For those who are interested with the Metz Mecablitz 36 AF-4 here are some product information:



Product Name/Model: Metz Mecablitz 36 AF-4O <-- O for Olympus/Panasonic FourThirds
Product Page: HERE
Specification: HERE
Place of purchase: KeyColor Midvalley
Price: RM380 (Cash Price)
Promotion: If you buy this in Midvalley, remember the MasterCard and Midvalley Megasale promotion

If you checkout the photo of this Mecablitz 36 AF-4, the hot shoe locking mechanism (right at the bottom) is a screw down lock type. This is the old version. The new version features a quick release locking mechanism. Yes something like Canon 580EX II but this is more plastic and flimsy. Remember to check the pins and to make sure they match the ones on the Lumix LX3 hotshoe.

Also please avoid this model which is considered old. Its the Metz Mecablitz 36 C-2. This one does not feature TTL but can also do automatic flash exposure. It uses auto-thyristor which can be tricky to use and is more like a 90s film technology. This is the product page for the C-2. CLICK HERE

This post has been edited by davidmak: Jul 29 2009, 08:17 AM

can show the image with iso 800?

Give me some time. I will test tonight. Hehehehe

Keep poison ppl with your flash

Cant wait This week plan to go Bird park and Butterfly park to play with macro lens if got the flash then it'll be awesome-er

waoo...rm3xx with ttl feature.is this promotion price?.davidmak, try snap with onboard flash vs Metz Mecablitz 36 AF-4. And let us know how many photo it can take b4 until low bat.

It depends on the AA rechargeable used. On my 580EX II I can shoot for more than 400 shots (20-50% power) and still going. I'm sure the Metz will be lower due to its circuit design.

By the way, its not a promotion price. I think Key Color has this stock for quite some time (1 year) and no one buy. Not many people wants Metz Panasonic/Olympus flash. They rather go original part. But according to the Vivian, a lot of LX3 users are buying this one which is why she stock it.

cool, thanks for sharing davidmak.

i've been asking for quite sometime ago about a cheaper compatible external flash.

this looks great.

After work go midvalley...

Remember to give them a call first to check for stock. To prevent disappointment...

Alternatively, contact mitmivec (Garage sale). He got sell. Starting price is RM450. I believe it can go lower. Just give him a try.

This post has been edited by davidmak: Jul 29 2009, 01:07 PM

haha..hope someone help in bulk order? RM350 perharps? anyway, can i have a look for ur camera that attach with the metz flash on? wonder how the camera become? still cute or giant?

Actually what's the purpose to have a piece of small white board on external flash? I saw many flash have that. The Metz Mecablitz 36 AF-4 is too affordable to include that?

lol..it's a diffuser btw..to spread/distribute the flash..and to soften the shadows...

maybe this will fit the metz?
http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/760560

Ok I will take a shot of this combo and post it here. Just for you to imagine, it is much better having a 580EX II on top of it. Hahahaha! With the Metz 36, things are more proportion. Its still big and imbalance but its much much better than having a big ass flash on it hehe... Think of it like the size of FL36.

The small piece of white board (known as white card) is one type of light diffusing tool. Flash diffusers are not limited Stofen omnibounce, caps, Gary Fong's toilet bowl (LoL!!!), etc. It can be any thing that helps to diffuse/reflect light for creativity purpose. Now the white card on most flash head is meant to be used when the head is set to bounce (60 deg - 90 deg). Notice that if you do this, flash light is directed to the ceiling. Now the ceiling also offers diffusing qualities in that it is a much larger reflector/diffuser. So light is reflected/bounced back to the subject you're trying to shoot. This technique attempts to fill the entire room with flash light. However, there's a catch. As the light is reflected from the top, you'll see shadows on your nose, eye sockets, hair, etc. The result is a person's face with a lot of shadows or with panda face. It may look nice as it reveals the person's facial characteristics and also make things more contrasty, dreamy and dramatic. The white card attempts to solve this problem by reflecting some stray light to the front/subject. This will attempt to fill in the shadows so you get a nice flash exposure on the subject.

OK guys! Picture time... I've taken a series of pictures from ISO-100 right to ISO-3200. I tried to use the same settings the best I could until there's overexposure (as I climb towards ISO3200) and I had to compensate. From what I can see, things look expected. However, the test reveals some weakness to the Lumix LX3's firmware. White balance is inconsistent as we change ISO (since overall exposure changes) and at higher ISO, it sucks. Maybe its the external flash but unlikely.

Exposure Configuration
Shutter speed: 1/60sec and climbing to 1/125sec (ISO-1600) and 1/200sec (ISO-3200)
Aperture: F2.3
Metering: Average
White Balance: Fed from Metz (Not Auto WB)
Flash Mode: TTL
Flash Compensation: +1 and go towards -1 as we climb ISO
Post Processing: Yes, only resize. No noise filtering, etc.


ISO-100


ISO-200


ISO-400


ISO-800


ISO-1600


ISO-3200

I believe noise performance with external flash up to 800 is still ok. With flash (bounce), the subject is correctly exposed and noise is kept minimal since light is sufficient (not always true). Noise at the background will be noticeable (although very small) since we're at ISO-800 anyway. Using noise filtering software like NoiseNinja will make it as good as 'noiseless'. The most surprising thing is at ISO-1600, the subject is still pretty OK! The background however, is marred with noise. In this case, NoiseNinja will still be able to do the job but will definitely cause softening and blotching.

I think the Lumix LX3 with external flash still has a long way to go. We're only using the JPEG engine. No RAW yet! Plenty of headroom. Also, I have not touch the onboard noise filtering yet. The only downside is the white balance. Something is wrong. Maybe its my setting. I will try taking more photos at ISO-800 because this is where I target to use in low light conditions.

This post has been edited by davidmak: Jul 29 2009, 06:47 PM

Good recommendation and info, davidmak. I m surprised at the iso performance. Even at iso800 it still look good!!! I might be checking this flash out dis weekends.

does anyone know where can i find cute case for lx3?

Bought the Metz Flash and still playing with it now.. quite nice to play the bounce flash, can easily bright up the photo but not too bright and sharp. consider bulky the flash.

Ha! You've bought it! So do you like it?

hey guys, i'm looking for a 2nd hand LX-3, if there is anyone wanting to let their LX-3 off, do drop me a PM

the more i look at this thread and the pictures the more i get poisoned.