Fuji Alternatives to EF42 Flash

[flash]

I'm wondering what alternatives there are to the EF42 flash for TTL shooting with the XE1. I don't need any manual gear as I already have an extensive set of manual flash heads.

I NEED a hotshoe flash. I have an EF42 and it's OK, just. Barely. Ideally I'd like something like a Metz 58AF2. Tons of power and lots of versatility. I have a feeling there is nothing, yet and I have had a quick look.

So am I stuck with a woeful flash on a so so flash system?

Gordon

 

[flysurfer]

Fuji offers 3 TTL flashes, that is it.

 

[entropic remnants]

The EF-42 is a great flash EXCEPT that no Fuji body makes use of the autofocus illuminator in the flash!!!

This was a huge hit for me at a wedding reception I was shooting and I was ready to throw the entire Fuji system in the nearest ashcan. This is basic stuff and I can't believe it doesn't work as it should. The dinky illuminator on the camera just wasn't sufficient for doing shots with the 55-200mm in that dark environment and I couldn't use that lens at all. I ended up shooting the 35mm f/1.4 on the X-E1 and the 18-55mm on the X-M1 and getting in closer than I should have to.

C'mon Fuji, get your act together. When I'm standing around with my great gear envying the guy with a Nikon D3000 and an SB600, that's bad.

When I get done processing this wedding in the following week I'll do a longer post on using the Fuji's at a wedding "photojournalist" style. In the somewhat well lit church I had few problems... but the reception was the worst experience I've had with ANY camera system I've shot including micro four thirds.

The extremely high quality of the Fuji is useless without the ability to get focus.

 

[flash]

Totally agreed. Had the same issue at this weekends wedding. Fuji was great all day. Pulled out the EM5 for the reception.

I really do need more power though. And more adjustment in the FEC for it to be a viable system in long term use.

Gordon

 

[jloden]

Yep. The Fuji flash system is one of the things on my wishlist for future development of the X system.

The m4/3 flash system by comparison is considerably better, I'd say on par with the Nikon/Canon systems in most respects. My hope is that this is due to the comparative youth of the X system and that Fuji (and hopefully other 3rd party manufacturers) will step up to the plate in the future. For now I consider my Fuji setup essentially manual flash only, and when I plan on using a lot of external lighting I use my Nikon gear.

John - sorry to hear you had such a rough experience shooting a wedding with the Fujis. That's no fun at all when you feel like your equipment is letting you down. Doubly so when it's during an important event. I've had that experience with every system at least once. It's also one of the reasons I am shooting DSLRs for some things, despite my appreciation/affection for mirrorless.

 

[entropic remnants]

Totally agree that Fuji's TTL and fill flash control is right on the money. Better than the Olympus was and about as good as Nikon.

Agree with Gordon also on flash compensation. Wish I'd had another system like an E-M5 to pull out of the hat for this. Live and learn.

 

[flysurfer]

The EF-42 is a great flash EXCEPT that no Fuji body makes use of the autofocus illuminator in the flash!!!

In order to make use of an IR light, you would have to send your camera to a conversion service and have the IR filter removed from the sensor. Of course, your camera may not be suitable for shooting weddings after that (but it could take great IR landscape pics).

In any case, using an IR focus light for PDAF sensor DSLRs on a CDAF MILC isn't really effective, so the IR light is of course inactive on such cameras. You could probably use it with a Fujifilm S5pro DSLR, though.

 

[entropic remnants]

In order to make use of an IR light, you would have to send your camera to a conversion service and have the IR filter removed from the sensor. Of course, your camera may not be suitable for shooting weddings after that (but it could take great IR landscape pics).

In any case, using an IR focus light for PDAF sensor DSLRs on a CDAF MILC isn't really effective, so the IR light is of course inactive on such cameras. You could probably use it with a Fujifilm S5pro DSLR, though.

Translation: Fuji's flash system is even worse than we thought and there is NO hope of any help from a firmware change.

