A little while ago (in a thread far, far away :-) I mentioned that I had a Metz 44MZ-2 flash on order for use with my DSC-F707. Several people expressed interest in how I got on with it. So here are some remarks (and test shots).
First of all, I didn't get the 44MZ-2, but its bigger brother, the 54MZ-3. This model offers greater power, more partial flash output settings (25 against 8, I think), a secondary fill-in flash for use with the main flash in bounce mode and other neat stuff like a stroboscopic mode with flash frequency up to 50Hz (which I can't wait to try).
The 54MZ-3 interfaces with the camera via the SCA-3602 adapter which plugs into the 'F707 ACC port. Metz produce a series of adapters for most makes of cameras, so when I eventually upgrade my camera, I just have to swap the adapter, not the flash. Sadly, the adapter doesn't include an ACC pass-through port, so I can't connect my new flash and the RM-DR1 remote control at the same time (have to build a splitter cable, I think).
The flash has four main modes of operation - manual, strobe, auto and TTL. In manual mode you set it all up yourself - there are 25 partial output settings. Strobe mode lets you set the number (1-50) and frequency (1-50Hz) of flashes. TTL reads the shutter speed, aperture and focus distance from the camera, computes the flash required and fires it. It isn't true TTL as it doesn't then cut off the flash based on metering through the lens. Auto mode is the one which yields best results most of the time - it does the same as TTL mode, but meters the shot through the flash's built-in sensor and stops the flash when it's decided the shot is correctly exposed.
I've taken some test shots which are here.
Comments/questions welcome.
Message edited by author 2003-05-11 19:22:10.
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