Can I use any Shoe Mount Flash?

[peps1]

I have a Olympus Pen E-P1 that I manly use for some product shots for my business, but really need a flash for it.

Do I have to spend a fortune on the flash built just for the E-P1 (£100+) or can I use a cheaper Shoe Mount Flash?

 

[KmH]

Do you mean an Olympus E-PL1. Does the camera have an industry standard ISO 518:2006 external flash unit hot shoe?

If you want the camera to control the flash, you'll want to use an Olympus flash unit that the camera can 'talk' to (TTL flash mode). You may need to get an even more expensive Olympus flash unit to photograph your undescribed product.
A Olympus FL- 50R looks to be about £520 and is listed in the Pen E-PL1 specifications as compatable.

At any rate, on camera flash is not a good way to light product photos.

 

[peps1]

Do you mean an Olympus E-PL1. Does the camera have an industry standard ISO 518:2006 external flash unit hot shoe?

No, I mean the E-P1 Olympus - E-P1 and dude....industry standard ISO 518:2006 external flash unit hot shoe? dose it sound like im going to know that from my OP?

And regards the £520 unit, im looking for something a 10th of that price just......Im selling stuff on ebay, not embarking on a new hobby.

 

[ann]

You need to contact Olympus, as just any flash may fire the circut.

 

[tirediron]

No, I mean the E-P1 Olympus - E-P1 and dude....industry standard ISO 518:2006 external flash unit hot shoe? dose it sound like im going to know that from my OP?

You may or may not be familiar with ISO 518 - regardless, your camera shipped with a manual, and page 74 explains the use of non-Olympus flashes very clearly.

 

[peps1]

No, I mean the E-P1 Olympus - E-P1 and dude....industry standard ISO 518:2006 external flash unit hot shoe? dose it sound like im going to know that from my OP?

You may or may not be familiar with ISO 518 - regardless, your camera shipped with a manual, and page 74 explains the use of non-Olympus flashes very clearly.

Whats that saying aboutassumptions? No Manual, as it was second hand......but I will try and download a manual to find out what it says on page 74 - unless you want to actually answer the question so me anyone else with the same question who stumbles on this page can say thank-you.

 

[tirediron]

My apologies; I did make an assumption. I assumed in this day and age that anyone buying a complex piece of electronic equipment with many fuctions, some of which may not be immediately intuiative, and with which they were not familiar, would take the same 15 or so seconds that I did and download a user's manual so that they could easily answer very basic questions. I'm curious; why do you feel that it's more appropriate for me (or anyone else here) to type of several paragraphs of text than it is for you to download and read it.

 

[Ron Evers]

The Oly & Panasonic micro four thirds (m4/3) cameras have the same flash mounts. A Vivitar 383 TTL for Panasonic/Olympus will set you back about $125.
I have one & it works great. You can use it off camera with a flash cord or wireless remote. It can also be used as a slave triggered by on camera flash if your camera has a flash.

 

[KmH]

Good luck with your photography, and your business.

 

[peps1]

My apologies; I did make an assumption. I assumed in this day and age that anyone buying a complex piece of electronic equipment with many fuctions, some of which may not be immediately intuiative, and with which they were not familiar, would take the same 15 or so seconds that I did and download a user's manual so that they could easily answer very basic questions. I'm curious; why do you feel that it's more appropriate for me (or anyone else here) to type of several paragraphs of text than it is for you to download and read it.

Your right, I can see how pressing copy and paste would have been a monstrous waste of you talents and importance her.

The Oly & Panasonic micro four thirds (m4/3) cameras have the same flash mounts. A Vivitar 383 TTL for Panasonic/Olympus will set you back about $125.
I have one & it works great. You can use it off camera with a flash cord or wireless remote. It can also be used as a slave triggered by on camera flash if your camera has a flash.

Thank you Ron, much appreciated!

 

[DennyCrane]

My apologies; I did make an assumption. I assumed in this day and age that anyone buying a complex piece of electronic equipment with many fuctions, some of which may not be immediately intuiative, and with which they were not familiar, would take the same 15 or so seconds that I did and download a user's manual so that they could easily answer very basic questions. I'm curious; why do you feel that it's more appropriate for me (or anyone else here) to type of several paragraphs of text than it is for you to download and read it.

The Oly & Panasonic micro four thirds (m4/3) cameras have the same flash mounts. A Vivitar 383 TTL for Panasonic/Olympus will set you back about $125.
I have one & it works great. You can use it off camera with a flash cord or wireless remote. It can also be used as a slave triggered by on camera flash if your camera has a flash.

Here are 2 polar opposites... one answer that helps the original poster in a friendly manner, and the other which is just an angry troll.

Glad Ron was able to help you, Peps1, and welcome to the forums.

 

[tirediron]

My apologies; I did make an assumption. I assumed in this day and age that anyone buying a complex piece of electronic equipment with many fuctions, some of which may not be immediately intuiative, and with which they were not familiar, would take the same 15 or so seconds that I did and download a user's manual so that they could easily answer very basic questions. I'm curious; why do you feel that it's more appropriate for me (or anyone else here) to type of several paragraphs of text than it is for you to download and read it.

The Oly & Panasonic micro four thirds (m4/3) cameras have the same flash mounts. A Vivitar 383 TTL for Panasonic/Olympus will set you back about $125.
I have one & it works great. You can use it off camera with a flash cord or wireless remote. It can also be used as a slave triggered by on camera flash if your camera has a flash.

Here are 2 polar opposites... one answer that helps the original poster in a friendly manner, and the other which is just an angry troll.

Glad Ron was able to help you, Peps1, and welcome to the forums.

Me? A troll? Cool!!!!! While I applaud Ron for providing the answer the OP required, I for one, find people who are so irresponsible as to not even bother to spend 30 seconds of their own time looking the answer, and then display a sarcastic attitude when asked a straight-forward question that would helped someone provide the answer more than just a little tiring. I think my history here will bear out the fact that I answer a great many question, and have a fairly high tolerance for laziness, but one has to draw the line somewhere. If that makes me a troll, so be it!

Oh... would you mind moving over? There's room for two under this bridge!

 

[Ron Evers]

I may not have responded if I had seen the attitude presented by the OP; I answered on the first post.

 

[DennyCrane]

Tire, that doesn't wash. We were all new here once. So, simply disregard the post if it offends your high standards for new members instead of attacking them. And welcome to my ignore list.

 

[Derrel]

Tire, that doesn't wash. We were all new here once. So, simply disregard the post if it offends your high standards for new members instead of attacking them. And welcome to my ignore list.

Tirediron, Do they sell Geritol up thar, in Can-er-da??? Couple of spoons full of Geritol daily for a week oughta' get ya'll fixed up. This is the beginner's gallery, so we expect people with four posts to be a bit snippy unless their every whim is catered to, and each and every reply is sugar-coated, and filled with well-wishes, helpful URL's, extensive exposition, and a printable gift certificate for at least one dozen unicorn farts, redeemable at the local shopping mall located within six miles of the OP's city of residence...