5 flashgun. The new Canon Speedlite EL-5 (Ver. 2) only differs from the original in one way – and that is to get a significant boost in its wireless radio control range.

The new Mark II hotshoe flash can now be controlled from up to 50 meters away (164 feet) - a 66% boost in range, compared to the 30m (98ft) that the original version was capable of.

Announced in 2022, the Speedlite EL-5 was the first Canon strobe to be specifically designed to work with the 21-pin multifunction connection shoe found on the most recent Canon EOS R mirrorless cameras (see full list of compatible models below).

Canon EL-5 Ver. 2 — The pan-tilt flash head can rotate through 180° in both direction, and allow you to tilt the head between -7° to + 120° (Image credit: Canon)

Other than the radio range, the other features remain the same on the Ver.2 version of the EL-5. It has a zoom head with coverage from 24-200mm – with a corresponding maximum flash output of 28.7-60 (m/ISO100). A built-in wide panel can be used to extend the coverage enough to use a 14mm lens (with a corresponding Guide Number drop to 14.8 (m/ISO100).

Offering both E-TTL II and E-TTL dedicated exposure, this flashgun also offers a wide range of manual power settings - from full right down to 1/1024sec, in one-third of a stop steps. A strobe feature allows you to set a flash burst frequency between 1-500Hz.

Compatible models

Canon Speedlite EL-5 — The bespoke 21-pin hotshoe interface that is used again on the Speedlite EL-5 Mark means it is only compatible with recent Canon mirrorless camera models (Image credit: Matthew Richards)

These are the Canon mirrorless models that have a 21-pin multifunction hotshoe connector that will be compatible with the new Speedlite EL-5 Mark II…

Canon EOS R1
Canon EOS R3
Canon EOS R5 Mark II
Canon EOS R6 Mark II
Canon EOS R6 Mark II
Canon EOS R6 V
Canon EOS R7
Canon EOS R8
Canon EOS R8 Mark II
Canon EOS R10
Canon EOS R50
Canon EOS R50 V

See our full guide to the best Canon flashguns

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Chris George has worked on Digital Camera World since its launch in 2017. He has been writing about photography, mobile phones, video making and technology for over 30 years – and has edited numerous magazines including PhotoPlus, N-Photo, Digital Camera, Video Camera, and Professional Photography.

His first serious camera was the iconic Olympus OM10, with which he won the title of Young Photographer of the Year - long before the advent of autofocus and memory cards. Today he uses a Sony A7 IV, alongside his old Nikon D800 and his iPhone 15 Pro Max.

He is the author of a number of books including The Book of Digital Photography, which has been translated into a dozen different languages.

In addition to his expertise in photography and videomaking, he has written about technology for countless publications and websites including The Sunday Times Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, What Cellphone, T3 and Techradar.