Vivitar DF200 Digital Flash 200
by Vivitar
(Click here)
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: VivitarModel: DF200
Product features:
- Guide number of 92 @ a 100 ISO equivalent
- Choose from 4 selectable power levels and lens coverage from 28mm to 105mm (equivalent in 35mm photography)
- 330 degree swivel and 90 degree vertical bounce adjustment allow for a variety of lighting options
- Included mini flex pod and shoe mount help to make attaching the flash as easy as it is to use
- Uses 4 AA batteries (not included); Accepts Alkaline; NIMH or Lithium-Ion rechargeable batteries
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Vivitar DF200 Digital Flash 200
Customer Review: Full Featured, Inexpensive, Works with White-blnce Preflash
Summary: 4 Stars
This flash has a digital slave circuitry. That means the built-in flash on your camera triggers the big flash to provide more (much more) power.
Problem is that many digicam models use a rapid preflash 200 milliseconds before the main flash fires to set white balance. This causes most digital slave circuits' flashes to fire prematurely, rendering them useless. Worse, in fact, as I discovered, they often cause the pic to come out darker than using the built-in flash alone because they fool the sensor into thinking that the scene is lighter and that increases the aperture setting and automatically lowers the ISO setting
After several trips to the camera store buying and returning slave flashes that didn't work with my camera, I went online to by this in one last attempt to find a decent flash that works with my digicam. I have one of those (wonderful) Panasonics that has a 12X optical zoom with image stabilization.
This one works - beautifully. Now I can zoom out 12X in low or no light, way, way, across the room and get a properly exposed, sharp as a tack picture - handheld (not tripod) yet. The optical zoom, image stabilization, and digital slave flash works great together. It adds a whole new dimension to my camera.
This flash has a detection feature that "learns" what type of preflash your camera has. It will work with ALL digital camera. It has 5 "beam settings" which narrow or widens the light from the flash from wide-angle to full zoom. It has five click points that position the flash at different angles for bounce flash, and the flash swivels 330 degrees, left or right horizontally. It also has four power modes: full, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 - a very nice feature generally found on higher-end pro flash models. It also came with a mounting bracket (don't laugh, most don't come with this, resulting in another trip to the camera shop...)
As far as build quality goes, it's fine, don't worry about it. No it's not built like a tank but nor is it too flimsy. It has one of those "you better be careful" annoying battery doors, though. I think the silver color was a poor choice, gives it a cheesey plastic-y look so it's a perception more than anything. It's one of those: "features", "price", "build-like-a-brick", pick any two, type of things.
Bottom line - great, full-featured, decent powered reasonably-priced choice. Especially for big-zoom digicam owners whose camera uses a preflash. The only other flash that is this powerful and this versitile goes for $120 online. The lower-end ones from Quantaray and Sunpack that go for $30 don't touch this. Definitely worth the extra few dollars for the additional range and features. The Vivitar DF 200 will add a whole lot of capability to your camera, especially if it's a big zoom.
Description of Vivitar DF200 Digital Flash 200
The new Vivitar DF 200 digital flash offers the power and versatility of a 35mm-type unit with an intelligent circuitry that learns from your own camera's flash characteristics.Accessories
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