300d and metz 45 cl4

[fred_smith4]

I have bought a 300d and before I buy a more powerful flash unit,

can I use my Metz 45 cl4 if I buy the adapter lead, will the

voltages be ok, I have heard there can be a mismatch and damage my

camera. Will the ttl work or will I have to set it manually. I am

not to experienced, any info would be great.

Thanks.

[yakim_peled1]

<P> 1. If it has no E-TTL then you will be able to use it only in full manual mode. </P>

<P> 2. You can find a lot of flash info <a href="http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/">here</a>. </P>

 

<P> Happy shooting , <br>

Yakim. </P>

[s._fisher]

It doesn't look like the 45 CL4 is E-TTL so you'll have to use full manual. For Metz with Canon digital you'd have to look at a 54 MZ-3 or the sort.

[picturesque]

You would have to use a Wein Safe Sync but with the right adapter, I think you can use the flash in automatic mode using manual mode or aperture priority on the camera. You can use the flash in manual mode but since it doesn't have many manual power ratios, you would be limited in choice of apertures.

[neil_browne1]

I use a 45cl4 & a 60ct4 with my 10D. If you don't have a pc socket on the

camera body, get a hot shoe adapter with a safe sync and set the camera

manually along with setting the f stop on the flash...TTL will not work with your

camera.

[fred_smith4]

Many thanks for your comments. I think I will maybe spend the money and buy a dedicated flash with a bit more power than the built in one, maybe a speedlite, what one would you go for bearing in mind budget/flash power/ttl? Your input is much appreciated.

Cheers

[jim_strutz]

According to: http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html -- The Metz 45 CL4 has a sync trigger voltage of 14-16 volts. Canon says no more than 6 volts are allowed.

 

By the way, the PC socket on the 10D is also rated for 6 volts max, so I wouldn't do that either unless there was a Wein Safe-Sync in line with it. It will probably work for a while, but after continued use, it may fry your camera's flash circuits. Who know for sure?

 

I would recommend the 550EX for a 300D. The cheaper 420EX is a nice Speedlite, but it lacks Flash Exposure Compensation (FEC) controls on the flash body, and the 300D needs FEC. Unfortunatly, the 300D camera body also lacks FEC controls. If you had a 10D, the 420EX would be the obvious choice since that camera has FEC built into it.

 

Ironic, isn't it? Get a low priced camera, and you have to get the higher priced flash to make it work its best, while the cheaper flash works just fine on the more expensive body.

 

Actually, a Sigma EF-500 DG Super will give you both control and lower price. What you don't get with the Sigma is an AF assist light that works with all your AF sensors. It only lights with the center AF point. -- Is there is no justice??!!

 

A lot of people will recommend the 420EX anyway, and tell you to use Flash Exposure Lock (FEL) to fake FEC. It usually works, but is a kludge solution and doesn't always work anyway.