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Recommend a a small flash with a turning head

Alexander Ivashkin

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Jun 1, 2017
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Location
Moscow - Warsaw
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Multi Format
Hi there everyone,

What could be a good flash unit that would satisfy the following requirements?
  • is lightweight and small
  • works in Auto mode (I don't care about TTL or manual)
  • can be had for cheap
  • is simple and sturdy (no extra features, no zoom, minimalistic controls)
  • GN is not really important. I'd prefer feeble but small over brilliant but enormous
  • and, most importantly, would have a head that can be tilted and rotated horizontally as well as vertically for bouncing light
I own a Nikon SB-20 and love it, but it's a tad bulky and rotates only on one axis...

Cheers,
Alexander
 
If your camera has a flash socket, any small auto flash unit in conjunction with flash cord and a shoe mountable ball head should give you the flexibility you are looking for. The ball head shoe mounts are cheap. An adjustable flash bracket instead of the shoe-mounting ball head is another option.
 
Flashes smaller than the SB-20 don't tend to have head turns in 2 axis that if they turn at all.
 
Look into a used Vivitar283
 
Unfortunately, the Viv 283 only adjusts on one axis. I don't know if it's small enough for you, but the Sunpak 383 does rotate horizontally and vertically.
 
Might be as easy to find a rotating flash shoe. That & a vertical tilt on the flash works.
 
I only know tilting flash shoes. But a miniature ball head with a (hot) shoe with 3/8 thread should work.
 
The Sunpak Auto 422D will do what you need., The head tilts and swivels. It comes in dedicated flavors but also has a thyristor. Takes 4 "AA" batteries, so it has a fair amount of oomph. ISO 100 GN is 100 in feet. I have one that's dedicated for Minolta X-series, but it says on the module that it is also for "all other hot shoe mount regular cameras." So if you don't care about dedication, and your camera has a hot shoe, it should work just fine for you.

These flashes can be found on eBay for very little money, an excellent buy if you ask me.
 
There really isn't a flash that I can think of that does what you want and is smaller than the SB-20. The thing that will be hard to find is the swiveling from side to side. If you want more functionality, take a look at Metz flashes. I have a Metz 32 ct 7 that swivels in both directions, and the reflector will bounce as well. Basically, it will fire in any direction. Metz flashes don't stick way up like other flashes, they project forward. Plus, you can get a module for any camera to make it automatic. It also zooms, although the zoom is manual. Quite a flash. Metz makes some quality stuff. The one I have might be a little bigger than your SB-20 but they made others that were smaller though I couldn't tell you what features they have.

There are some other small flashes that you might be interested in if you give up all the movement. A Konica flash that came with my Hexar is nice. I have an old Voigtlander flash that is about the size of a pack of gum. Really small. I have some other small ones too but I would have to go look. None of them bounce or swivel though, but they get the job done. Quite frankly, once you start bouncing light, you are going to need some power.

Hope that helps you.
 
If you do have TTl, and have the appropriate connecting cord, you can rotate the flash to your heart's content.
Something like an Olympus T-20 or T-32, with an OM-2s and the appropriate cord.
Otherwise, a Vivitar 4800 will give you the functionality, but it isn't small.
I expect that the manufacturers assume(d) that if you are doing a lot of bounce flash work, you will need the extra power of a larger flash.
 
Nikon SB-28 is pretty small compared to a lot of swivel flashes but its pretty fancy too. I have a few old sunpaks that have manual sliders and A mode. Finding one may be harder since they are often dedicated and model numbers are unknown to me aside from the Sunpak NE I have.
 
I have a small Sunpak that I removed the dedicated TTL pins from the shoe, making it a generic non-TTL flash. That eliminated any issues with the TTL circuits messing with my camera. As I recall, Minolta had a non-standard pin configuration, so I avoided the dedicated Minolta model.
 
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