Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/09/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I have a Vivitar 5600 flash (top of the line 10 years ago), a lower-cost Vivitar bare-bulb flash that I can't find right now to read the model number from, and various Canon flashes. Mostly these days I use studio strobes (Speedotron) but I sometimes use the "flash gun" units as a way of triggering the big lights. The workmanship in the Vivitar units just hasn't held up. They were fine when they were new, but they don't like to be dropped or knocked around. Vivitar has a system that is like Metz' "SCA" (in fact, Vivitar invented it), but the Vivitar workmanship is such that if you go to buy a new bottom part 5 years after you've bought the top part, they don't mesh well. I bought the Vivitar when I was an employee of a university. It was all I could afford at the time. If I had the extra money I would very definitely spend it buying higher quality. But most of the photography that I use my Leicas for doesn't use flash. I think of it as an available-light camera; when I want to use flash I don't usually use a Leica. (These days I use my new Rollei TLR, which I've had for a couple of months). Brian Reid