Budget Flash for M9

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alexlowyh

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I'm looking to get a decent flash to pair with the M9 for the occasional times where I need that extra bit of light. looking at around $100+ preferably with a swivel head.

any recommendation ??

Cheers
Alex
 
Almost any flash will do, if you don't care TTL. I'd use a smaller Nikon. The SB30 maybe, or SB27, with the latter having the advantage of accepting AA cells. Both do automatic mode, so you transfer aperture and ISO to the flash and that's it. Of course M mode is available as well.

Cheers
Ivo
 
alexlowyh said:
I'm looking to get a decent flash to pair with the M9 for the occasional times where I need that extra bit of light. looking at around $100+ preferably with a swivel head.

any recommendation ??
Click to expand...

The recommendation is to read the Strobist Lighting 101 on how to use off-camera, manual flash, and then to spend sub-$50 per flash on an old manual flash and a sync cord 😉
 
Vivitar 285HV 😉 Plenty of power in that, and cheap.
I plan on picking one up soon, because the small Metz flash I have now isn't quite powerful enough.

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I have no idea how much credence to give the horror stories, but I have read warnings about frying the electronics in more modern cameras with older style flashes, specifically the Vivitar 285, because of high voltages across the hot shoe contacts. This is a shame, because that 285 is a great solution that I've used for years with a variety of cameras. I recently had a cord made that will connect it to my M3, but I'm waiting for more information before risking my M9. At this point, I might even be shy about using my Nikon flash on the M9.

If anyone reading this thread has accurate information, I'd love to hear about it.
 
As a very occasional flasher 😀 I do have an SF20 without going to far OT will this work on a current Nikon DSLR (Reverse question to above so I assume yes but assumptions can be dangerous).
 
ChipMcD said:
I have no idea how much credence to give the horror stories, but I have read warnings about frying the electronics in more modern cameras with older style flashes, specifically the Vivitar 285, because of high voltages across the hot shoe contacts. This is a shame, because that 285 is a great solution that I've used for years with a variety of cameras. I recently had a cord made that will connect it to my M3, but I'm waiting for more information before risking my M9. At this point, I might even be shy about using my Nikon flash on the M9.

If anyone reading this thread has accurate information, I'd love to hear about it.
Click to expand...

In the Leica faq sheet, Andrew Nemeth has a lot to say about frying the electronics of Leica cameras.

See http://nemeng.com/leica/index.shtml

Let's see now, $7000 for the camera, but the flash has to be under $100? 🙄

Harry
 
Sb30

Sb30

I use a Nikon SB30 on my M8; it has an Automatic mode but I don't use that. It also has a manual mode and variable power with settings for full power, 1/8th power and 1/32 power (maybe more, don't have it with me at the moment).

I usually use it at 1/8th power. Only downside is that it doesn't bounce. It also has a slave mode but I haven't tried that.

One cool thing is that you can pull up this little plastic thing to block the light completely and use it as an optical trigger for studio strobes.
 
For swivel head units there are not many cheap ones available. But if you don't want TTL and can use Auto or Manual either an Olympus FL36 or FL50 offer swivel and tilt heads. The FL 36 is an ideal size for an M body, but even the FL50 isn't overwhelming given they were both designed for the 4/3rds format of smaller equipment. Try Ebay, the newer ones have an 'R' designation and are more expensive, but you don't need that, go for the earlier non-'R' versions.


Steve
 
I found a used SF-24D for not much more than $100, but no tilt or swivel. The SF-20 and 24D are tiny and still offer a lot of features: TTL (only the 24D on the M9), automatic with lot of aperture choices, manual from full down to 1/32 in 1/3 stop increments...

One of the cheapest flash available new with tilt (but no swivel) head is the Metz 36C2. 3 stops in automatic mode and manual mode (full only?).
 
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