Modern Flashes

[markjwyatt]

I have been working to revive my Metz 60 CT-1s with some 3D Printed battery packs from Europe. Not truly modern, but still really functional and hard to beat for power (GN 197, ft, ISO 100). All my Dryfit batteries are long dead, and the new battery holders require many AA batteries (will likely go with NiMH or Li ion rechargeable. I have been testing a little with alkaline batteries), but work and seem to recharge reasonably fast.

 

[ericB&W]

A Metz 60 is just a little less power than my Godox SK-400 studio flash that i use for static
subjects , SK-400 is g.n. 65 , gives about 2 stops more than Metz 45 .
I am tempted to buy a 60 but, for the occasional usage i'll make of it, i prefer push a 400 iso one stop more or use a portra 800 .

 

[Helge]

I have been working to revive my Metz 60 CT-1s with some 3D Printed battery packs from Europe. Not truly modern, but still really functional and hard to beat for power (GN 197, ft, ISO 100). All my Dryfit batteries are long dead, and the new battery holders require many AA batteries (will likely go with NiMH or Li ion rechargeable. I have been testing a little with alkaline batteries), but work and seem to recharge reasonably fast.

No such thing as too much flash power.

 

[Chan Tran]

I have been working to revive my Metz 60 CT-1s with some 3D Printed battery packs from Europe. Not truly modern, but still really functional and hard to beat for power (GN 197, ft, ISO 100). All my Dryfit batteries are long dead, and the new battery holders require many AA batteries (will likely go with NiMH or Li ion rechargeable. I have been testing a little with alkaline batteries), but work and seem to recharge reasonably fast.

I use 2 6000mAh LiFePo4 batteries which gives it a full charge voltage of about 6.4V. Very close to the dry fit voltage. 2 Li-ion would give more than 7V and although it works but I feel it put too much stress on the circuit. The 3 D printed holder takes 10 AA in series/parallel configuration which give the same voltage as the original NiCad pack which has 5 C cells in it. This pack would charge fine with the original charger. The way I do it I have to charge it outside. I can charge it with the original charger but it's not optimum and can shorten the life of the batteries.

 

[koraks]

I can charge it with the original charger but it's not optimum and can shorten the life of the batteries.

Just to point out the obvious, but as a caution to anyone inclined to experiment: charging LiIon and especially LiFePO cells requires dedicated chargers; using old chargers aimed at NiCd and/or NiMH is generally a very risky endeavor. Not just in terms of cell life, but also because of the fire and explosive risks involved. This is even more so if two or more Li cells are connected in series. Use a dedicated charger for these applications.

 

[koraks]

They are often referred to as thyristor flashes, but technically that refers not to their automation, but rather how their automation system minimizes battery drain.

"Battery drain" implies that the thyristor circuit somehow acts as an energy preservation measure. However, the primary purpose of the thyristor circuit is to accurately dose flash power by cutting short the current passed through the flash tube. It's a nice bonus that this can help cut down battery use, but I'm pretty sure that this concept was introduced primarily to allow for automatic exposure control, not energy preservation. The two go hand in hand, however.

 

[MattKing]

"Battery drain" implies that the thyristor circuit somehow acts as an energy preservation measure. However, the primary purpose of the thyristor circuit is to accurately dose flash power by cutting short the current passed through the flash tube. It's a nice bonus that this can help cut down battery use, but I'm pretty sure that this concept was introduced primarily to allow for automatic exposure control, not energy preservation. The two go hand in hand, however.

The predecessor to thyristor circuitry was, IIRC, referred to as "quench" tubes.
In those flashes, the circuitry measured the light reflecting back from the subject and when the right level was reached diverted the energy from the capacitor from the flash tube to a quench tube, where it was merely dispelled/used up/wasted. As a result, each use of the flash fully discharged the capacitor, resulting in a lot of wasted battery power
As an example, the Metz 202 flash.
When they switched to thyristor, the not needed portion of the energy stored in the capacitor was allowed to remain in or returned to the capacitor.
The actual auto exposure measuring system was the same or similar - the switching circuit for the capacitor discharge improved.
That may have been incorporated in the Metz 402 - I can't remember. It definitely was incorporated in the 60 CT and 45 CT series Mets flashes.

 

[benveniste]

As i suspected , Metz has one stop more of power than Godox , measured with Gossen multisix .

My Metz 45CL Digital is perhaps half a stop more powerful than my SB-800, so one stop seems reasonable. But before blaming this on "Modern Flashes," it's worth noting that after adjusting for inflation, when new the Metz cost about 6 times what the Godox TT600 costs today. It's also considerably larger and heavier.

While I can use my Metz with my Pentax 645n, Panasonic GX85, and any of my Nikon cameras, unless I'm shooting Velvia 50 or Tech Pan I typically use lighter flashes.

 

[ericB&W]

My Metz 45CL Digital is perhaps half a stop more powerful than my SB-800, so one stop seems reasonable. But before blaming this on "Modern Flashes," it's worth noting that after adjusting for inflation, when new the Metz cost about 6 times what the Godox TT600 costs today. It's also considerably larger and heavier.

While I can use my Metz with my Pentax 645n, Panasonic GX85, and any of my Nikon cameras, unless I'm shooting Velvia 50 or Tech Pan I typically use lighter flashes.

Yes, all these things must be considered, after all ,comparing prices and inflation in years is not too bad a flash at 70 eu that is almost powerful as the Metz 45, but lighter and compact and can act
as slave flash without needing an external syncro cell .

 

[Chan Tran]

Power is one thing but a lot lof flashes like the Godox,Younguo etc.. shoe mount flashes are not very useful for me. I have many cameras that don't support TTL and using manual flash is OK if you do it as a set up where I can pop a flash to measure it before making exposure. But the use of shoe mount flashes are generally are for much faster shooting and that way is not possible. An old flash with a built in sensor would be much more useful.

 

[ic-racer]

In terms of Modern TTL flashes, I use Metz 45 and Nikon SB-28, I have two of each. In terms of manual flashes, I got two Metz shoe mount flashes that were only for digital cameras and was able to update the firmware to make them manual slaves.

My Classic Auto flashes are Rollei E36 and Sunpak.

I really like the shoe-mount flashes, but the Rollei E36 is a 'potato masher' and requires special brackets for each camera (TLR, 35mm etc)