Metz MZ 52822D 28 CS-2 Digital Flash

This little gem has exceeded my expectations. It is easy to use, works well even in outdoor settings and is much brighter than I expected. I use it with my Sony rs100 all the time.

I got this because I have a digital point and shoot that does not have a hot shoe (Fuji XQ1), but that I wanted to have a compact handheld flash for. The only problem with regular slave flashes is that this particular camera's built in flash has a preflash that I can't turn off, so the regular slave flashes go off before the exposure actually happens. This flash has a way to adapt to preflashes, and I'm very happy to report that the function works very well. It's relatively easy to set up. It's a great product, but I do have a couple negatives about it. For starters, the build quality is not quite where I was hoping it would be, especially for the marketed price and the manufacturer's history. It has a cheap, plasticky feeling and finish to it. If you have ever used Sunpak compact flashes, I would rate the finish and feel of this Metz unit slightly under that (though the functionality of this flash as a slave flash is undebatably superior to that of Sunpak units). Additionally, the bracket doesn't feel like the toughest thing ever, and although you can keep it folded, it doesn't have a built in way of staying closed. I also wish that this had the option to be used on a hot shoe, but I know that's probably asking too much. Finally, the battery door is kind of finicky. When I first opened it, I was really afraid that I was breaking it. Overall, if you are looking for a slave flash that can be used with modern day point and shoots with built in flashes, there are few other options than this one, and this is still an excellent piece of equipment.

Works great off camera with my Sony RX100 mk iv. I prop the built in flash up with a chunk of pencil eraser and hold this unit off camera either by hand or on a selfy stick. The exposures are accurate and repeatable. I only use it outdoors as a fill. I under expose by a stop or so and then let this unit light up the subject (often my dog!). Great "made in Germany" quality - SO nice for a change!

The flash works well. The instruction book is woefully inadequate. The battery case is nearly impossible to open. Otherwise the flash works very well.

Works perfectly with my Panasonic ZS30.

I have a Canon EOS 1DMarkII with a 580EX flash that only comes out with me for serious shooting trips and assignments. Most of the time I just carry around my Canon SD 800IS camera. What limits most point and shoots is the lack of a proper flash. Forgot that crap in the manual about built-in flash good for 12ft, yeah right, who measured that? The Metz flash is about the same size as my SD800 or slightly thicker than a pack of playing cards (easy to carry around). It's a lot of plastic, but then again my 1DMarkII and 580EX is a back breaker to carry around. The Metz flash is probably no more susceptible to damage from drops as any digital camera. It works beautifully on auto mode, most point and shoot digital cameras can be trained to work with it, on my Canon SD800 this means firing off a test shot with the Metz in learning mode. There are numerous advanced functions that the Canon external flash for point and shoots don't have, this is why I chose Metz. To be quite honest, when I'm using a point and shoot, I want everything to just work on auto and this is where the Metz excels. If you've never heard of Metz, just speak to pro wedding photographers, this company knows how to make flashes and has been doing it for years. If the photo is too dark or bright after the flash fired, just press the + or - key to immediately adjust and reshoot. It's that simple! The flash head is probably at least 5x larger than the flash on my SD800IS so it does reach beyond 12ft. It comes with wide-angle and telephoto reflectors that are compact and easy to clip on. Flash is rated to 100 shots on 2 fresh batteries; so far I've taken 50 shots and no problems. Easy enough to carry around extra batteries if required. So you're asking yourself why you don't just dial the ISO to 400 or 800? Almost all point and shoots have crappy grainy images at high ISO and my Canon SD800 is no exception. With the Metz flash I can leave my camera set to ISO 100 all the time and get the sharpest highest resolution photos that my camera can output! Worried about whether you'll actually carry it around? I use 2 $10 neoprene fitted cases I found on eBay to store both my camera and flash and it's hardly noticeable in my jacket pocket. This is a great product that every point and shoot camera owner should have! ****** Jan 2008 Update ****** After 1yr of use I still love this little flash. I see that Canon has made their own small point and shoot flash. The advantage of this Metz flash is that it is not limited to use with any one brand. It syncs with Canon, Nikon, Olympus etc so if you ever change brands you don't have to buy another small flash again.

I highly recommend the Metz 28CS-2 flash. I now have two of them in addition to my Canon 580 EX Speedlite. The Metz is a slave flash with no master required. This is not really an oxymoron but This flash is triggered by any on-camera flash, even a flash on a point-and-shoot camera. I use this flash off-camera with both my Canon S90 and my Canon 550D. Having a slave flash that can be triggered by any on-camera flash is a rare luxury as you usually have to purchase a master flash to trigger an off-camera slave flash and may also have to plug a slave mechanism into a slave flash to use it off-camera. One caveat is that the accompanying user manual for this flash is nearly impossible to comprehend and may have been written by someone from another planet. Just joking. But do not fear. I try to keep it simple. Here are two ways I have discovered to use this flash. 1. I would suggest using this flash in Manual mode combined with "Preflash suppression" mode with am on-camera flash triggering it. If you do this, be sure to first disable the AF Assist Beam on your DSLR or your point-and-shoot camera. 2. Since I cannot disble the AF Assist Beam on my S90, I use a different mode for this camera. If you cannot disable the AF Assist Beam, you can use it in Manual mode combined with "No preflash suppression" mode with a point-and shoot camera or a DSLR Mounted speedlite. It triggers prematurely with the on-camera flash on my DSLR in this mode when the AF Assist Beam is enabled. I think one of the two above combinations will work for most cameras. For either of the methods I just described, I set the exposure manually using the "P1" function. It has an exposure range from 1/1 to 1/16. This flash is so simple to use and does not require buying into any complicated/expensive flash system to use. I hope Metz does not discontinue this flash although I do see dwindling supplies and think it may be on its way out.

I haven't smoked in nearly two decades, so my sense of scale might be foggy, but I want to estimate that this flash is a little smaller than a packet of cigarettes, but certainly orders of magnitude more satisfactory. I've used it with several different cameras (training it to respond to a different camera's master-flash signature takes just seconds), spanning the range from the compact Ricoh GRD-2 to the full-frame Sony RX1R (and a few Olympus m4/3rds cameras and one Fuji X100 in between). If there's anything to complain about, it would be that it doesn't tilt at all (though I typically either hand hold it or even mount it on a tripod, so not really an issue), and also that the plastic wide-angle insert falls off rather too easily. Neither of these points make me want to downgrade my rating for this excellent little go-anywhere off-camera flash. If I ever accidentally drop it into a body of water, I'll be buying another one the same evening.