promaster or metz ?

[sequitur]

hey guys

dpreview.com sony forum has lotsa people (US citizens lol) using promaster 5550 dx and 5750 dx... GN for 5550 is around 30m and 5750 around 40m...

how do they compare to similar metz offers.. anybody knows ?

talking about metz 32-series and 40-series of course.. (or 44-series.. ? )

somebody mentioned the SCA adaptor does not make a lot of difference.. is this true ?

coz apparently the promaster's adaptor is pretty good and lotsa people give positive reviews about them...

[f55user]

If i'm not mistaken, any adaptor modules only receive the f/stop, ISO information from the camera.... they don't do TTL (unless Sony performs some magic in their HVL-F32X flash). In that case it's not terribly worth spending the $130 on the Metz adaptor...

[sequitur]

so what.. i should just get a flash that does their own metering and all the stuff (like 32mz3.. they got some AF focusing beam or something...), and that's good enough ?

[f55user]

Yup... Suggest you try it out with and without the adaptor at the shop and see which one you prefer... BTW flashes like the 32MZ-3 do not activate their AF beam when used with the standard shoe (or even the Sony adaptor)... Use the flash on it's "A" mode and it'll give you surprisingly good results for a non-dedicated flash.

[sequitur]

so essentially..

1. the only thing the adaptor does is (for 717 of course) :

to transmit ISO, fstop, shutter, focus distance, THAT"S IT, from the sony camera to the flash and the flash fires a level based on this distance.. (with or without the aid of it's af sensor ?)



2. then if you don't have the adaptor :

the 717 will set its own fstop, shutter, etc all the crap, and the FLASH's AF sensor will set its own fstop, shutter, and all the crap and fire a flash level based on its sensor alone ?


3. so in other words.. if the settings on the 717 match those on the flash's AF sensor.. then you essentially will get the same effect without having an adaptor.. am i right to say this ?


pls help answer the 3 questions... thanks a lot

[f55user]

Quote: Originally posted by sequitur so essentially.. 1. the only thing the adaptor does is (for 717 of course) : to transmit ISO, fstop, shutter, focus distance, THAT"S IT, to the flash and the flash fires a level based on this distance.. (with or without the aid of it's af sensor ?) 2. then if you don't have the adaptor : the 717 will set its own fstop, shutter, etc all the crap, and the FLASH's AF sensor will set its own fstop, shutter, and all the crap and fire a flash level based on its sensor alone ? 3. so in other words.. if the settings on the 717 match those on the flash's AF sensor.. then you essentially will get the same effect without having an adaptor.. am i right to say this ? pls help answer the 3 questions... thanks a lot

1) yup... i think without the aid of it's sensor...
2) no, you set a f/stop and iso on the flash and set the cam to that same f/stop and just whack... shutter speed is not important.
3) sort of. only a bit more troublesome lah...

[sequitur]

Quote: Originally posted by f55user 1) yup... i think without the aid of it's sensor... 2) no, you set a f/stop and iso on the flash and set the cam to that same f/stop and just whack... shutter speed is not important. 3) sort of. only a bit more troublesome lah...

1. okay

2. huh.. wait.. then that's so troublesome.. i really meant the.. "auto mode" on the flash.. doesn't the af sensor set everything for you automatically ? "auto mode" not "ttl mode"..

3. hmm.. okay.. i think should be more or less the same...

oh yah check this out... 54mz3 !


http://www.pbase.com/pinback/flash

[f55user]

I *did* consider the 54MZ3... but:

1) It's $600
2) It's blardy huge...

Anyway that's as "auto" as it gets... upside is that if you need more light, just leave the f/stop setting on the flash and open up the aperture on the camera...

[Sony717]

i wish i can understand 50% of wat u guys are talking about.

[f55user]

Quote: Originally posted by Sony717 i wish i can understand 50% of wat u guys are talking about.

Hehe.. to understand 100% just go to SEED.... I wonder if i can make it for the next one...

[sequitur]

then what's the AF sensor for if the flash ain't gonna fire automatically on its own ?

man
see.. i wanna use the flash for night candid street shots.. it's really tough to like key in all the specs manually...


sony717.. uh.. i only got my camera.. or really.. my first near-slr like camera 2 weeks ago.. and i've only gone for 2 shoots... the 1st was a complete failure coz it rained and there was totally no light and it was the 2nd day i bought the cam...

the 2nd shoot was just last sunday and i'm really very pleased with what i've taken but i've got no time to post the photos up..

esplanade gives lots of good shots
lol

[sequitur]

in other words

i'm a complete newbie too

but i've read up on a lot before buying a cam though
:P

[f55user]

It's not an AF sensor on the flash.. it's a sensor to detect the amount of light that "should" be going into the camera, based on the ISO and f/stop set on the flash. When the "correct" amount of light is sensed, the flash will cut off. This regardless of whatever settings are on the camera. Usually you just set the flash to say, ISO100 and f/4, and set the camera to the same ISO. Use the same f/stop for a start, and if it's not bright enough/too bright, compensate using the f/stop adjustment on the camera (i.e. manual mode), unless you really want some DOF or whatever effects.

[f55user]

Anyway, this was shot with the 32MZ-3 on Auto mode... (not mine, I have the 44MZ-2).



*edit: link corrected
*edit 2: stupid spelling mistake...

[majere2sg]

On the metz 32mz-3, there are a couple of auto modes you can adjust to, for F2, F2.8, F4, F5.6 and F8.
Depending on the Aperture on your camera, you adjust the auto mode to the F Settings.

[majere2sg]

Quote: Originally posted by f55user Anyway, this was shot with the 32MZ-3 on Auto mode... (not mine, I have the 44MZ-2).

Can't see. is the website down ?

[f55user]

Quote: Originally posted by majere2sg On the metz 32mz-3, there are a couple of auto modes you can adjust to, for F2, F2.8, F4, F5.6 and F8. Depending on the Aperture on your camera, you adjust the auto mode to the F Settings.

Yup... but you've only got 3 f/stop settings for a given ISO, i.e. for ISO 100 you can only select f/2, f/4 and f/8...

[sequitur]

in other words

if i want instant-candid-street photography.. i'm gonna need an adaptor coz it would be faster than if i set everything manually and risk under/over-exposing my photos ?

(and yes there's only 1 chance for a moment !!)

[f55user]

Quote: Originally posted by majere2sg Can't see. is the website down ?

Oops. Linked to wrong filename...
should be http://evangelion.natriumtech.com/butterfly2.jpg ..

[f55user]

Quote: Originally posted by sequitur in other words if i want instant-candid-street photography.. i'm gonna need an adaptor coz it would be faster than if i set everything manually and risk under/over-exposing my photos ? (and yes there's only 1 chance for a moment !!)

The best thing would be to bring your camera to AP or CP and give the adaptor a shot.. I did that and was in AP for something like half an hour before deciding I didn't want to spend $130 on it..