The Vivitar 285HV and the Sunpack 383 are both nice flash units with useful power. They cost around $80-$100 USD and work on any brand of camera.
The 285HV has a UV corrected bulb ( good for wedding dresses ) and a manual zoom head which does not swivel. The 383 does not have a UV corrected bulb ( I added some UV film over the front, which works well ), fits in the camera bag better, does not zoom, but does swivel. The 383's sync cord is fragile but their replacements are much better. The 383's control panel is easier to use than the Vivitar's. 285s chirp and flash red/green letting you know how weak the batteries are. The chirping can be annoying in a quiet setting. The 383s are quieter but don't provide as much feedback on the battery level, just a ready light. So what can you do with these things? Get several, set them all to an auto mode, add a trigger to each, and light up the room from many directions at once. Compared to an expensive flash unit, you could get one of these and use the rest of the money for a nice lens. You can take them with you if you ever switch brands. The 383 in particular is very compact for its power. It also has a full set of manual power levels so you can use it in a studio for a hair or rim light. The 285 has one less power level setting but is also useful in the studio. Use NiMH batteries. Brian -- Brian Dunn Photographic http://www.bdphotographic.com -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
