RE: Flash for wedding

[Pat White]

For my studio work and the few weddings I've got roped into doing, I use a Metz 40 MZ-2 and 40MZ-3.  At weddings and other big social events, I also use a Stroboframe Pro-RL flash bracket, which gets the flash up nice and high.  It's also good for portraits and such when you're shooting verticals, as you don't get the shadow appearing to one side.   What I like most about the Metz flashes are the secondary fill flash heads.  They give a subdued effect when used with bounce, and the flash even comes with -1 and -2 stop filters for the fill head so you can compensate for ceiling height, or bounce surface distance.  As well, you can get a 4" x 6" bounce card that clips onto the flash and stows easily in your camera bag.  Metz has a long list of well-designed accessories, including a slave adapter so I can use the MZ-3 to cordlessly control the MZ-2, with TTL.  You probably wouldn't use all the features these flashes have, but it's good to be ready for anything.   Drawbacks:  1. The flash is heavy, and tries to creep back off the hot shoe, so I wrap a heavy rubber band around the flash foot and the pentaprism (the MZ-5n has a convenient hook shape at the front of its prism).  2. Recharge time isn't too long, but startup charge time is annoyingly long.  Just turn it on a little early.  3. These flashes are sturdy, well-made, and feature-laden, but they are expensive!   Having said all that, I wouldn't be without my Metzes, and use the MZ-3 for about 80% of my shots, inside and out, sunny or cloudy.  Hope this helps.   Pat White