Minolta 1200 Ring flash

Phil Wood wrote: rastapartaman wrote: A bit off topic but the one of the best macro ring flashes I've used is the Metz Mecablitz 15 MS-1. Affordable and extremely cheap if compared to the MFC-1000. You can change the angle of the light on each side. Manual power and TTL, can be triggered wirelessly with the pop up flash in wireless mode. And compatible with canon, Nikon and Olympus. One flash for 4 systems Cheap?

You might want to shop around a bit , I've seen them for a bit less than that !

I think when I was looking into getting one they were around £250 new or about £170 used .
I carried on with a Centon ringflash untill I got hold off the MFC-1000 .

Edited by neilt3 - 15 May 2022 at 10:46

The Metz 15 MS-1 is a WL flash only for TTL operation (the supplied PC cable will only operate in Manual mode) so if your body does not have a built-in flash, you need to add a control flash on the body.
So on Sony's A900, A850, A99, A99II and all of Sony's mirrorless bodies, you will need to add that piece of equipment which is not that affordable anymore.

Using it in Manual mode is also a challenge since i found the menu to set this up and change settings is somewhat difficult to understand and use in real shooting situations.

rastapartaman wrote: A bit off topic but the one of the best macro ring flashes I've used is the Metz Mecablitz 15 MS-1. Affordable and extremely cheap if compared to the MFC-1000. You can change the angle of the light on each side. Manual power and TTL, can be triggered wirelessly with the pop up flash in wireless mode. And compatible with canon, Nikon and Olympus. One flash for 4 systems

It's probably worth noting that the Metz isn't a ring flash but a twin flash whose two flash units are fixed on opposite sides .
The twin flash set up that you can use on the MFC-1000 can have there positions altered to a certain degree to give a bit more depth to the lighting .

The Minolta ring flash isn't a true ring flash either , but having four flashes that can be set to on or off independently , you have more control of the lighting .

I also have true ring flashes who have a circular flash tube , but the downside to these it unless to mess about with bits of tape to block out the light , you end up with quite a flat lighting .

As a follow-up, I just ordered an iISO off-camera flash cable. Inexpensive and it looks like it does not have the flash ADI sensor/tab/switch hole -- not a problem if it does.

It has a standard iISO shoe on each end -- unlike most (ALL?) OF Minolta's MAXXUM off-camera cables.

I'll give it a test to see if I can get off-camera ADI flash, It would be nice to use an ADI flash on a camera bracket -- and still have the ADI advantages.

I'll run some tests when I get it and report back.

Edited by XKAES - 19 May 2022 at 01:34

Phil Wood wrote: TTL leaves me with a black frame.

(In the camera menu select TTL flash and NO electronic first curtain shutter. I assume you already have these settings correct).

Then try this to make you started with TTL:
Set to the aperture to F11 or smaller, alternatively turn off two of the tubes on the ring flash, or do both.

I have recently acquired an MFC-1000 control unit to use with my 1200 ring flash. After some trial and a lot of error I have it working nicely in manual mode (1/64 power, ISO 100, 1/80s, f16).



However, any attempt at TTL leaves me with a black frame. The flash fires, presumably out of sync with the shutter. Any idea as to what I am doing wrong?

The question is "How, and in what ways, can a flash exposure be kept in ADI mode when the ADI flash is removed from the camera?".

For example, since the Minolta 2500D ADI flash lacks the OFF-CAMERA sensor/tab, it should operate in ADI mode if removed from the camera -- but probably not if it is tilted.

Can other ADI flashes retain ADI mode when used OFF-CAMERA with a cable, if the cable lacks the OFF-CAMERA sensor/tab hole -- assuming they are not tilted?