Sigma EF500 DG Super help

Blindman · Oct 2, 2003

I am contemplating purchasing this flash unit for use on a Minolta 7i. I have several questions based on the research I have been doing...

1 - Is the "build quality" poor (cheap feel / finish)?

2 - Are the pics very overexposed under some conditions (wide open aperature, etc.)?

3 - What is the expected maximum useful distance for using when at the 200mm setting?

4 - Does it feel overly "big" when on the camera?

5 - Are you happy / mildly happy / very happy with the "out of the camera" exposure?

6 - Is it worth it to buy the Super vs the ST model?

7 - Does the manual do a good job of explaining how to use its functionality?

Thanks in advance for your help. Any other pertinent / relevant comments would be appreciated.

--
JC

Mark Marshall · Oct 2, 2003

Blindman said:
1 - Is the "build quality" poor (cheap feel / finish)?

Not at all. Flashes are made of plastic though, so it's not going to feel like a magnesium camera body. The LCD on the Super is actually quite nice and the flash head is similar to the big Canons and Nikons.

Blindman said:
2 - Are the pics very overexposed under some conditions (wide open
aperature, etc.)?

The flash has FEC built-in. Mine is ETTL compatible so I don't have that problem.

Blindman said:
3 - What is the expected maximum useful distance for using when at
the 200mm setting?

The max Guide Number should be on Sigmas website - the flash zoom itself maxes at 105mm, so that (and above) would be the full GN rating. It's only 5 meters "weaker" than the Canon flagship I believe.

Blindman said:
4 - Does it feel overly "big" when on the camera?

Seems that would depend on the camera now...

Blindman said:
5 - Are you happy / mildly happy / very happy with the "out of the
camera" exposure?

Very happy

Blindman said:
6 - Is it worth it to buy the Super vs the ST model?

Again, that's subjective based on your needs. I needed FEC and 2nd curtain and FP etc. that are only found on the Super I believe (plus the lightable LCD is nice).

Blindman said:
7 - Does the manual do a good job of explaining how to use its
functionality?

Yeah - it's pretty straightforward in 6 languages. The English is clear at least.

Blindman said:
Thanks in advance for your help. Any other pertinent / relevant
comments would be appreciated.

The price is nice too considering the full functionality. ~ m²

Blindman said:
--
JC

--

'Brothers and sisters, we've learned that there's some bad bokeh going around out there. So like, just be careful man, alright?' (If Wavy Gravy emceed PMA)

Blindman · Oct 2, 2003

Mark Marshall said:
Blindman said:

1 - Is the "build quality" poor (cheap feel / finish)?

Click to expand...

Not at all. Flashes are made of plastic though, so it's not going
to feel like a magnesium camera body. The LCD on the Super is
actually quite nice and the flash head is similar to the big Canons
and Nikons.

Mark Marshall said:

2 - Are the pics very overexposed under some conditions (wide open
aperature, etc.)?

Click to expand...

The flash has FEC built-in. Mine is ETTL compatible so I don't have
that problem.

Mark Marshall said:

3 - What is the expected maximum useful distance for using when at
the 200mm setting?

Click to expand...

The max Guide Number should be on Sigmas website - the flash zoom
itself maxes at 105mm, so that (and above) would be the full GN
rating. It's only 5 meters "weaker" than the Canon flagship I
believe.

Mark Marshall said:

4 - Does it feel overly "big" when on the camera?

Click to expand...

Seems that would depend on the camera now...

Mark Marshall said:

5 - Are you happy / mildly happy / very happy with the "out of the
camera" exposure?

Click to expand...

Very happy

Mark Marshall said:

6 - Is it worth it to buy the Super vs the ST model?

Click to expand...

Again, that's subjective based on your needs. I needed FEC and 2nd
curtain and FP etc. that are only found on the Super I believe
(plus the lightable LCD is nice).

Mark Marshall said:

7 - Does the manual do a good job of explaining how to use its
functionality?

