| Author: | | New Member Registered: March, 2012 Location: Liminka Posts: 11 | | Review Date: October 21, 2022 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Powerful, lots of options, swivel | | Cons: | Plasticky build, menu system | |
This flash packs a mean punch and a lot of options to vary the usage. The head is turnable and can swivel to bounce the light off a nearby surface. The wireless option is really nice, just too bad the menu system is really bad and learning how to use the thing takes a long time.
The construction feels very plasticky and flimsy, but don't let it fool you too much. I've had this thing now for about 10 years and it's still chugging along nicely, despite encountering all kinds of treatment. Sure, the hinge on the battery door broke and there's a small piece of something loose inside the thing, but it still works like new.
It's a good flash for the money. In fact, I just came across a (barely) used one for 50 Euros and snatched it right away.
| | | | | | | Closed Account Registered: March, 2015 Posts: 8,694 | | Review Date: April 17, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $135.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Fully Pentax compatible, powerful, wireless | | Cons: | Build quality could be a little better | |
This flash unit is fully compatible with my K-3 and works very well IMO. The flash output is very close to the Pentax 540FGZ at a much cheaper price. The wireless function works very well with this unit. I use the Sigma EF - 530 DG Super on camera and 1 or 2 Pentax 360FGZ units off camera. They work well together. I would have liked the build quality to have been better, but it is not too bad. I can recommend this flash unit.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: August, 2011 Location: Langwarrin Australia Posts: 382 | | Review Date: December 9, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $190.00
| Rating: 6 |
| Pros: | Powerful, cheap | | Cons: | Bulky, power hungry | |
This is a very powerful flash and I suspect its more powerful than its guide number suggests. It does every-thing you could ask of it very competently but it does have some flaws. For such a power hungry beast it needs an external power- pack but there is no provision to connect one,the instructions are so bad they may as well not provide them and the build quality could be better especially the battery door.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: November, 2009 Location: Strand Posts: 1,366 | | Review Date: March 10, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $250.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | All function needed | | Cons: | Menu system, cannot turn off power save in M-mode | |
I have 2 of this unit, along with a dozen others, a flash junkie you may say.
I use all flashes in manual mode with radio receivers on each.
The good thing is it has all the function needed - p-ttl, second curtain synch, high speed synch, different wireless modes. Maybe too much of the goodies like stroboscope (for disco/dance), and I don't do p-ttl often.
The bad things are the user manual and menu system:
It is one of the worst user manual I have been through. Very small in size, many languages, small font that I need enlargement glasses to read. English text is only few pages. It helps a lot when I photocopy these pages to readable size - still I have to search for info in the web to understand the user manual.
Menu system requires too many push button to get the correct settings. There is no memory for each setting, so when I circulate through the modes, I have to set the setting again.
The ugly and worst for me is not able to turn off powersave in manual mode. Very annoying when you place this unit in second floor to cover a large area, and the unit turn itself off after 3-5 min inactive, and there is no wake up in the center pin.
I do recommend this flash if you are looking for a cheap and good 3rd party for p-ttl, second/rear curtain synch, and other functions than dumb slave flash. As the newer version is coming this can get for as cheap as 150usd each.
You may need to go through the function you need, especially p-ttl behaviour to understand this flash fully. Just be systematically; may be not for new beginners.
| | | | | | | Junior Member Registered: June, 2010 Location: Fremont, CA Posts: 36 | | Review Date: March 3, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $170.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | powerful, price | | Cons: | size | |
On the plus side, this is a powerful flash with both bounce and swivel capabilities, and is cheaper than the AF 360, which is less powerful and cannot swivel. I have used eneloops with this and battery life appears to be quite good.
One the negative side, the flash is quite big, and looks huge on my K-x. The manual is very poorly written and quite honestly, I am surprised that Sigma is selling this product without adequate instructions for using it. Your best bet for info will be either trial and error or asking questions on the forum. The build quality is okay - not bad but not great either.
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: September, 2009 Location: Utah Posts: 29 | | Review Date: December 9, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $169.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Inexpensive, powerful, bounce and swivel, wireless | | Cons: | swivel buttin is annoying, menu system is not intuitive | |
I am very happy with this flash unit. It's big, fairly powerful, and the price was decent. I put $169 for the purchase price, which is what it's selling for right now on Amazon but it was $219.00 when I bought it nine months ago. It has both bounce and swivel capabilities, which Pentax only offers in it's high end model. This is definitely a great alternative to the $400.00+ Pentax 540FGZ. The guide number is lower than the 540FGZ, but it still can fill a room with light. Recycle time is very fast with fresh batteries, and as long as you have a spare set of Eneloops, you will be fine for nearly any occasion. The menu system has a definite learning curve, but once you know what you like to use, it's not a big deal.
This flash can also be used as an on-camera trigger for other 530's, which is very useful for on-location work. One of my favorite features of this unit is the wireless capabilities. It's great to have the option to fire remotely, without cables. This feature opens up endless possibilities in lighting setups, especially if you use 2 or more at a time. The 530 DG Super comes with a flash stand attachment that has a 1/4-20 threaded hole in the bottom for easy attachment to a tripod, allowing you even more freedom to position the flash where you need it.
This gun is a beast, and definitely adds some weight to the camera bag. And like the previous review, you have to consider the weight of extra batteries. That said, the on-camera flash is useless as anything but a controller, so extra weight for extra light is definitely worth the trade-off. The battery door is a bit flimsy, and it's a bit hard to see which way the battery's should be oriented. I don't like the swivel lock button, it's location and design make it difficult to operate sometimes. The lack of bounce card is occasionally a bother, but an inventive DIY'er can fix that problem.
I have not experienced the problem of a shutter delay, my camera fires instantly. Even if the flash has not recycled, the shutter still releases, there's just no flash.
All in all, this has been a fantastic addition to my budget photography kit, and I have not regretted the purchase at all. I would recommend this to anyone looking to have more control over low light situations.
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: March, 2010 Posts: 70
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 9, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $170.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Powerful | | Cons: | Bulky | |
I've had this flash for about 3 months now, and it's amazing what a world of difference a proper bounce flash will do for indoor photographs. Never again will I have to deal with my dog or cats looking like they belong in the underworld. This flash is powerful enough for a Thanksgiving shot that encompassed two large tables and twenty family members, so it’s all right in my book.
I’ve pretty much only used it in TTL mode, and it works fabulously. From experience, this flash tends to overexpose than underexpose. The sound the motor makes when it adjusts the strength of the flash is noticeable but not so noisy that it would disturb anyone. The K-x’s shutter is about ten times louder. 
What I don’t like about it is that it’s heavy and large. It makes everything bigger and heavier – instead of carrying 4 extra batteries, now I need to carry 8. So the K-x no longer feels like a nimble tool but rather a full-fledged picture-taking machine. The other thing I don’t like about it is the delay in the shutter. Even when the flash is filled and ready, there’s a sizable (almost a second) delay from when I press the shutter to when the camera takes the picture. So for portraits and such, it’s fine, but for spur-of-the-moment type of shots, this ain’t gonna work too well.
But don’t get me wrong. If you want to take proper shots with low light, a bounce flash is the way to go, and this one is cheap and does the job. It angles and twists, so portrait shots can be bounced, too. I’m using the latest Eneloop batteries (1500 charges), and I’ve taken 200 shots so far without having to replace them, so the unit is fairly energy efficient.
Check out the shots of my dog and cat below -- all taken with little light and the bounce flash pointed straight up.
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