wparsonsgisnet Posted December 22, 2014 Share #1 Posted December 22, 2014 (edited) Advertisement (gone after registration) I have been using Metz flashes for some years now and was very happy. I have a 54 and a 58. Unfortunately, the 54 has fried the bulb 2 times now. I understand that the Japanese flashes have a heat sensor in them and that the Metz ones do not. In any case, I don't really want to repair the 54 a second time. I believe I spent over $100us last time for the bulb fix. May I have recommendations for a heavy-duty, professional flash, please. As I use an M9 and M8, I use A(ufo) on the flash and have been perfectly happy with that setting. I'd like a flexible head and a slave sensor. Money is not the concern (over 20 years ... ) but industrial strength IS. I only want to buy it once. I am favorably impressed by the Quantum Trio units. Please comment. Thanks and regards to all, Bill Edited December 22, 2014 by wparsonsgisnet Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 22, 2014 Posted December 22, 2014 Hi wparsonsgisnet, Take a look here Flash Recommendation, please. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
thighslapper Posted December 24, 2014 Share #2 Posted December 24, 2014 yes .... and I bought a Quantum Trio Basic plus the Promedia Boomerang bracket that Dirk showed in his thread a few months ago. http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m9-forum/351217-my-new-flash-has-arrived-week.html#post2807848 Works great and when used in Auto with the MM and M exposure is always spot on. No idea why I struggled for years with Leica's unreliable offerings ... The only think I choked on was the price of the Quantum Battery packs ...... and eventually got an unused second hand one on eBay for $150. oh ...... and for off camera flash I have a trio of Yongnuo's with built in triggers and on-camera remotes ..... the whole lot cost under $200 all-in .... and are easily comparable to Nikon/Canon speedlights costing nearly 6x the price ..... 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bocaburger Posted December 27, 2014 Share #3 Posted December 27, 2014 I've had the Metz like yours for about 10 years with no problems, and I've had other Metz units before also with no problems. Perhaps yours has some issue that was not resolved simply by replacing the tube. There are a lot of auto thyristor flashes out there for cheap that are built like tanks, Sunpak and Vivitar come to mind. And the Nikon flashes going back to the F4 days are tanks too, and have auto function (which the Canon EOS ones don't prior to the current top-end model). But the Metz is the only one that will read the ISO from a Leica M digital, which to me is a convenience if you change ISO (or use auto ISO) not to have to remember to make manual changes on the flash. If I was you I would probably stick with the 58, and maybe pick up a used 54 as a backup, as they are pretty cheap and not hard to come by. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wparsonsgisnet Posted March 22, 2015 Author Share #4 Posted March 22, 2015 Just bot 2 Quantum t5dr flashes on ebay (open box items). I rented one this weekend for a lot of dance shooting in rehearsal on Saturday. This flash really rocks. It's at least 3-4 times more powerful than the Metz units I have been using. The controls are very friendly (not exactly the case with Metz). The recycle of 1 second is a little bit of a hindrance. Surprisingly, Quantum's electric power supply for this flash has a recycle of 2 seconds. Hunh. I'm using the YongNuo radios that were recommended so highly elsewhere here. They are very friendly, were cheap, and merely require that I use 1/125 instead of 1/180 shutter speed. I would actually be ok with the 1/180 if I composed so that the black band at the top of the image were not in the usable portion of the picture. And, I still have the working Metz 58 for an on-camera flash. Regards to all, Bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
menos I M6 Posted March 23, 2015 Share #5 Posted March 23, 2015 Bill, if you can shoot at first curtain flash sync (setting in the camera body menu "flash sync"), you will have usable 1/180 (if the triggers can sync at that speed. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wparsonsgisnet Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share #6 Posted March 24, 2015 Dirk, I'll try that. However, I'm afraid it's the triggers. My M(240) shows "Start of Exposure" which must be first curtain, right? Thanks for the suggestion. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
menos I M6 Posted March 25, 2015 Share #7 Posted March 25, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) Dirk, I'll try that. However, I'm afraid it's the triggers. My M(240) shows "Start of Exposure" which must be first curtain, right? Thanks for the suggestion. Yes Bill, "Start of Exposure" dialed in the flash sync menu equals to the widely used term "first curtain sync". I am afraid capping the frame then is related to the triggers not syncing up to 1/180sec. When you mount the flash on the camera body directly and shoot at 1/180sec flash sync speed, you should get a properly lit frame with first curtain sync and a frame with dark band up top in the image when selecting rear curtain sync with the M9 (it does indeed only sync to 1/125sec and only syncs to the advertised 1/180 when used with first curtain flash sync). If you need the tiny bit of higher sync speed different triggers are in order then ;-( 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wparsonsgisnet Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share #8 Posted March 25, 2015 Thanks, Dirk. I figured it must be the fault of the triggers. Fortunately, the strobe freezes the action for the most part. It's really nice having so much "sun on a stick," as I have heard it called. These guys *really* put out the light. Best, Bill 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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