By Evan Ackerman
Personally, I would almost never recommend using the on-camera flash of a compact digital camera. Not only is it invariably unbalanced and underpowered, but the proximity of the flash to the lens often causes nasty reflections. So if you’re determined to use your compact digicam for flash photography, you might consider the Metz Mecablitz 28 CS-2 external digital flash. It bolts right to the tripod mount on the bottom of your camera (or you can hold it or put it somewhere else), and is quite easy to set up and use. No wires or connectors are necessary; the Mecablitz simply watches for your camera to flash and then sets itself off. You can set a variety of options including delays, power adjustment, and optimum flash distance. It accepts AAAs, and can get over 100 flashes off of a set of rechargeables. The big downside for me would be that you still have to set off your on-camera flash to trigger the external unit, although with some creative use of the delay feature and your camera’s red-eye reduction you could probably get around that. Oh, and the other big downside is that it costs $175.
You can read a full review at Digital Lifestyles.
[ Metz Mecablitz 28 CS-2 ] VIA [ Red Ferret ]
