Anybody using the Meike MK320 flash?

[nels11]

I ordered one on ebay advertised for Olympus and Panasonic and got the flash marked Panasonic Lumix. I intended to use it on my Olympus OMD E5 and found there was no ISO reading on the flash LCD on TTL mode. Everything else works so I was intending on keeping it but got no reasonable answer on why the ISO does not read on the flash from the seller. Anybody else got the same problem? Was I sent the wrong flash?

 

[RobBurke]

Mine is the same on my E-M1. The unit says For Lumix on it, and it adjusts correctly if I crank up the ISO in TTL mode. So perhaps it is flaw in the flash firmware? I hadn't noticed until I saw your question - in practice I don't look at the display except to adjust the flash compensation.

I think it's a nice unit for the price - compact and seems well made.

 

[Ben Herrmann]

I'm loving it. Remember, the Panasonic and Olympus flash characteristics and specs are basically the same and it's not unusual for folks to be using both brand flashes on their Oly and Panny models. So you're good here.

My flash shows the ISO settings - and I have two other 320's, one dedicated for Fuji, and the other for Nikon - and all show the ISO. So you may have an issue with yours, but make sure it's set to TTL.

 

[bikerhiker]

I'm loving it. Remember, the Panasonic and Olympus flash characteristics and specs are basically the same and it's not unusual for folks to be using both brand flashes on their Oly and Panny models. So you're good here.

My flash shows the ISO settings - and I have two other 320's, one dedicated for Fuji, and the other for Nikon - and all show the ISO. So you may have an issue with yours, but make sure it's set to TTL.

 

[Ben Herrmann]

Will do that later on today or tomorrow and report back here - unless, of course, somebody else has has already tried using the 320 with regular 43 cams and can chime in here.
--
Semper Fidelis...

Bernd (Ben) W. Herrmann
North Carolina, USA

 

[nels11]

Ben,

Does your MK320 flash say Olympus on it? I probably should have gotten the Olympus version of the flash. Where did you buy it?

nelson

 

[nels11]

Rob,

Thank you for your comment

nelson

 

[dontfret]

I love this little flash, bought two for my GX7 and G5 to use for twin flash macro. One labeled NEWER fro LUMIX, the other Meike for Lumix. In TTL both show f stop , neither shows ISO. But the point of TTL is to the camera reads the exposure from sensor and feeds back the correct flash duration to the light, so I wonder why would you expect the light display to show ISO?

 

[victorul]

I received my MK320 a week before I left for an extended vacation.

I encountered the same problems with mine which is for Lumix to work on a G6. The display is not working properly. I described it well and also included some images of the LCD and asked whether there would be a resetting button combination. I got a meaningless reply from the e-bay seller and was asked to make a video of it!!!. In a second email he asked me to send it back whilst I was on a trip in Europe.

I also sent twice the same mail to Meike directly but of course never received a reply. With other words, if you get a faulty unit or your unit starts misbehaving, forget your warranty.

Is most likely a nice flash when you get a working one.

Victor

 

[VinceC]

Mine does say for Panasonic (but Oly and Pana flashes are supposed to be interchangeable). It does not show ISO on the flash display when in TTL or manual, but this is set from, and visible on, the camera.

The Meike 320 is light, cheap and sems to work very well on the camera (better than some Olympus flashes I've had!). I use rechargeable NiCads and charge them through the USB connection. The charge dispay quickly drops to show around 2/3 full - I don't now if this is accurate, but I don't use flash enough to worry.

For the money I've very pleased with it.

 

[Mikedab]

Mine says "for Panasonic" as well, and it does not show ISO, but works fine, adjusts ok to changes in ISO in camera.

Similar with Panasonic DWM-FL360 (it's supposed to be a copy of OLY FL-600R). It shows ISO for a brief moment after turn on, and it's always 100, but when I change ISO in camera, it takes this into account and exposes OK (with the usual behavior of Olympus TTL at least, which some find less then ideal).

 

[Ben Herrmann]

the MK 320 works superbly. I put it on the following cameras:

E-1 with Leica Vario 14-150 OIS

E-330 with Leica Vario 14-50 OIS

E-520 with 14-54

E-620 with 14-54 II

It meshed beautifully, and no - mine didn't show the ISO (and I had it in TTL), but the unit meshed superbly!!!

The thing is that with this flash (and mine says "Lumix" by the way - not Olympus), the lighting potential (strength) belies its small size. I mean to say at ISO 400, f5.6 - 6.3, I can beautifully balance the lighting in a room that is 15 x 20. And for some reason, this flash does superbly on micro 4/3 cameras, in particular Olympus models. I also have this flash for the Fuji X system, yet there the strength (or implied throw weight) seems far less than what you get with the micro 4/3 and regular (older) 4/3 cameras can achieve. And again, keep in mind that Panny and Oly use the same TTL flash configurations and dedications so you can use either labeled Panny or Oly flash units.

I had the head tilted up at a 45-75 degree angle with the bounce cap (that came with it) attached. It is just uncanny how well this flash does.

I think I'm going to pick up another one or two of these for 4/3 and micro 4/3. Because I have so many older regular 4/3 and now micro 4/3 cameras, and with the cost being so low with this MK 320, it will be cost effective for me to pick up a few more. I'll never use the FL-36 again because I love the size of this MK-320, and it even seems to equal the throw weight of the Nissin Di-466 and other more expensive 3rd party models. Very interesting.

Here's the link to the MK320 flash page on eBay. Just fine the one you need for the right TTL dedication to your brand camera.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odk...Meike+MK320+F+Speedlite&ghostText=&_sacat=625

For Olympus/Panasonic (Lumix), here's a link to a good vendor who has tons of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MeiKe-MK320...814?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3aa616c736

 

[Ben Herrmann]

--
Semper Fidelis...
Bernd (Ben) W. Herrmann
North Carolina, USA

 

[bikerhiker]

Thanks Ben for testing with various 43 cameras for us!

 

[Michael M Fliegel]

Bought mine on Ben's recommendation. Love it.

 

[alcelc]

Ben,

Does your MK320 flash say Olympus on it? I probably should have gotten the Olympus version of the flash. Where did you buy it?

nelson

The flash of FT (including M43) no matter Oly or Panny are in the same standard.

Indeed Meke just produces one MK320 model for FT cameras here.

 

[nels11]

Thank you all for your comments. I'll just keep my MK320. Can't beat the price and so far, its working great.

nelson

 

[MickC92]

I'm loving it. Remember, the Panasonic and Olympus flash characteristics and specs are basically the same and it's not unusual for folks to be using both brand flashes on their Oly and Panny models. So you're good here.

My flash shows the ISO settings - and I have two other 320's, one dedicated for Fuji, and the other for Nikon - and all show the ISO. So you may have an issue with yours, but make sure it's set to TTL.

 

[dontfret]

Hi, Quick question can it be used as a slave unit triggered by the pop-up flash?

Absolutely yes, and you can adjust flash intensity manually in very fine steps. I use two for macro, one in the GX7 shoe as TTL and the second on an o-ring bracket in slave mode for fill, have also used the two as twin-macro slaves both off-camera on bracket triggered by the onboard pop-up - on the GX7 you can set the pop-up for minimal intensity so it only triggers the slaves.. These are darling, light units with shocking output for two AAA Eneloop batteries. Slave can be set to disregard TTL pre-flash. Also has a strobe setting for multiple flashes, I'm going to try that for capturing a water droplet splash Best $80 I've yet spent for cost/fun ration.

 

[Ben Herrmann]

...it uses 2 AA batteries (not AAA).