Flash on E-420

<p>What are the options for a n external flash for my new E-420? What are the disadvabtages of buying a non-Olympus model?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>Andrew</p>

<p>Just bought an Olympus FL-36 from keh.com in EX condition for just over $100. It's a great flash and works well on my E510. With your E420 you'll ger wireless capability with the newer FL-35R.</p>

<p>I' ve heard about Metz 48 also. More power and not so expensive<br>

I have an old Vivitar 550FD (voltage tested) but I don't have power control and off camera must be used in M mode only.</p>

<p>Let's start from basics...you can use ANY flash you want that will fit into the hot shoe with regards to trigger voltage not being over 24v (a 2AA battery operated flash can have a trigger voltage over 200volts) and non-compatible TTL flashes (Canon, Nikon, older Olympus flashes for film cameras and older digital like the FL-40).</p>

<p>There are three types of flashes, manual, automatic, and TTL...with manual and automatic flashes you have to set a shutter speed 1/180th or longer and use the chart on the back of the flash to determine the aperture setting...IOW you have to use Manual mode on the camera and do all the setting yourself.</p>

<p>With TTL the flash and camera talk to each other...when you change a setting on the camera the flash will compensate, and vice-versa. Also with the FL-36/50 there's also automatic zooming of the flash when you zoom the lens, in the flashes' FP mode you can shoot faster than 1/180th (handy for fill flash use outside on a bright day) and also when focusing in lowlight the FL-36/50 will also emit a red glow to help the camera focus (rather than the strobing that's done by the internal flash). Just a note that other brands TTL (Canon & Nikon) are NOT compatible with Olympus digital TTL and can damage the camera and/or flash...also older Olympus TTL flashes like the FL-40 and those made for film cameras (like the G40, T20, T32, etc.) are also NOT compatible with today's digital cameras.<br /> Personally I use the Olympus FL-36 for my every day shooting.</p>

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<p >In addition, the FL-36R/50R can be used wirelessly with E-420/520 or newer cameras!</p>

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<p >If I'm doing studio portrait shooting I'll use special strobes called monolights (these are units that combine a strobe with a halogen light and requiring plugging into a wall outlet). They operate like manual flashes with an adjustable intensity control, so again I have to do all the setting myself when using those, and use a handheld light meter to check the intensity of the strobes.</p>

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