Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)For less than half the cost of the cheapest Nikon flash, I really did not expect a whole lot. My rating therefore is partly based on the low cost of this product. I decided to get mine from a non-camera store that starts with the name "Wal" simply because they had the best price going! The flash was cheap enough that I could risk purchasing it even though there were no reviews for it so far. I really needed the bounce functionality to get some decent indoor shots of our baby and avoid the "deer in headlamp" looks of a straight on flash. This flash fulfills my needs in this regard. It also seems to have fairly good range outside (far exceeding the built in one of my D-40), but I am yet to test exactly how much with the lens that I own (18 - 135mm). I'll post some bounce flash pics soon. Most turned out really good.
Pros -
1) I've only taken about 2 dozen pictures with this flash. None came out over-exposed. Some indoor bounce shots taken at telephoto came out slightly to significantly under-exposed (I think thats expected considering the small apertures on the lens at 135mm), while the wider angle shots came out fine. i-TTL implementation seems to work quite well (in i-TTL, camera controls the duration of flash - making for correct flash exposure). Using this flash therefore is a no-brainer with compatible camera's.
2) Charges up in a flash. For almost all indoor shots - where the flash is not being used at full power, only a portion of the stored charge is used. Its almost immediately ready for the next shot.
3) Manual zoom head works as expected.
4) There is a green light to tell you that the camera was able to expose the shot correctly.
5) There are two modes - one for correctly exposing both the background and the foreground and the other for just the subject of interest. Choose the two modes using a slide switch.
5) Made in Singapore (not China).
6) Another thing to remember is that Vivitar really made some good flashes in the past - till they fell on hard times with the dawning of the digital age. Maybe, this is their attempt at crawling back on the scene. If so, I'm all for more products like this!
7) Flash head zooms from wide to tele and also turns and swivels. Meaning you can turn the camera sideways and still bounce your flash off the ceiling.
8) Standard NiMh batteries work fine. I have "flashed" this about 50 times so far (including my presses with the test button), so could not tell you how long the batteries last - but Vivitar claims in excess of 200 flashes to a set of batteries.
9) Camera focuses well with the built in focus assist function on the flash that projects a red patterned beam.
10) Controls are well labelled. Decent attention to detail - for example, inside the battery compartment.
Cons -
1) Manual has many grammatical errors.
2) Its large in size - almost as big as my dimunitive D-40 it seems. With 4 AA batteries supplying all the juice for fast recharges, thats to be expected I guess.
3) The plastic used does not exude the kind of quality of its more expensive siblings, but it ample for the purpose.
The cons are really minor. I'm pleased with my purchase. 4 stars for the product itself - but another star added for its low cost.
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