February Newsletter
Greetings from
Porter's Camera Store!

Now that you have a digital camera, the subject of accessories is not far behind. After getting all of the necessary accouterments such as memory cards, card reader and batteries, the search is on for ways to improve your photos. Because a built in flash on most cameras is only good for about 12 to 15 feet, one of the first accessories that will improve your picture taking abilities is a more powerful flash. The more advanced digital SLR cameras have a hot shoe and/or a PC connection. These cameras have the ability to fully integrate the camera and flash in TTL dedication. Canon, Nikon and other camera makers have flashes that are fully compatible with all the flash features of their cameras.

Promaster flashes are a less expensive option than the camera manufacturers' flash. Promaster makes the 5750DX (12-0454, $124.99) and 5550DX (12-0453, $89.99) Digital Flashes that combine with modules designed specifically for various camera brands. Modules are available for Canon, Nikon and Olympus cameras that have a hot shoe connection and Nikon, Sony and Olympus cameras which have a proprietary flash cord connection.

For many of the lower end digital cameras, adding additional flash power can be a real struggle. Because of the white balance or red-eye reduction pre-flash, many of the previous slave flash options can't be used. The most sophisticated of the slave flashes is the Metz 34 CS-2. It has three triggering options that allow you to determine when you want the flash to fire. It will provide TTL auto exposure coupling and with a guide number of 111, is a powerful flash.

The Vivitar DF 200 is another option if your pre-flash cannot be turned off. The three timing options from which you can choose are to fire on the first flash, second flash or to "learn" the multi-burst pattern from your camera's built-in flash. It features a guide number of 92 and has 4 manual settings of full, 1/2, 1/4 and 1/8 power.

If the pre-flash on your camera can be disabled so your camera fires only a single burst, conventional slave sensors and slave flashes can be used. If not, the Sunpak Digital Flash (with delay in the slave firing) and the Phoenix D79-BZS Flash (with first or second flash burst sync) will work to increase your flash range and offer creative lighting options. Most of these slave flashes for digital cameras have shoe mounts and include universal mounting brackets and mini tripods, so they can be positioned in a number of ways, on- or off-camera.