Flash system for both mFT system and L-Mounted system

The same post was posted at mFT forum as well.

I have an old Olympus FL-50 from my FT system. It does not have the remote control capability, so recently I bought an Olympus FL-900R, mainly for remote flash purpose, like shooting insects. Its optical remote control system functions, together with an FL-LM3 Flash attached to the of my E-M1.2 body.
I planned to use the same flash combo for Panasonic S1R system. However, the FL-LM3 Flash does not work with the hot shoe on S1R body to acts as a master commander for optical wireless slave systems using groups and channels.
After a careful examination, it was found that unlike other old flashes from Olympus, a small plastic lip was added to the front of the FL-LM3 hot shoe. It works well with a body like E-M1.2, but this extended lip preventing the FL-LM3 to lock into right position on the S1R body. It might work with S1R by filing or sanding away this extended lip on FL-LM3. But without knowing why Olympus and Panasonic designed so, I did not dare to modify the FL-LM3 to be used for S1R, but decided to buy a Godox V860IIO Flash and Godox X2 2.4 GHz TTL Wireless Flash Trigger for both my mFT system and Panasonic S1R. The Godox costs much less than Olympus FL-900R. It comes with a built-In 2.4 GHz X Wireless Radio System, which is a preferred remote control system than the optical system being used on Olympus FL-900R.
What flash do you use for your L-Mounted?

Profoto Air Remote O / P and A1 flash and B10 strobe for both Oly and Panasonic is what I use.

I too used the rock the FL-50 with my e5 back in the day.



steve

I've used a Metz 64 AF1 almost since I got my S1 (after trouble with a Godox TT685). The Metz is fine - flash automatically adjusts with the 24-105 zoom and TTL metering gives a good balance.

richgb said:

I've used a Metz 64 AF1 almost since I got my S1 (after trouble with a Godox TT685). The Metz is fine - flash automatically adjusts with the 24-105 zoom and TTL metering gives a good balance.

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Could you please tell me whether the auto zoom works properly for Metz 64 AF-1? Does it show the correct focal length up to 105mm? How good is the TTL? I am seriously considering this flash but not many reviews on Olympus or Panasonic cameras.

richgb said:

I've used a Metz 64 AF1 almost since I got my S1 (after trouble with a Godox TT685). The Metz is fine - flash automatically adjusts with the 24-105 zoom and TTL metering gives a good balance.

Click to expand...

Thanks very much for this information - I could not get a Godox TT685O to work on my S1R despite all the glowing reviews about both it and the Godox V860II. So I returned it and wondered about the Metz 64 AF1. I think I will give it a try now.

GCL said:

richgb said:

I've used a Metz 64 AF1 almost since I got my S1 (after trouble with a Godox TT685). The Metz is fine - flash automatically adjusts with the 24-105 zoom and TTL metering gives a good balance.

Click to expand...

Thanks very much for this information - I could not get a Godox TT685O to work on my S1R despite all the glowing reviews about both it and the Godox V860II. So I returned it and wondered about the Metz 64 AF1. I think I will give it a try now.

Click to expand...

I intended to buy Godox V860IIO Flash and Godox X2 2.4 GHz TTL Wireless Flash Trigger for both my Lumix S1R and Olympus E-M1.2 and PEN-F. However, ffter some testing, it appears that the remote controlled flash system worked well with S1R, but it did not work well with E-M1.2, its TTL funiction did not work. While Olympus FL-900R and FL-LM3 worked wonderfully for E-M1.2 for TTL. I aslo found that I don't have to set the FL-900R and FL-LM3 face to face for optical sensor communication. As a result, I can use the FL-LM3 as a fill-in while setting the FL-900R as a master flash. FL-900R and FL-LM3 worked perfectly with E-M1.2. It seems I will need to keep both flash systems.

I use this with my S1H (yeah, I know. I really do make this camera do double duty stills and photos :-D), and I've tried it with my GH5S just to see if it can be a backup camera.

AkshajN said:

richgb said:

I've used a Metz 64 AF1 almost since I got my S1 (after trouble with a Godox TT685). The Metz is fine - flash automatically adjusts with the 24-105 zoom and TTL metering gives a good balance.

Click to expand...

Could you please tell me whether the auto zoom works properly for Metz 64 AF-1? Does it show the correct focal length up to 105mm? How good is the TTL? I am seriously considering this flash but not many reviews on Olympus or Panasonic cameras.

Click to expand...

Yes, I think it's early days before flash manufacturers test their products on the S1 / S1R, which is hardly surprising considering how long the cameras have been on the market and the size of the market in comparison. I was concerned, for example, that the flash might only show for example MFT focal length equivalents, which would be confusing. However, I checked with Metz customer service before purchase (and got a reply the same day) saying the 64 AF-1 was fully compatible.

In use, the zoom on the lens couples automatically to the zoom on the flash reflector and indicates the focal length on the flash body correspondingly (not to MFT equivalents).

The TTL metering is OK, always understanding that its accuracy in balancing the flash with ambient light is sometimes a matter of taste. If the flash is the sole light source, I'd say it tends to err sightly on under-exposure (perhaps -0.5EV), which is recoverable in post. The TTL metering can be adjusted via the camera menu (which I've done) as well as on the flash (which I haven't yet had to use).