Print This Page
Customers most agreed on the following attributes:
from Las Vegas on 6/12/2008
If you need a lot of light over a long distance, and don't have a lot of money, or if you are buying a bunch of flashes (I have 3 of these), they are a great choice. If you want TTL or better, you'll need to spend more money.
from Sydney, Australia on 5/10/2008
Very good, inexpensive flash. The swivel joint isn't terribly confidence inspiring, but for [$]you can't expect perfection!In every other dimension, these flashes are excellent. I bought 2, and they're fantastic workhorses.
from Egypt on 4/19/2008
I bought the Sunpack 383 for use with my Olympus E-510 dSLR because I'm on a budget and couldn't justify paying a premium for FL-36 or FL-50.
The flash hasn't disappointed me, it's great for indoor use, the recycling time after a full cycle is approx. 5 seconds and the adjustable head for bouncing off the ceiling is a great feature and rarely found on such low priced flash units.
In a nutshell, I'm so happy for my purchase!
from Ocala, Florida on 4/16/2008
I bought this flash for two reason. Primarily I bought to use on a Panasonic camera I carry in my kayak. Second I can use it as a backup to my Canon flash which I use primarily on low power just to trigger my studio lights.
I've done some experimenting on the Panasonic and the flash preforms very well. The exposures are perfect when I set the camera and flash at F4.
from La on 3/21/2008
Sunpak reliability and price
from Fishers, IN on 3/20/2008
how can you beat a product that is easy to use, affordable, and has more than enough flash output to do the job? For a non-dedicated flash, this is hard to beat, buy it!
from western australia on 2/22/2008
looking for a cheap flash for my k10d, i was choosing between this and the vivitar 285hv. chose this for its ability to swivel for any situation i might be in and its smaller (and cleaner looking) than the viv.
admittadly its not exactly built like a tank, the battery door seems a bit flimsy and it has a plastic shoe mount, though its definately not to the point of being problematic.
couldnt be easier to use. i use it mainly in auto.
1. set the camera mode to flash sync. 2. match camera and flash iso. 3. move fstop switch to match camera.
{tweek iso and f-stop when needed.}
also purchased a stofen omni-bounce diffuser. the little lips on the diffuser needed to be slightly shaved down/thinned for it to slide smoothly into the slots in the head of the flash.
thats not a flaw of the flash, just a tip for anyone planning this same combination. works well.
for the price it cant be beat.
will probly need a second flash at a later date.... and it will be another of these.
from mukwonago, wisconsin on 2/21/2008
i use it on a sony dsc-h1 with the sunpack digital camera flash adapter. great bounce off of a card or ceiling. sliced a 3/8 black plastic tube to slide over the camera flash. enough light
comes out the end to trigger the slave.
from Los Angeles, CA on 2/21/2008
I purchased the Sunpak 383 to use exclusively as a strobe (triggered by Elinchrom Skyport) and I am I am glad I did. It packs plenty of power and the swiveling head is why I purchased the Sunpak 383 over the Vivitar 285HV. Controls are fully manual and there is no flash zooming, but I rarely use that off-camera anyhow (I can use my Nikon SB's if I really need to zoom my flash). For the price that I paid, the Sunpak is proving to be a great bargain.
The only real negative in my mind is that the plug on the Sunpak is proprietary (but a cord is provided that plugs into the Sunpak and has a PC male end) so if you want to connect a PocketWizard or Skyport, you'll have to buy a third party cord (or an adaptor), a female hotshoe to PocketWizard/Skyport, or do some splicing of cables.
from Lexington, KY on 2/21/2008
Works great for indoor shots and portraits. More than enough power for bouncing off a card or ceiling. I use it with an optical slave trigger and it performs exactly as it should. Recycle time is very fast when using less than full power.
from Tiffin, OH on 1/21/2008
This unit is very easy to use. Recycles very quickly on NiMH batteries and is very flexible
from Southgate, Michigan on 9/26/2007
This is my second and I use it in Strobist set-ups. The original I have is about 13 yrs old and was used with a Minolta SRT-101 with flawless results. Works the same with my Canon Digital Rebel. Set the controls, it tells you what f/stop. Works better than E-TTL.
from Big Bend, Florida on 5/8/2007
I was looking for a non-dedicated flash to use with my Panasonic DMC-FZ50. I didn't want to spend over [$] for the Panasonic flash, and since I use the flash primarily for fill, the Sunpak 383 was an ideal choice: small, compact, doesn't over power the camera. And Sto-Fen makes a diffuser for the 383 that fits like a glove.
from Vallejo, CA on 2/17/2007
Flash met all expectations. It is powerful and gives more than enough light. Recycle time with new batteries is very good; even better with the NiMH cells that I use.
from Rural Oklahoma on 2/13/2007
A superb flash unit that I use atop an old Nikon FM and also as a fill flash with an optical slave utilizing the fractional power mode. Recycle time is a bit slow with alkaline AA batteries, but improves greatly with rechargeable NiMh AA's. Better yet with my ancient Sunpak NC510 system.
from Broken Arrow OK 74012 on 2/5/2007
With my zoom digital camera my flash is always ready and has the correct exposure no matter what the distance.
from Ireland on 2/5/2007
[...] Great solution at the price. Nice and powerful for bounce flash which I use it for mostly.
from Norfolk, VA on 2/5/2007
This flash is everything it's touted as. The only drawbacks that I've found are that it's a bit awkward because of its size and heft, and it doesn't REALLY talk to my Canon Rebel xt, but then it's not supposed to. Overall a VERY good buy. One day maybe I'll be able to afford a Canon flash to complement the Sunpak.
from Elkhart, IN on 2/5/2007
My 383 Super has almost always done what I expected it to. It is bright enough to use for bounce flash in a normal room, getting rid of the shadows and redeye in family snapshots. I just set my camera on manual and match the aperture to the setting on the flash.