Just gone live with a web version of the April 2007 Photoworld flash test report:

http://photoclubalpha.com/?p=73

David

I've just been thinking of flashes, and thought that it would be a good time for you to update this article. Now that we have more models that are supposed to use Sony TTL from Bower, Sunpak and Vivitar, as well as more Metz models, maybe we could get another look at what works?

Dusty

Erm... possibly, if I could get the third party models. Not so easy here. Example, we don't have Bower at all and the most active third party flash brand right now is Nissin who don't seem to be doing much for Alpha.

David

That shot of the glass trophy indicated a problem with the A100 flash metering. I've seen that before on that model. But I have never experienced that degree of underexposure with any A mount body ADI or TTL.

Also noticed something strange even not using a D lens switching to ADI seems to influence exposure.
I tend to use TTL myself esp for outdoor fill in shots.

Why not expanding the article including all models from Sony as well as 3rd party ones? Why not making a flash database?
May I be of assistance? But please don't push me to write an article, I'm too bad at it. Just tell me what to shoot with my brand new HVL-MT24AM and I'll do it for you, but you have to do the writing . People (members and non members alike) should have Photoclubalpha as a referral.
Or even, why not include all active members to do the task, alone or by groups?

Good idea, Doc. However, we'd have to set some test parameters, and develop some type of 'standard' scene to shoot with the various flashes. We'd also need some sort of step-by-step checklist to work off of.

The idea of a flash database thrills me! Can I get an inexpensive flash that does what I need without paying thru the nose for features I have no need for? Check the database! Will this flash do xyz?? Check the database!

I volunteer to so data coordination and set up the initial database - I do that all day long now. I already have quite a list of fields in mine.

Any more volunteers?

Dusty

So this calls for a new section: Test bench
What's your opinion David?

I don't have the programming knowledge to set up a Dyxum-style review/test/specifications section on the site, or in the forum. I'll try to find if any add-ons exist to enable this.

David

David,

Any luck finding such an add-on?

If not, I can look into creating a site that we could link to. The big thing here is to actually set up appropriate test parameters so that we're comparing apples to apples.

Dusty

Go Dusty, go!

I guess all we really want to know about a particular flash is, does it have the features and performance as claimed, and also if there is any wonky stuff the manufacturer neglected too mention.
Greg