external flash question

[DustinDorton]

I have been thinking about buying an external flash for my olympus 5050. The olympus fl-40 looks like the easiest choice, but its $300. I don't think I need all the features it has. Would I be ok if I went with another brand of flash? Anyone have any suggestions? I am looking to take better close up shots, not illuminate far away objects if that makes a difference.

Dustin

 

[mkirda]

I have been thinking about buying an external flash for my olympus 5050. The olympus fl-40 looks like the easiest choice, but its $300. I don't think I need all the features it has. Would I be ok if I went with another brand of flash? Anyone have any suggestions? I am looking to take better close up shots, not illuminate far away objects if that makes a difference.

Dustin

If you can find a cheaper one, go for it. Try your best to get an off-camera flash cord, so you can hold the flash away from the lens, at an angle from the glass, pointed at the object you want to illuminate. This makes a LOT of difference.

Regards.
Mike Kirda

 

[Anonymous]

I know with my Canon, If I use a canon flash, I get Thru the lens metering, so the flash doesn't wash out the pic. I never bothered to look at differnt brand flashes for this reason. Maybe other flashes (Sunpak?) will have this feature as well.

You might want to check what features you'll be losing by going with another brand.

HTH
B

 

[DustinDorton]

I picked up the olympus fl-40 flash and the hot shoe cable. Worth every penny. It made a huge difference in the quality of my pictures. Almost all of my pictures are from the surface. I went from 20% or 30% useable photos to maybe 80% useable on just the first hour or two using it.