microcosm
Senior Member
East Gear will be the one selling this.
Some FL-50 questions
- Thread starter OlyFlyer
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East Gear will be the one selling this.
wrx_sti_22b
Senior Member
Increase the recycling time I dun want...
microcosm
Senior Member
Thanks for putting the terminoligies straight... battery packs makes the flash recycle faster for the next shot basically. While pricing is not out yet, I am sure EG is price it attractively. And the fact that it uses Lithium-Ion means the pack holds it charge longer, especially good for extended shooting. And also double the capacity of Quantum packs. Looks like a promising product. But at the end of the day... let's see how EG prices it.
centraljava
New Member
Reading the Metz brochure which says that
Metz 54 doesn't support Olympus; only 44 with SCA3202 adapter does.
Was it really 54 that was tried?
I don't think the FL-36 has the external battery pack socket.
To use the external battery pack you do need an FL-50.
Hacker
Senior Member
There are many versions of the Metz 54. Actually, some version support FP, called HSS by Metz for obvious legal reasons.
Many adapters work with many Metz flashes, not only the 44. I have the 76 MZ-5 and it works beautifully with Oly DSLRs.
The light sensor is only used in normal Auto mode. In TTL it should be measured Through The Lens (TTL), not using the sensor. I really hope that in TTL mode the flash will emmit all power if needed, would hate if it would work like the built in flash. In that case it was a mistake to buy it and I could have just stick to my old external flashes. My main reason to get it is to get more than GN 32 which is the GN for each of my three other flashes. BTW, the Auto light sensor in my Oly T32 does allow to give all power if needed, which in that case is GN32, so why would that be limited in the FL-50?
EDIT:
I just received a call, my flash arrived. So in a few hours I will know all that.
microcosm
Senior Member
Not to me.
A freshly-charged set of batteries will charge up a fully discharged FL-36 in about 6 seconds. As the charge level of the batteries drop, the charge time of the flash would obviously go up.
Which is not much different or slower from an FL-50; an FL-36 used within its limitations still produces excellent results.
For a fast 1-2 second full discharge to full charge an external battery pack is still required.
If you do weddings as the main guy don't leave home without it.
Which is not much different or slower from an FL-50; an FL-36 used within its limitations still produces excellent results.
For a fast 1-2 second full discharge to full charge an external battery pack is still required.
If you do weddings as the main guy don't leave home without it.
Blu-By-U
Senior Member
What about doing some modification. Say instead of 2 AA in series which get you the 2.4VDC and 4000maH, Have 2 pairs in parallel connected in series to another 2 pair in parallel? Voltage will still remain the same as 2.4VDC but the maH doubles to 8000maH. This would get you the same power as a FL50. Would this help in reducing the recharge time to 3 sec?
Just one question, where do you get the 4000mAh AA batteries from? I haven't seen anything over 2700mAh yet.
Connecting the batteries in series gives you higher voltage but not higher capacity (mAh). Connecting batteries in parallell keeps the same voltage but results in higher capacity. That is, connecting two pairs of equally charged (!) batteries (two - two in series) in parallell would give you 5400mAh 2.4V with my example batteries. I think the problem is that you need to fix a connection to the flash. As far as I know the FL-36 does not have external battery connector, but that is not a big problem for a handy person.
I think that is not very fair. Now that I have the FL-50 I can say that mine is charging from a full discharge to a full charge using 4x2500mAh batteries in about 3-5 seconds. 5 seconds is not much better than 6 (if the FL-36 really charges in 6 the same way from nil to full) BUT! In my case the charge was up to a GN50 discharge in your case to GN36. Setting my FL-50 to GN40 the charge is ready in 1-2 seconds and that is for me a huge, at least 300% difference. I guess limiting the output to GN36 would improve the charge times even more.
That's what makes the FL-50 seem to recycle faster; most situations (i think) hardly warrant a full GN50 firing.
The FL-36 on the other hand, almost always requires a full discharge firing for a decent bounce off a high ceiling.
The other advantage of the FL-50 is its capability to be connected to an external pack, as highlighted earlier.
The FL-36 on the other hand, almost always requires a full discharge firing for a decent bounce off a high ceiling.
The other advantage of the FL-50 is its capability to be connected to an external pack, as highlighted earlier.
Now that I have received my FL-50 all my questions are answered and I can only use a three letter word to say how the flash is, it is a real gem :angel:. Finally I can use long zoom to take images I want from a distance. It definitely beats my T32 flash, the extra GN I get is definitely useful, like the FP flash mode.
There is no vignetting at all, the 14-45mm set to 14mm with lens hood on produces no vignetting since the flash is so high up. The AF assist works nice in total darkness also, enabling to focus even on a white wall without any contrast. Not IR, but fully usable in group of people without irritating them. So, now I finally can turn on AF assist, which is a nice feature. The only problem with it is that it has a minimum range also. I would welcome the possibility to use it even for close-ups, but unfortunately the emitted red light pattern ends up over the AF sensor area when the subject is nearer than about 50-70cm from the lens. Maybe later I will fix a kind of reflector to direct the light rays down abit.
Anyway, the short summary version is: So far I am very happy, the only thing I don't like is the shape. It is too tall, my favourite form is the old T32. I would have prefered to have the batteries and the lower part placed horizontally over the camera but this tall design seems to be more popular one today among other flash builders also. Well, you can't have everything... Other than that, I am very happy with my decision.
There is no vignetting at all, the 14-45mm set to 14mm with lens hood on produces no vignetting since the flash is so high up. The AF assist works nice in total darkness also, enabling to focus even on a white wall without any contrast. Not IR, but fully usable in group of people without irritating them. So, now I finally can turn on AF assist, which is a nice feature. The only problem with it is that it has a minimum range also. I would welcome the possibility to use it even for close-ups, but unfortunately the emitted red light pattern ends up over the AF sensor area when the subject is nearer than about 50-70cm from the lens. Maybe later I will fix a kind of reflector to direct the light rays down abit.
Anyway, the short summary version is: So far I am very happy, the only thing I don't like is the shape. It is too tall, my favourite form is the old T32. I would have prefered to have the batteries and the lower part placed horizontally over the camera but this tall design seems to be more popular one today among other flash builders also. Well, you can't have everything... Other than that, I am very happy with my decision.
The thing that makes the FL-50 charge faster is the fact that it uses four batteries. Higher voltage charges the capacitors faster than lower, assuming the same mAh capacity. The batteries are connected in series in the FL-50, giving 4.8-6 volts depending on battery type. Charge times are only measurable if measured from fully discharged flash to fully charged and ready condition. Every time the flash is fully charged it should be able to emit the amount of light corresponding to full GN50.
The fact is that actually my old T32 is more powerful than the FL50, it is a GN32 flash at 14mm while the FL50 is just a GN28. Of course, technology has taken a few steps forward (and backward in regard of TTL) since 1982 when I bought my T32, so there are other features that makes the FL-50 better. Even in the T32 case the charging never takes more than 5 seconds from zero to full using four batteries.
The fact is that actually my old T32 is more powerful than the FL50, it is a GN32 flash at 14mm while the FL50 is just a GN28. Of course, technology has taken a few steps forward (and backward in regard of TTL) since 1982 when I bought my T32, so there are other features that makes the FL-50 better. Even in the T32 case the charging never takes more than 5 seconds from zero to full using four batteries.
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