Originally posted by GlennG Hmmm. If there's anything I'm not definitive on, please let me know and I'll try to fix it.
Originally posted by GlennG I'm considering two price points for a flash purchase: $100's, and $200's. Do I understand the prices and options correctly for these price points?
$100's - options are Vivitar 383; Bower 926 - Get P-ttl, tilt, swivel, good power, can be used off camera as slave, but won't be activated wirelessly by camera. Do NOT get high speed sync with these options and price points.
$200's - options are Metz 50, Pentax 360 - Get the same as above (except Pentax won't swivel!), but DO get wireless activation off camera and high speed sync.
So if I understand correctly, the current market is charging about $100 mostly for the benefit of high speed sync (and wireless operation, but I could live without that). Is that it? Did I miss anything else that the extra $100 gets you? Is high speed sync worth $100?
There are a number of features that the mid-level flashes get you which you won't find on the lower models — wireless P-TTL and HSS are two, but there's also things like more manual control, spot beam mode,
other little things which can add up. (Note that, unless there's been a refinement that I'm not aware of, you can't use the models you've identified as even a "dumb" slave with P-TTL, because the preflash will confuse them.) Perhaps more importantly, you'll get a more solid build and a more sophisticated user interface.
But most importantly, the cheaper flashes you've identified are US-labeled versions of a Hong Kong-made flash with little support. If something goes wrong, you're on your own. Vivitar is not the classic company with that name — it's just a trademark owned by
cheap electronic junk importer Sakar. If you go with Metz, Promaster, or Sigma — or of course Pentax — you'll actually have a customer service department you can contact and a service center you can send the flash to for repairs or upgrades.
You'll note that my guide is missing some power information for these flashes at most zoom levels — something that's there for all the other flashes. That's because unlike reputable flash manufacturers, they don't publish this, and all my attempts to ask them for the information have gotten me nothing. Metz, on the other hand, actually measured something with a digital oscilloscope when they couldn't tell me right away! Eventually I may buy one and measure it myself for the sake of science, but the fact that I have to says something important.