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Lighting

Yongnuo YN200II Flash Review: The Best Flash for Nikon?

Chris Gampat
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Last updated on 06/22/2026
06/29/2026
6 Mins read
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If I didn’t have to title things for searchability and understanding the web better, I’d title this review, “Set phasers to stunning.” The reason why is because the Yongnuo YN200II looks kind of like a space age weapon of some sort once you give it a handle to look and function like a gun. When I called this flash in, I at first didn’t quite understand what I called in — and that’s a rarity for me.

A camera flash unit with two batteries attached, set up indoors near a window with sunlight streaming in.
Yongnuo YN200II

The YN200II is a bit of an odd one. With the transmitter attached, the flash will fire. But the EXIF data says that the flash didn’t fire. It’s quite odd. I used with several product images, but when doing that, I couldn’t really get into the look that it was giving me. That changed once I stepped outside to realize its true power.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Before I contin on with this review, product photos that I shot with this flash are below. And I’m giving the Yongnuo YN200II four out of five stars.

Orange Game Boy with Pokémon game and a small orange Hello Kitty camera on dark fabric in sunlight.
Canon camera, headphones, MP3 player, knife, and patterned fabric on a wooden surface.
A portable strobe light sits on a wooden table next to headphones and a media player.
Nikon camera, cigarettes, and a folder on a wooden table.
Nikon Zf camera, headphones, mp3 player, pocket knife and other items on a wooden table.
A camera, an extra lens, and headphones on a wooden desk with a black laptop and a mouse.
A vintage camera on brown pants with a black t-shirt, all laid out on a green surface.

This flash majorly impressed me because of the feature that tells you what the flash duration is at each power level. That then helps you make a better decision when it comes to photographing people or things; providing that you know what you’re doing. At first, I compared the flash duration to Profoto and Elinchrom’s lights and I thought that the Yongnuo, based on specs was crappy. But real life experience proved to be a much different story.

A close-up of a racing simulator steering wheel mounted on a stand indoors.
Close-up of a digital camera displaying settings, with blurred background and soft natural light.
Close-up of a flash mounted on a camera tripod with two battery packs attached, indoors.
Close-up of a camera flash with a diffuser attached, mounted on a stand indoors.

With that said, this is one of the best flashes that I’ve ever used if you’re an expert level strobist. Yongnou sent us to Yongnuo YN200II with the YN560-TXII for review. I tested it with my Nikon Zf and my Nikon D850 — which I own and purchased with my own money. Yongnuo didn’t send me batteries with the flash, so I bought some from Viltrox off of Adorama’s website.

The Yongnuo YN200II, to me, is one of the coolest lights ever made for Nikon cameras. First off I’m going to say what no YouTuber and most journalists aren’t going to tell you because they can’t use strobe: using a flash isn’t about technicalities first. It’s about understanding how to see light in a way that’s significantly more in-tune with your imagination than seeing the light in front of you and just saying, “Yeah, I like that. Let’s go with that.” And I am truly one of those people who’d rather make my own sandwich than choose from the pre-made sandwiches at the deli. If you’re one of those people who reaches for the Monte Cristo that’s been pre-made behind the deli counter, then more power to you. But just this morning when I ordered my protein breakfast wrap, I customized it further to accommodate to my dietary needs. And using a flash is the latter – especially in manual mode. Below are some scenes of me using the flash at the 2026 Mermaid Parade in Coney Island.

A man in a yellow cap holds a camera and flash against a bright blue sky with clouds.
A performer in a red costume poses for a photo as people watch and take pictures outdoors.
A person in a shiny costume poses for photographers at an outdoor event near a roller coaster.
A photographer captures costumed parade participants posing and celebrating at an outdoor event.

I’m not saying that one is clearly superior to the other; I’m saying that one requires a lot more experience and deeper conversations with yourself about your creative vision. Those deeper conversations then need to speak a second language with the technical self to collaborate and make something extraordinary.

