Minolta Macro Flash Controller MFC1000

[snn]

I had thought of bidding, but price went sky high, sold on fleabay today for $565 plus shipping.

[David Kilpatrick]

Been looking for ages for that or the twin head flash kit which can also use my macro light ring head. Never seen one.

David

[InTheSky]

The last time i have tried to bid on one on Ebay, It has finish at more than 900 $ US . You are a lucky guy !

I have the Sony version, but unfortunately my Minolta ring flash is not working with it. (some days it will open it, if by chance they have left the circuit and it is just the connector that is not there.

For now, I'm looking to modify an old Flash like the 4000AF to insert a connector to connect the ring flash.

Regards,

Frank

[Javelin]

there are a couple if vivitar ring flashes with thyrister control for sale for around 65.00 or so theres not adjustments on them but it could work for moving things I think the min distance is pretty far with them though. like 4-5" or something

[longvale]

If anyone is still looking for the flash controller MFC1000, the Saneal Camera shop ( (http://www.sanealcamera.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) in Calgary, Alberta have limited new stocks of the Twin flash 2400 kit and the Ring flash kit with the MFC1000 controller. Prices are (Canadian Dollars) 899.99 and 779.00. That's the good news, bad news is they ship only to Canada. If you have no connections in Canada you'd have to get hold of a mail forwarding company like Mail Network (http://www.mailnetwork.com/atemporary.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) the link will take you to their "one-off" transaction page where you'll find the necessary details. They provide a Canadian address and for a fee forward your package anywhere in the world. Depends too if Saneal accept 'foreign' visa and mastercard credit cards to make the purchase initially. Your credit card company might accept a second billing address such as the mail network Canadian address to get around this.
I tried to engage Saneal in further comments about their Canada shipping only policy but to no avail.
The last new controller I saw on Ebay was a buy-it-now for $US745, and towards the end he added a 'best offer' option but there were no takers. He did have it on auction and bidding had already started but he ended the listing early and switched to buy-it-now. I think he shot himself in the foot doing that. He may list again?

[Javelin]

the last one I wqas following on Ebay was just a new controller and went for $1100.00

I have to be good this month .. resist this is a case wherre last months wickedness has limited me because i'd have jumped all over that

[Mike-Photos]

If anyone is still looking for the flash controller MFC1000, the Saneal Camera shop ( (http://www.sanealcamera.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) in Calgary, Alberta have limited new stocks of the Twin flash 2400 kit and the Ring flash kit with the MFC1000 controller. Prices are (Canadian Dollars) 899.99 and 779.00. That's the good news, bad news is they ship only to Canada. If you have no connections in Canada you'd have to get hold of a mail forwarding company like Mail Network (http://www.mailnetwork.com/atemporary.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) the link will take you to their "one-off" transaction page where you'll find the necessary details. They provide a Canadian address and for a fee forward your package anywhere in the world. Depends too if Saneal accept 'foreign' visa and mastercard credit cards to make the purchase initially. Your credit card company might accept a second billing address such as the mail network Canadian address to get around this.
I tried to engage Saneal in further comments about their Canada shipping only policy but to no avail.
The last new controller I saw on Ebay was a buy-it-now for $US745, and towards the end he added a 'best offer' option but there were no takers. He did have it on auction and bidding had already started but he ended the listing early and switched to buy-it-now. I think he shot himself in the foot doing that. He may list again?

Before you get too excited about this, I called them. They have one each of the flashes, but THERE ARE NO CONTROLLERS. They opened the boxes to confirm, and they are not included.

[longvale]

Thanks for that info Mike.. I'm glad no one was caught including me. I would not have been happy to have received their package her in Australia with no controller. It's a very high price to pay for just the flash units.
http://www.discountjungle.net" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; have the twin flash advertised at $USD899.99, but its way out of my league and I haven't the heart to follow it up. Maybe its not even still in stock. I had the same disappointment with Tristate cameras not so long ago..... I think I'll stick to my Sony controller and twin flash and the older Minolta 1200af(n) set, which works reasonable well on my A350 even with the non ttl handicap.
The original Minolta twin flash was introduced in 2001 so its getting near its use by date as far as replacement parts are concerned. Perhaps Sony are hanging onto the surplus PCB's to take care of repairs. I thought maybe they had used them in their controllers ... someone else had the same thought.. he couldn't bring himself to open up his new Sony controller to find out!! I have in my possession somewhere an exploded diagram of the innards of the Sony controller but I couldn't make out from it whether the circuit was still there for the ringflash.. maybe not??
Sigma have just brought out a TTL ringflash for Sony DSLRs so maybe that's the way forward. It has to be better than Sony's ringlight 'torch'. That being said I'm still more than happy with my A350 and they've made a good job of building on the Minolta base.