Sunpak or Vivitar

[scottalanphoto]

I am currently looking to purchase a speedlight for my wife. She will be using it for events. We do not want to spend $500 on the Canon speedlight. I was looking at these two. Does anyone have any info or experience or suggestions?

Sunpak PZ42X TTL Shoe Mount Flash PZ42XC B&H Photo Video

Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount DF-383-CAN B&H

[Houston-X]

I'm pretty much in the same boat, I'm looking forward to what the experts think.

[Arcusmedia]

I use 4 vivatar 285hvs and have been very happy... They can be had for 100 bucks at aderoma!

[Some Idiot]

I'm not expert on flash.... however.. I have 4 vivitar 285HV's and they have been insanely reliable.... Im talking drops, tumbles, light stand tip overs, work horses, I have a AC plug for one and it will pop, pop, pop, pop all night long and never skip a beat..... I had to replace a shoe once, other then that, they are AMAZING little lights..... I am a plus 1 for the Vivitar brand

[Daniel W.]

If you just want a no-nonsense E-TTL "point-and-pop" look for a used 420EX. It doesn't have manual control, but it swivels for bounce flash, and is lightweight/small! On most models (except for rebels) your camera's built in FEC will control the flash compensation.

The 285's are nice but as close as you'll get to automated is the Thyristor calculations, or manual power - neither of which are fun if you're going for just "point and shoot" flash. They are good for remote flashes though, tucked in the corner of a room part of a off-camera setup.

A note on 3rd party flashes (and in general any 3rd party stuff) - when it comes to camera-specific systems like TTL flash or autofocus, these companies have to reverse engineer the gear. What we've seen to date is that while they work for one model or series of cameras, they end up not being compatible with a number of other cameras. This is especially bad with Canon because the EF system is a bit younger / more electronic than say, Nikon or Pentax. For instance, a number of the 3rd party flashes from the late 90's design for 35mm EOS cameras are no-bueno with the newer digital cameras. A bunch of the 3rd party lenses designed for EF mount back in the day (mostly Sigma) - no bueno with newer digital cameras.

[Arcusmedia]

There is a Nifty Feature on the 285hv's. Its called the Vivatar Caculater!



Here's how to manually calculate the flash on the Vivitar 285HV.

1. Start by setting your setting your ISO. For this example we're at ISO 100 marked by the outer dial by the white arrow.

2. Next set your power level that you want to start with. Above we're at 1/4 power marked by the black arrow.

3. Next you have a choice. Either you'll know what f stop you want to shoot at and you need to get the distance to set the flash or you know the distance and need to know the f/stop. Let's say we know our desired f/stop and want to know the distance to set the flash. Our goal is to shoot @ f/5.6 so we need to know how far away to set the flash looking at the f stops on the dial, f/5.6 lines up between 7 and 10ft. So if you set your flash 8.5ft from the subject you should get pretty close to the proper exposure without any chimping!

So what if you're using a modifier like a shoot through umbrella. Do the same as above but realize that you're going to probably lose about 1/2 to 1 stop of light. So if you want to keep the f/stop @ 5.6 then you will need to move the flash closer, probably between 5 1/2 feet to 6 feet to compensate for a 1 stop lose of light.

Additional info:

When it comes to using bounce flash it's no different from using direct flash except you have to take the distance of the flash to the bounce surface + the distance of the bounce surface to the subject into consideration. See the image below:



So basically it comes down to this, you must know at least three parts to get the 4th part. Example: You know the distance, ISO, f/stop but you need the power or you know the power, distance, ISO but need the f/stop. The calculator will make it easy to determine the last piece of the puzzle.

So there you have it easy calculation without chimping. A meter does make things a whole lot faster but after some practice it doesn't take long to use a calculator.

[ldelacruz]

Originally Posted by Arcusmedia

There is a Nifty Feature on the 285hv's. Its called the Vivatar Caculater!

That makes it pretty easy for studio type stuff but too bad it doesn't have a spell check?

[ClintDMc]

I do have the vivitar 383 and so far no real issues with it. I dont use it as often as I would like, so each time I have to RE...learn how. but its simple enough. would like an SB-900 though.

[Tom]

Skip them both.

Get the Lumopro LP160.
LumoPro LP160 Manual Flash

I have three of these and use them to take all my reception pictures at weddings.

They have about the same power as a 580EX II, and they can use a monojack (use that!) a PC jack (never use that on any flash), the hot shoe or an optical slave to trigger. Adjust in full stops and can zoom.






(Using one to light the bubbles there)

[David Whatley]

Good Job explaining that Eric.
Damn, Thomas, there for a moment I thought you needed to really clean your sensor :)

[ClintDMc]

well after looking at the Lumopro LP 160 I would have to agree. the two main features that strike me right off the bat are the ability for full-1/64th power, and being able to zoom to 105mm. the vivitar will only go to 1/16th power, and zoom to 85mm.

[groovyone]

The 1/64 power is really selling me on the LP160. I plan on ordering one.

[scottalanphoto]

why use the monojack and not the pc? just curious!

[Some Idiot]

Originally Posted by scottalanphoto

why use the monojack and not the pc? just curious!

Me too

The LP160 is a bit more $$$$ then the 285's too, but it does have some features that would be nice to have....

[pbyd]

Originally Posted by scottalanphoto

why use the monojack and not the pc? just curious!

I can answer that, and I used PC cords for many years. PC cords do not stay attached to the camera very well, you will need a PC tool and use it often to keep the PC tight.
Now you may get other answers but that is mine. I do use Vivitar 283's, at one time had 8 of them in a case if all of my Nikon Speed Lights failed. I now only have one Vivitar 283 just in case, but to date none of my SB800's (12 of them) have ever failed, and little issues with the SB900's so I would stay with Nikon or Canon gear.
For the price I love Vivitar and Sunpak.
Wayne
Photography by Design