If you’re already hating this, then you probably haven’t done the work on yourself and your photography. The photo below is right out of the camera with no editing involved except for resizing for the web and adding the Phoblographer’s watermark. Look at how good an image this flash can produce with the camera and a fairly cheap lens.

Man in yellow-tinted glasses and black hat at a crowded beach, cloudy sky in background.
An image from the Mermaid Parade 2026. Shot with the Nikon D850, 28mm f1.8, and the Yongnuo YN200II

To that end, I constantly compared the YN200II to the Profoto B10. The Yongnuo is around 1/10th of the price and is missing around 1/3rd of the power output and the even faster flash duration. But if you don’t know how to read or understand how flash duration affects your images, then this flash may not work for you; yet the YN200II will tell you what the flash duration is. And for the price, it does a very, very good job. In fact, I’d even say that it’s comparable to the Elinchrom One light that I reviewed a while back.

To recap though, if you don’t understand how to use flash duration, then you’re probably just going to shoot a bunch of images that are overexposed while you spray and pray to hope that one is useable. And for that, I’d tell you to slow down and make one good frame; or three.

Woman in a gold mermaid costume and sash posing at a lively outdoor event near a roller coaster.
An image from the Mermaid Parade 2026. Shot with the Nikon D850, 28mm f1.8, and the Yongnuo YN200II

With that said, here’s where this review becomes part tutorial: flash durations essentially act like a second shutter speed of some sort and end up helping you to cut down on ambient lighting in the scene. With manual flash, the shutter speed of your camera controls the amount of ambient light in the scene. The ISO controls the overall sensitivity to light. The aperture controls how much of the flash affects the scene. The flash power controls how much added light is in the scene specifically from the flash. Flash duration works in accordance with the shutter speed and can help do things like stop fast moving motion. So for these images, lots of them were shot at ISO 64, 1/250th (flash sync speed) and 1/16th or 1/32nd power. At those power output, the flash duration was between 1/3000th and 1/4000th. Plus, I was at f8 with the 28mm f1.8. Together, they made images that were pretty well balanced.

The YN200II really, truly does require you to slow down. And on the back of the Nikon D850’s LCD screen, I was constantly falling in love with the images I made. That stayed with me even when I brought them into Capture One for editing too. And I really value that in ways most photographers I think will ever understand these days. Less is more. No one wants to scroll through five images of the same scene. It’s so much better to just share the best single image from said scene. Most importantly, using a flash helps you create an image that no one else will be able to make easily.

