If your bag is to small for a cobra, this compact fash may be the solution. It is incredibly versatile and feature a very accurate metering when used in computer mode (auto thyristor)
This is a typical design of the seventies. You will certainly look a bit old fashionned with this flash on your new DSLR.
I measured 41 volts applied on the hotshoe. This value is over the not to exceed voltage applied on the hotshoe of certain DSLR brand. (e.g.6 Volts for Sony DSLR)
To adapt it to your DSLR you have 2 options :
- directly on your DSLR hot shoe (sync-contact only) or need a voltage safe small hot shoe adapter (for Sony DSLR it is mandatory)
- or adapt connect the PC-sync cable of the sunpak 411 to the PC-sync socket of your DSLR (if any). For the Sony A700, the not to exceed voltage on the PC-Sync socket is 400V. Read your DSLR manual.
The Number Guide of the SUNPAK 411 is 30 meters @100 iso and 35mm. (very powerfull considering it size)
The head move in 2 directions to bouce flash to the wall or the ceiling :
The Sunpak 411 can be oriented to bounce to the floor.
For manual flash the power reductions available are : Full, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32
It is not common to have so many power reduction in such a compact flash.
This is an auto thyristor flash (Computer). There is a dial to report the DSLR sensor ISO value.
On this sample, the ISO value reported is 100 ASA (=100 ISO when speaking about film speed)
Then the red, yellow, green and blue point are aligned with the F/stop settings available.
In this sample :
- Red = F/11
- Yellow = F/5.6
- Green = F/4
- Blue = F/2.8 (this aperture value combined with 100 ISO is not available on a lot of flash. This is a reason why I sometime prefer this flash to the BRAUN BVC 370)
Then report the F/stop you selected (in this list) on your DSLR (e.g. F/2.8) with the slider bellow the light sensor using the color corrsponding (F/2.8 in this case)
I wasn't expecting such an excellent metering considering the size of the light sensor and the oldfashionned design. But I am still impressed by the accuracy of the metering even in bounce flash.
The battery compartment take 4 AA batteries.
There is also a socket for a remote sensor, and an other socket for a power supply.
I don't know the history of the SUNPAK 411 but I can imagine it was a high end model intended to be used by prosummers.
The SUNPAK 411 was my walkaround flash when my bag was the LOWEPRO FLIPSIDE 300. It size was perfect for the flash compartment of this nice bag.
The SUNPAK 411 is also known as SUNPAK 134 wich is the european version.
