Metz 52 AF-1 Flash
Timings
The 52 AF-1 uses four AA batteries and as such, it offers up to 240 pops as full power. This value is similar to other flashes on the market. For instance the AF540 is specified as offering up to 250 pops. The Metz can increase its number of pops to around 3000 at 1/128 power.
Metz claims recharge time to be 3.5 seconds at full power, down to 0.1 second at the lowest power level. In order to verify this, we used fresh batteries and averaged 10 pops at various power settings. The following graph summarizes the results.
As can be seen from these results, Metz’s evaluation of their flash is accurate, and slightly conservative. These timings are in line with most other flashes on the market, and slightly faster than the AF540.
Metz also supply an evaluation of the flash duration relative to the power, which we reproduce here, having no means to accurately measure the actual durations.
| Flash power | Flash duration (s) |
| 1/1 | 1/125 |
| 1/2 | 1/900 |
| 1/4 | 1/2000 |
| 1/8 | 1/4000 |
| 1/16 | 1/6000 |
| 1/32 | 1/10000 |
| 1/64 | 1/15000 |
| 1/128 | 1/25000 |
Flash durations do not precisely halve when power does, which means the actual power level also varies slightly.
Verdict
The 52 AF-1 does not break any ground regarding timings. Its recharge time is slightly faster, in theory, than some competing flash, and our hands-on experience when compared to the Sigma 530 and Pentax AF 540 FGZ supports this.