Person wearing a large blue anglerfish costume headpiece at an outdoor festival with people in the background.
A person in an ornate blue coat and white wig smiles at a lively outdoor parade with a crowd and roller coaster.
Person in a colorful, insect-like costume at a lively outdoor parade with people and a roller coaster in the background.
A group in bright, whimsical costumes marches joyfully in a colorful outdoor parade under a blue sky.
Smiling person in a sparkly outfit and pink accessories at a colorful outdoor parade with a large float overhead.
Person in a Krusty the Clown mask waves at a colorful outdoor event with people and a rollercoaster in the background.
Two women in colorful, shiny costumes smiling and posing at an outdoor carnival or festival, roller coaster behind them.
Smiling woman in a parade holds a blue fin, wearing colorful costumes with others, under a bright sky.
A smiling couple in colorful summer outfits pose at an outdoor event with people and buildings in the background.
A person in a colorful circus costume juggles by a roller coaster, surrounded by a lively crowd outdoors.
A smiling person in colorful attire and sunglasses holds an umbrella at a lively outdoor event with streamers.
Two women in colorful mermaid costumes and sunglasses pose at an outdoor event, one holding a pink parasol.
A man in a black hat and yellow glasses stares at the camera at an outdoor event on a sunny day.
Woman in a colorful mermaid outfit and heart sunglasses smiles at a fair, with people and rides in the background.
Smiling woman in a curly wig and costume holds a can; others in quirky outfits stand nearby at an outdoor event.
Smiling person in a mermaid costume, holding a yellow parasol, with colorful flowers and butterflies in their hair.
Two women in colorful, decorated bras and fun accessories pose at the beach on a sunny day.
Bearded man in a red shirt and straw hat making a playful gesture at an outdoor event with people in the background.
Woman in a mermaid costume waves at a parade with a rollercoaster and crowd in the background on a sunny day.
Person with large pink feather wings and bright costume posing outdoors under a blue sky at a festive event.
Smiling person in a colorful mermaid costume at an outdoor festival, with a roller coaster in the background.
Two people in festive, sea-themed costumes pose and smile at an outdoor event with a roller coaster in the background.
Women dressed in white play drums in front of a roller coaster at an outdoor event on a sunny day.
Smiling person in a sunhat holds painted umbrellas at an outdoor event with a roller coaster in the background.
People in colorful outfits enjoying ice cream and festivities outdoors on a sunny day, with a roller coaster in the background.
Three people in colorful sea-themed costumes pose together at an outdoor event, one holds a Sea Rexes sign.
Person in a shiny, metallic costume with green and orange decorations at an outdoor event near a roller coaster.
Person in colorful costume holding a parasol and large 3D glasses at a lively outdoor parade with many people.
People in colorful, festive costumes celebrating outdoors at a lively parade on a sunny day.
A person in a flamboyant wig with fake bugs poses at a lively outdoor event; a man with a camera stands nearby.
Smiling woman in a mermaid costume blows bubbles at a lively outdoor event near a wooden roller coaster.
Woman in a blue sailor costume smiling at a carnival, holding a drink, with rides and people in the background.
Person with pink hair and a crown holds a transgender pride flag at a colorful outdoor parade or festival.
A woman in colorful face paint and a Miss sash smiles at a parade near a roller coaster.
A man in a captain’s hat and floral shirt stands at a lively outdoor event under a bright blue sky.
Smiling woman in a green costume with blue hair holds a small dog in a red bandana at the beach.
Smiling woman in a red floral dress and captain hat stands at an amusement park with rides behind her.
Smiling person in a gold costume and headdress poses at an outdoor event with people and a roller coaster behind.
Woman in a pink sequin top holding a parasol on a sunny beach boardwalk, people in background.
Two people wear gold crowns and mesh outfits at an outdoor event under a blue sky with scattered clouds.
Person in colorful, whimsical costume smiles at outdoor event with crowd and roller coaster in background.
Three people in colorful costumes and sunglasses smile at a sunny beach event, one holding a rainbow fan.
Shirtless person in bright costume and sunglasses at a colorful outdoor parade with a roller coaster in the background.
Man in fur coat and captains hat holding a flag, at an outdoor parade with a roller coaster and crowd.
Two people in jellyfish costumes with colorful wigs and sheer hats, smiling at an outdoor event.
Person in a bee costume interacts with children at a lively outdoor event, with crowds and buildings in the background.
Person in a green wig and colorful costume holding a large purple umbrella at a lively outdoor event.
Person in a pink axolotl costume with feathers at an outdoor event, surrounded by people under sunny skies.
Woman in a gold mermaid costume and sash posing at a lively outdoor event near a roller coaster.
Man in colorful mermaid-themed costume with flowers and trident, smiling at an outdoor festival or parade.

For that reason, I’m pretty much ready to switch from Profoto to the YN200II as my main flash for most of my work with the Nikon D850. But I own so many studio strobes that it all depends on the camera system that I’m using. There are also times where TTL really does make a lot more sense to use. But if you know what you’re doing, manual output can also work really well as long as you’re tuned into the scene, your subject, and your technical settings. And that ultimately takes practice.

My big complaint here: I wish that the YN560-TXII transmitter had a way to lock itself so that it didn’t accidentally change the settings on the flash. The same, obviously, goes for the flash body itself. But otherwise, Yongnuo made one of the best flashes that I’ve used in the past few years; it even looks like a space-age weapon of some sort. And I love that fun design. I don’t know why more people haven’t talked about it; and more importantly, I wish that more photographers actually took the time to learn how to light and stuck with it instead of not doing so. Flash and strobe are one of the best things about photography that helps to make images that no one else can make.

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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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