Seeking love - will pay!

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hmm I recognise this place! And some of you!
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Ok guys I need some help here because I am just not having any luck on my own - I keep finding them, but gah if the small ones are not all so lacking in many ways!

All I am looking for is:
A nice lightweight model
Full manual handson control of things
usable in a multi model setup - I will accept by cable
a decent recycle time and life span
good power output
support for ettl (canon)


Take the Canon 270Ex - no controls outside of in camera menus, ok, but it has no way of functioning in a multiflash setup at all - its light and has the power and compatabilty, but its just not going to adapt to my changing needs

Then there is the Sunpack RD2000 - nice and small again, but only 3 stops of exposure control, no manual hands on features and it apparently crashes every time you change the aperture setting - needing a restart....


Is it too much to ask for?
Please TPF members help me find flash love!
 
hmm I have seen that flash around, but its not really going to work well I think for what I need - which is macro lighting. That flash would not give enough light at very close distance and plus terrible onesided lighting issues

thanks for the suggestion though :)
 
Why not the MT-24EX? I loved mine when I was into macro.
 
Well, no-ones said it, so:

Recycle times are more about your power supply than the flash itself. Alkaline and Lithium batters are by far the slowest, NiCads are decent, and NiMH are the freaking bomb (I get 5-6 second recycle from zero to full power on my 550EX with those new type of NiMH batteries Panasonic is putting out). Plus, NiMH's are rechargable, and the new ones do a fantanstic job of keeping their charge while being stored (just don't use a NiCad charger on NiMH batteries, or bad things will happen).

By far the fastest solution is to get a battery back. That can cut recycle times to 2 s from zero to full. Thing is, the flash likely wasn't built to keep firing at full power so quickly; using a battery pack you have to remember to slow down sometimes, otherwise you might risk damaging the flash (smoke means "stop right now").
 
Well, there is always the question of price vs performance/functionality.

If you want TTL, original brand name is #1, Metz #2, Sigma #3.

If you want off camera flashes for budget use:
1. Vivitar 285HV
2. Sunpack 383
3. LumoPro MP120
4. used older Nikon units (if you can find them!)
5. and back to OEM flashes for you (new or used)

My new workhorse flash is a Nikon SB-80DX... great on battery power, adjustable from 1/1 to 1/128th, built-in optical slave and external sync port, powerful for a battery powered unit... reliable and indestructible. Best part? $40Cdn at a used camera fleamarket!
 
wowow slow down a sec lets get a few things straight ;)

1) Yah I have seriously considered battery packs, but currently the price of a good one is outside of the amount I am willing to spend at this stage. For me they are like pocketwizards - a really nice thing that I can think of uses for, but not something essential to my work that I need it right now.

2) The idea with this flash primarily is to mount it on a flash braket with a forward position so that the flash will be set above the lens pointing down at the insect in question - this will need to be out infront of the lens by a decent amout (I work with the 150mm macro) as well as work closer for when I have the raynox attached.

This is why weight is a key component.

ettl and manual flash controls are the key part which is giving me problems though - quite a few cheaper flashes offer one or the other or just offer 3 way exposure compensation. A slave feature is also important since I want the flash to retain its worth to me over time rather than just be waste - I am not pushing for wirelss on this just slave function.

3) longterm plan is the MT-24EX flash but at £750+ its out of my current reach

I will have a look at the suggested metz flashes
 
Ok guys I need some help here because I am just not having any luck on my own - I keep finding them, but gah if the small ones are not all so lacking in many ways!

All I am looking for is:
A nice lightweight model
Full manual handson control of things
usable in a multi model setup - I will accept by cable
a decent recycle time and life span
good power output
support for ettl (canon)

Am I the only one who thought OP was saying something different until that very last line in the quote?
 
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yah I have been meaning to move to sanyo batteries - mostly though as the keep charge inbetween shoots rather htan the lithium sort which die out - not fun if you suddenly want to use the gear and have not charged it in a few days!
 
Am I the only one who thought OP was saying something different until that very last line in the quote?

Well, let's just say that I was going to reply that I charge $200/hour, and that they'd have to be blond, female and reeeeeeeeely good looking... LOL!
 
yah I have been meaning to move to sanyo batteries - mostly though as the keep charge inbetween shoots rather htan the lithium sort which die out - not fun if you suddenly want to use the gear and have not charged it in a few days!

I have 2 sets of Eneloops, but let me say that NiMH batteries do not die if you do not charge every few days... as long as you charge them the day before you use them, they can go a year without being charged. The advantage to this is that they last for WAY more flashes than those batteries that retain their charge over long periods of time.

I get 290 flashes out of my Eneloops and they are done but well over 500 flashes with Energizer 2650mah batteries and they still keep going. The Eneloops are rated at 2200mah, but perform like low end 1300-1500mah batteries.

Real world example: The first time I did a wedding with my mentor, he was a huge supporter of Eneloops... until he had to swap and change batteries *3* times on his 3 flashes while I used one set all night at the reception. He uses MiMH now... same brand/mah as me, and uses one set of batteries at the reception like I do. It does make a difference... what do you want... longer lasting in between storage, or longer lasting when you are using them?

Like the man says... you can pay me now, or pay me later. ;)
 
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