fl50 slave unit advise required

casey4355 · 7th May 2009

hi all,

i m thinking of getting a slave unit for my flash to enable mi to shoot off the camera.
i am also concerned that some makes could potentially kill my flash.
anybody out there with a tried and tested brand and model ?

orient photo has one, but he tells mi to go there to test it myself.

or can i get a long cable ?

Please advise.
Thanks in advance.

headfonz · 7th May 2009

Originally Posted by casey4355

hi all,

i m thinking of getting a slave unit for my flash to enable mi to shoot off the camera.
i am also concerned that some makes could potentially kill my flash.
anybody out there with a tried and tested brand and model ?

orient photo has one, but he tells mi to go there to test it myself.

or can i get a long cable ?

Please advise.
Thanks in advance.

which camera body and flash are you using? if you have a E3/30/620/520/420, maybe you may like to consider the FL36R or FL50R since the wireless flash functionality is already built in and you have full TTL capability too.

for the off shoe cable, the canon off shoe flash cable 2 works very well with olympus flash units and has full TTL communication too. cheaper than the olympus branded cable too. i have 1 to let go if you are interested.

[Edit] just realised your flash is FL50 from the thread title. in that case a a off shoe flash cable should work better for you. or just get a sunpak / emoblitz slave flash for under $100 to be triggered by your FL50?

microcosm · 11th May 2009

Hi Casey,

There are a few solutions that you can look at :

(1) The cable way. This is limited to shooting off camera but within arm's length. For some reasons, even when using the (R) flash guns from Olympus, the cable's reliability (no misfire) is something that kept me "cabled" when shooting events. There are people who have definitely experienced the (R) flash not firing when set to wireless mode. In your case, if you need to fire the flash away from the camera body but within arm's length, the generic cable is the way to go. OlyFlyer used a Canon cable before and it works, I have Nikon's and Olympus' cables. All work like a dream.

(2) Slave flash and FL50 as main. If this is what you prefer, then you can buy a relatively cheap and low powered manual flash but watch out for the voltage compatibility. Then buy a flash slave trigger unit for the FL-50 and whenever you fire off the small flash on your camera, it will trigger off your FL-50 mounted on a tripod and away from your camera. But you lose all communications with the FL50 (no TTL support).

The list can be big... make sure you search for the unit you intend to buy and its discharge voltage to ensure it will not fry your camera. I think we have discussed this before on the threads about discharge voltage. Some older manual flashes are the worse killers.

(3) Wireless radio trigger (or IR)
This is the best solution in my opinion. No additional flash and slave units required. Just buy one of those Chinese made hotshoe flash triggers and use them. You still lose TTL control.

Image from www.camera-shop.co.nz.

7th May 2009	#1
casey4355 Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 735	fl50 slave unit advise required hi all, i m thinking of getting a slave unit for my flash to enable mi to shoot off the camera. i am also concerned that some makes could potentially kill my flash. anybody out there with a tried and tested brand and model ? orient photo has one, but he tells mi to go there to test it myself. or can i get a long cable ? Please advise. Thanks in advance.

11th May 2009	#3
microcosm Moderator Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,014	Re: fl50 slave unit advise required Hi Casey, There are a few solutions that you can look at : (1) The cable way. This is limited to shooting off camera but within arm's length. For some reasons, even when using the (R) flash guns from Olympus, the cable's reliability (no misfire) is something that kept me "cabled" when shooting events. There are people who have definitely experienced the (R) flash not firing when set to wireless mode. In your case, if you need to fire the flash away from the camera body but within arm's length, the generic cable is the way to go. OlyFlyer used a Canon cable before and it works, I have Nikon's and Olympus' cables. All work like a dream. (2) Slave flash and FL50 as main. If this is what you prefer, then you can buy a relatively cheap and low powered manual flash but watch out for the voltage compatibility. Then buy a flash slave trigger unit for the FL-50 and whenever you fire off the small flash on your camera, it will trigger off your FL-50 mounted on a tripod and away from your camera. But you lose all communications with the FL50 (no TTL support). The list can be big... make sure you search for the unit you intend to buy and its discharge voltage to ensure it will not fry your camera. I think we have discussed this before on the threads about discharge voltage. Some older manual flashes are the worse killers. (3) Wireless radio trigger (or IR) This is the best solution in my opinion. No additional flash and slave units required. Just buy one of those Chinese made hotshoe flash triggers and use them. You still lose TTL control. Image from www.camera-shop.co.nz. __________________ Discuss and Share on Facebook