Metz 52 AF-1 TTL Touchscreen Shoe Mount Flash for Olympus/Panasonic/Leica DSLRs, Guide Number 170'

Metz 52 AF1

Metz

Metz 52 AF1 Video #1

Metz 52 AF-1 TTL Touchscreen Shoe Mount Flash for Olympus/Panasonic/Leica DSLRs

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Photography

Lighting & Studio

Flashes & On-Camera Lighting

On Camera Flashes

Metz On Camera Flashes

Metz 52 AF1 

Top Rated Gear: Metz 52 AF-1 TTL Touchscreen Shoe Mount Flash for Olympus/Panasonic/Leica DSLRs, Guide Number 170' Buy now & save $36. Power Source: AA Batteries, TTL: TTL Flashes

I love this flash and it does everything I wanted.  It works well with Olympus RC.  In addition, I have now dropped it twice to what I thought would be certain doom accelerated by fumbling hand onto hard wood floors and it still functions in all ways that meet my needs.  I am surprised by the durability of this flash unit.

Takes a licking.

I have had great experience with Metz in the past and although I have not really put this one to the test, my test shots have been spot on.

Good flash for the money

I bought the Metz because I have used them in the past . I shot a Wedding last Sat. I shot about 270 pictures. It did fine. No problems. I will be using it this week. Using it every night at my Church. Hope it does OK.I would recommend this Flash.

I would recommend this Flash

I even used my adaptor but it would not work unless I used the on-camera flash. I tried several different options per the instructions but it would not fire.  

It may not been the proper type for use on the camera but your description did not indicate it can only be used off-camera.

Did not have proper hotshoe connection!

I use it for event photography when fast and consistent output is needed.

Perfect third party solution

Outstanding alternative to the capable but overpriced sony flash!

Outstanding Flash

As a flash gun it is solid and powerful.  I wish it was a little smaller. It is a little too heavy for a smaller camera.

Good flash gun

I'm mostly a newbie to flash photography and decided on getting this product after being hired to shoot a runway fashion show.  I kinda figured the runway was going to be poorly lit and that I would be the only photographer there, so using an on camera flash would be ok.  After much research I pulled the trigger on this flash to go along with my Panasonic GH2, a camera I mostly use for video. 

With this flash, the GH2 and mostly the Oly 45mm f/1.8 lens I have to say I was surprised just how well things worked out.   The flash kept up with my shooting the entire night and I burned through 2 sets of batteries.  I shot mostly in ttl and made minor adjustments on the incredibly easy to use touchscreen throughout the night.  What can I say, this flash is about as good as it gets from an ease of use standpoint.  And the power is impressive as well!  

In the future I'd like to get one or two more of these for a multiple flash set up.   Great product that just works.

Well thought out, It just works!

I said in my review that this flash does not do HSS, but it does with a camera that is capable. My Nikon D5100 does not have the capability, but the flash does.

Revised comment/review

I've had this flash for a couple months now and have finally put it through it's paces and explored all it's features. I use it with a Nikon D5100 both on camera and off via radio trigger. First, I'll say I love this flash and it does everything I need. I use it with another older flash when I'm in my home studio as well as on camera. I shoot alot with it in manual, but have used it in TTL enough to know it works very well. It's a great flash with consistant output. In my last studio shoot I had it set for 1/2 power and it fired about 200 times before I had to change batteries. The recycle times were good for my uses. When on camera I've found that the TTL-BL(balanced light)mode deliveries a very pleasing mix of ambient and flash lighting. My camera had no issues with this when set to auto white balance either. In close quarters straight TTL can be a little too hot, but that can be adjusted down in the camera with flash compensation, dropping the diffuser or just bounce it. The diffuser and bounce card work fine as expected. Be aware that this flash does not do HSS(high speed sync). The fastest shutter speed I could use with my D5100 is 1/160 but that isn't an issue for the way I shoot. 1/200th leaves a small dark band at the bottom of the shot. It has no sync terminal for off camera use, so some sort of commander or other wireless trigger is needed for off camera use. It does have one pretty annoying issue. It can be set for sleep mode in 3 intervals. I have mine set for 10 minutes(the longest setting). But this apparantly doesn't mean 10 minutes idle, because mine will sleep after 10 minutes whether I'm firing it or not. I'm not sure if this is a glitch in the programming, a defect or intentional, but it is a pain when it's off camera. I'm hoping Metz will have a firmware update to fix that. I tolerate this one annoyance because this flash has been fantastic in every way I've used it so far. I'm considering ordering another unit for sure.

Glad I bought it.

I have had this flash a few weeks, and haven't had a chance to really give it a good run for it's money. But out of the box (with a pack of rechargeable batteries) it worked on my Sony A57. It is easily adjustable to different angles.  I haven't really played with the touch screen to check out how well that works yet. It comes with a nice little storage sack as well as a stand for off camera shooting.

So far so good.

I had been looking at Pentax flashes as well as 3rd parties, and from the reviews, I knew Metz was good. This being a new model, there wasn't any reviews on how it worked with Pentax, but I took the leap of faith, and grabbed it when the price went down. The TTL works great, when it's on the camera (or connected via cable) exposure is spot on. I have been using them with duracells, and the recycle times are pretty fast. It comes with soft case and base, which is mountable on a tripod. Wireless it works great as well, but it only works in manual mode, so I'm getting used to it.
The touch screen menu looked great to me before I bought it, however now I think it could be easier if there were dials and buttons to adjust different settings instead of going thru the menus. Don't get me wrong, the menus are intuitive and easy to use, but to change power, zoom, etc, it takes a lot of time.
While getting this, you might want to get a diffuser (soft box) as well.
Other cool things- the AF beam is neat. Flash can be used in controller, master, slave or servo modes. It has the option for high speed TTL, however I don't have the means to use that function. I think for the price it's probably better than Pentax flashes, however if you are going to use it in manual mode (thus can't use TTL), you could get something at similar power for way cheaper.

Metz 52 AF-1 TTL Touchscreen Shoe Mount Flash for Olympus/Panasonic/Leica DSLRs, Guide Number 170'

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