Well, after realizing that PMA 2006 was once again going to
disappoint me re: the announcement of a new Olympus high-end pro
digital camera in their E-thingie series, I went and pulled the
trigger on most every accessory you can buy for my KonicaMinolta A1
to extend its working life. While all of them have some niftiness
factor, the single most-impressive has to be the KM 5600HS(D) flash I bought.
This is KM's highest-end flash. When I started playing with it, all
I could keep thinking to myself was "wow."
This flash has more *test* modes than my Oly T32s or Vivitar 283s
have, uh, modes, period. Why the Hell can't all manufacturers build
flashes like this? Its wireless mode is a revelation (it uses
barely-perceptible high-speed pulses of light to communicate with
off-camera flashes [and the camera, natch] rather than a radio
solution, which really makes setting up a portable studio
easy). It's got built-in zoom, a built-in ultra-wide-angle diffuser
panel which can be flipped up and stowed in a slot at the top of the
flash, and enough digital smarts to put the Apollo space program to
shame. (Speaking of shames, I suspect this solution will be lost to
the marketplace forever, now that KM's folded up shop.) It does
ratio flash. It does focus-distance-integration as well as "normal"
TTL and straight manual ratios. I suspect it would cook dinner for
me if I could only find the right mode.
I've always been an available-light kinda guy, and have worked with
flash only reluctantly, believing it to have a huge PITA factor. Yet
this wee beastie's got me excited about trying studio-type flash
photography again. (KM's macro ring flash is another cool item I
bought about a year ago -- we *need* more solutions like this!)
Oly? Panasonic? Reverse-engineer this thing! Or pay for the patent...
Garth
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