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Metz CT-4 & CT-5 "pinout" differences?


mwmcbroom

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<p>I've owned a Metz CT-4 for about a year now, and I'm quite fond of it. Recently I picked up a clean CT-5 for cheap, assuming that the two flashes were much the same. Well . . . they are and they aren't. Perhaps the most vexing difference I've found between the two is the sync cords don't interchange. Now, I know that the CT-4 is SCA 300 system compatible and the CT-5 is SCA 500 system compatible, but little did I realize that Metz would actually change the configuration of the sync cords so they won't interchange.</p>

<p>So, I guess normally this wouldn't be a problem, but unfortunately the cords for the CT-4 are probably a hundred times more common on the used and/or new market than the cords for the CT-5. Which has caused me to wonder, are the connectors' pinouts different --- at least those that are common with each other, I guess? You see, the only reason why the CT-4's cord won't fit into a CT-5 head is because it has a plastic extrusion on the bottom of the plug that prevents it from being inserted into the CT-5's socket. The CT-4 plug is also shorter, but that shouldn't matter. So anyway, it occurred to me that I could carve away that extrusion at the bottom of the CT-4's plug and then it will plug into the CT-5. But then I wonder if the "common" pinouts are the same -- by common, mostly I mean the main power contact (center of the hotshoe or PC sync cord) and ground. I don't really care about the others. And they wouldn't be used anyway if the sync cord I use is just a basic universal hot shoe type of cord, or even better, a simple PC sync cord.</p>

<p>My CT-5 came with a sync cord -- for the Leica R3 Mot. Not something I'll likely ever need. It has a hot shoe connector that has one additional pin besides the central one. Now, I know I can just tape over that pin -- in fact, I've done this in the past with other flashes I own -- but the tape isn't a permanent solution. It slips and can even wear out. So what I did was dismantle the connector and remove the extra pin. I've now converted it to a simple universal sync cord. But it has no PC connector, so it's only of half value to me. I've got one of those hot-shoe to PC sync adapters, though, so I can still get there, albeit a bit awkwardly.</p>

<p>So anyway . . . Back to the pinout question. I've looked for a repair manual for either one (CT-4 or CT-5), but no luck. So, just wondering if anyone here has done any sort of experimenting in this regard and what you might have found out.</p>

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<p>I do not own either of these flashes but have other Metz hammerhead style flashes. The sync cords I have seen have either a total of 12 or 16 contact pins. The newer units have the 12 pins. Obviously, not all of these contacts are used for each cord.</p>

<p>I am not sure if this helps, but since a simple PC cord only has two wires, it would be easy to find out which is the ground and which is the "fire" wires. Then splice a standard mono 3.5 mm plug or PC cord on.</p>

<p>Here are some notes I made for Metz 60 CT-4 if it helps. The voltage may be higher for your sync cord, so be careful while testing.</p>

<p>"Beginning with plug on its side, prongs pointed to the right. Top must contact is 1 (GROUND), last and bottom contact is 6.<br>

Turning plug over and prongs facing to the left, top most contact is 7. Last and bottom contact is 12.<br>

Plug Pointing to Right 1 - 6 <br>

1 GROUND unshielded alum. strand<br />2 ? yellow <br />3 Nothing<br />4 ? green<br />5 ? brown<br />6 Nothing<br>

Plug Pointing to Left 7 - 12<br>

7 ? gray<br />8 ? white<br />9 ? red <br />10 FIRE blue<br />11 Nothing<br />12 Nothing"</p>

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<p>As long as you have the SCA connector cord for the 45 CT-5 you should just be able to swap out the hotshoe end. AFAIK, the SCA leads are all backwardly compatible with older adapter modules, so you can remove the useless R3MOT shoe and stick a plain vanilla SCA 300 shoe in its place with a 2.5mm jack socket for a P-C cable.</p>

<p>In fact you may not even need to bother doing that. In most cases the "wrong" connector will work perfectly well on a camera it wasn't designed for, since the TTL or ready-light pins are usually spaced sufficiently differently that they don't contact another make of camera's hotshoe pads. Canon and Nikon flashes and cameras can be interchanged with no harmful effects I know for sure.</p>

<p>Incidentally those old 45CTs have nowhere near their claimed GN of 45. It's closer to 30 when measured, and some of Nikon and Canon's hotshoe mounted guns will equal their output. Also, Metz have used at least 4 different styles of sync lead connector over the years. You're lucky the plugs are even the same length and have the same number of contacts!</p>

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  • 2 months later...

<p>>>>>>>>Incidentally those old 45CTs have nowhere near their claimed GN of 45. It's closer to 30 when measured,<<<<<<<<br>

Roden Joe<br>

i have to disagree with you with this..yes if you point a flash meter at it may be, but i have found that the old metz are pretty wide angel with the light output ,wider than the 35mm coverage claimed by metz, in a soft box or brolly a 45ct is noticeably more powerful than the most powerful shoe mount , and giving a better light spread with less of a hot spot<br>

on testing my CT60-4 against a big building at night, with out using the wide angel diffuser i find i had no light falloff at 28mm (28mm was as wide as i could go on that day) which makes it 2/3 of a stop more powerful than if only 35mm coverage <br>

I have not tested a CT45 like this but with using one for some time its probably the same ..also looking at the physical size of the capacitor also bares this out <br>

also remember most guns give the GN at full zoom <br>

just to note i think another 45 has the same lead...it may be the CT1 ...........maybe</p>

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