Metz 60 or 45 CL?

I'm planning to buy a flash and have narrowed it down to either the Metz 60 CL (CT?) or

the Metz 45CL4. It's to be used for general use (portraits, fill-in) w/ a Rollei 6008

w/ 40mm (or longer) lens. Do I really need the extra power of the model 60? (Is the 45CL4

enough?). Is the NiCad battery pack recommended?

 

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--Jim

It depends on the distance and film speed you plan on using. In general the Metz 45 is more than enough but if you intend to shoot weddings or anything that involves long distances then the extra power of the 60CT is nice. Not being teathered to that battery pack is the major advantage of the 45 IMO. I do a bunch of weddings and carrying that thing gets old. If you opt for the 45 get a couple of NiCad packs.

One advantage of the Metz 45CT over the 60CT is that Quantum makes a turbo battery pack that will work with it. The Quantum battery is considerably more compact (can fit easily on your belt) and is generally more manageable than the larger battery of the 60CT. Quantum does not make a batery for the 60CT.

 

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Given that a flash has to produce twice the light to give you a one f-stop advantage, you don't really sacrifice that much with the 45 versus the 60CT unless you are taking wedding, etc. in large churchs wil light absorbing walls. More light is always better, everything else being equal, but the extra weight of the 60CT battery over the 45 is the tradeoff here.

I have the 60 Ct and used it for 12 years. It is great for weddings. Sometimes though in smaller rooms, closer settings, it is too powerful for use as fill flash. Then the 45 or a Vivitar 285 would be nicer.

As far as weight of the dryfit battery goes, I wear it over my shoulder, or hang it on a hook I attached to my Manfrotto tripod. It weighs less than the 35 pound battery belt fo the video lights and the 40 pound 1/2 inch U-matic video recorder I lugged around for yeras when I was a news videographer. I replace the battery about every 24 months.

I have both the 60CT4 (in dryfit) and the 45CL4 (ni-cad). The 60 was

used for weddings with the 45 as a backup. I still use both depending

on the job, but not having the battery on your shoulder is nice.

One word of caution - Bogen Photo (the importer for metz) does not

recommend using any other external brand battery pack, due to not having the proper/correct charging circuits. It will void your

warranty, BUT they now have their own for the 45 series. The P-50 Power Pack. Call Bogen and request additional info. 201-818-9500

Bill Kukis

I have been using my 60CT1 for 7 years and love it! I am a tall person and don't mind its size or the external battery pack. Considering that you probably want to use this monster with a rotating bracket, like the Stroboframe, you are going to be weighed down anyway with gear, why not have the big power and fast recycle time, too? I am a great believer in bounced lighting sources and I find many times that I use it with 200 ASA film in a room with 8-10 foot ceilings gives me a comfortable F8 or F5.6 for non-overhead bounce. Recycle time is usually not more than 5-7 seconds at full power. The ability to add another head on to the pack is a bonus. I also have the remote flash adaptor and rely on its accuracy at all times. I don't think that thew 45 series uses the same adaptor, but I may be wrong.

 

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Just my 2 cents!

Jim,

I too am on a quest for a flash to use with the Rollie (6003 in my case. I have a Q-flash and a 45 CL-4. Both of which I hate with the Rollei. They are both way too heavy. The Quantum is by far the better of the two as I use external batteries on both and the Metz still has to use AA's to run the controls. The 60 series has its own pack but it's nice to have options. The TTL adaptor on the Rollei also gets in the way using any good bracket. Boy, if you can come up with any other ideas I would sure like to know. Before you buy one of these try lugging it around on a flash bracket and focusing. The Metz will both make the package very unballanced.