Click to expand...

Yeah - it's pretty straightforward in 6 languages. The English is
clear at least.

Mark Marshall said:

Thanks in advance for your help. Any other pertinent / relevant
comments would be appreciated.

Click to expand...

The price is nice too considering the full functionality. ~ m²

Mark Marshall said:

--
JC

Click to expand...

--
'Brothers and sisters, we've learned that there's some bad bokeh
going around out there. So like, just be careful man, alright?'
(If Wavy Gravy emceed PMA)

Thanks for the detailed reply - really appreciated. How do you translate the Guide number into range? For example, a guide number of 155 means what distance when using a 200mm lens @ f4?

--
JC

Brian Cao · Oct 2, 2003

Blindman said:
I am contemplating purchasing this flash unit for use on a Minolta
7i. I have several questions based on the research I have been
doing...

1 - Is the "build quality" poor (cheap feel / finish)?

It's ok. Plastic, but not too much different then any other flash.

Blindman said:
2 - Are the pics very overexposed under some conditions (wide open
aperature, etc.)?

When using pointing straight or ceiling bounced, pics come out fine. When I'm using an OmniBounce I get overexposure at close range.

Blindman said:
3 - What is the expected maximum useful distance for using when at
the 200mm setting?

Don't know the technical details, but so far so good.

Blindman said:
4 - Does it feel overly "big" when on the camera?

Subjective, not to me.

Blindman said:
5 - Are you happy / mildly happy / very happy with the "out of the
camera" exposure?

With OmniBounce I need to make custom adjustments/compensation. Otherwise happy.

Blindman said:
6 - Is it worth it to buy the Super vs the ST model?

Super model has many more features like master/slave control, etc.

Blindman said:
7 - Does the manual do a good job of explaining how to use its
functionality?

It's adequate, but I didn't find it very detailed.

Blindman said:
Thanks in advance for your help. Any other pertinent / relevant
comments would be appreciated.

--
JC

Jay Abend · Oct 3, 2003

No free lunch- Sorry Follks-

I went through three EF-500 DG Super flashes as a cheaper alternative to Canon's 550EX- since I almost never use on-camera flash-

All three died within one week- just popped and then stopped recycling-

Also- exposure with this flash on EOS 1d and 1ds cameras is wildly inaccurate- Direct flash i sunder by 2-3 stops- then bounce flash is accurate- Go figure- Got a 550EX which is like 200% better- and I assume that Minolta dn Nikon OEM flashes will also perform much, much better.

Jay

http://www.abendimaging.com

Mark Marshall · Oct 3, 2003

Geez Jay - 3 in a week? This was on a 1D AND a 1Ds? I've been using mine for a month now and it's a happy camper (BIG knock on wood after reading yours). No doubt the 550EX involves no reverse engineering so it's "native" capabilities make it a better candidate for reliability, but just maybe the 1D's have something (?) not accounted for by Sigma. On the Canon SLR forums I only heard from happy 10D owners before buying, so your's is a first. And as far as underexposing, this is dead on at 50mm, no Omni/Lumi... nothing. ~ m²

Jay Abend said:
No free lunch- Sorry Follks-

I went through three EF-500 DG Super flashes as a cheaper
alternative to Canon's 550EX- since I almost never use on-camera
flash-

All three died within one week- just popped and then stopped
recycling-

Also- exposure with this flash on EOS 1d and 1ds cameras is wildly
inaccurate- Direct flash i sunder by 2-3 stops- then bounce flash
is accurate- Go figure- Got a 550EX which is like 200% better- and
I assume that Minolta dn Nikon OEM flashes will also perform much,
much better.

Jay

http://www.abendimaging.com

--

'Brothers and sisters, we've learned that there's some bad bokeh going around out there. So like, just be careful man, alright?' (If Wavy Gravy emceed PMA)

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Sigma EF500 DG Super help

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