But I disagree completely with any idea that illuminators are ineffective with CDAF -- so WHY does the EF-42 have a useless IR illuminator (if it does -- we don't know since it doesn't come on, lol) instead of a visible light emitter? A red light emitter could have been added and Ive seen that on some systems.

It sounds like Fuji didn't think this out at all when they settled for putting their branding and a firmware tweak onto a generic third party flash. Crap, Rico, I'm madder than ever now. WTFF? (WTF Fuji!)

The bottom line: don't try to shoot an X-Body at a dark reception when people are moving at all. By the time the camera can get focus, IF the camera can get focus, the shot is gone. Don't even talk to me about manual focus and focus peaking -- totally worthless there IMO. And the 55-200mm, no focus speed king, slows to an EOS-M like crawl in low light. My best luck was generally with the 35mm f/1.4 for obvious reasons, but it still struggled.

Interestingly, the X100S had some of the best performance, and the X-M1 with the 18-55mm was in the running to some extent as well. The X-E1 had the most trouble of all.

Very disappointed and if I do this again for someone (I usually avoid it) I'll have to rent another manufacturers system to do the job. How sad is that.

 

[flysurfer]

Translation: Fuji's flash system is even worse than we thought and there is NO hope of any help from a firmware change.

It's saddening that you choose to twist my words in such an insulting fashion.

In any case, I already explained that an IR assist light is useless with CDAF cameras (or better: with all MILCs). That's why Fuji's MILCs feature their own built-in non-IR assist light, which is effective.

I also speculated that the IR assist light may be useful on Fuji's older DSLRs. Since I don't own such a camera, I can's say for sure. The EF-42 might already have been around when Fuji was still offering DSLRs.

It's well known (and also mentioned in my books) that the EF-42 is a rebranded Sunpak flash, so obviously they did not remove Sunpak's standard IR assist light. It's simply disabled on cameras that can't make use of an IR assist light. Obviously, this Sunpak model is primarily targeting DSLR users.

 

[flash]

The Fuji EF42 can't work in TTL on the Fujifilm DSLRs. They use the Nikon protocols as the bodies were largely based on the Nikons of the time. As a rebadged unit, disabling the part that won't work is probably the simplest explanation.

Part of the problem with the inbuilt illuminator is that it's in the wort possible position on the camera. On the grip? Seriously. What idiot thunk that one up? It should at least be where the XE1 logo is. But advertising is more important than ergonomics.

Like Jay said, I hope a third party manufacturer steps up. There'd have to be enough cameras out there for Metz to be looking at it.

Focus in low light is a real problem. But i was expecting it. Fuji's AF reminds me, very much, of the Olympus EP1/EP2 days. It's a generation or two away from being really good. It'll come. But the poor implementation of flash does give me some concern. Right now my Leica's are better for flash work than the XE1. It's an area that Fuji are really going to have to invest in if they want the broader "serious" photographic market to take long term notice.

Gordon

 

[flash]

The EF-42 is a great flash EXCEPT that no Fuji body makes use of the autofocus illuminator in the flash!!!

This was a huge hit for me at a wedding reception I was shooting and I was ready to throw the entire Fuji system in the nearest ashcan. This is basic stuff and I can't believe it doesn't work as it should. The dinky illuminator on the camera just wasn't sufficient for doing shots with the 55-200mm in that dark environment and I couldn't use that lens at all. I ended up shooting the 35mm f/1.4 on the X-E1 and the 18-55mm on the X-M1 and getting in closer than I should have to.

C'mon Fuji, get your act together. When I'm standing around with my great gear envying the guy with a Nikon D3000 and an SB600, that's bad.

When I get done processing this wedding in the following week I'll do a longer post on using the Fuji's at a wedding "photojournalist" style. In the somewhat well lit church I had few problems... but the reception was the worst experience I've had with ANY camera system I've shot including micro four thirds.

The extremely high quality of the Fuji is useless without the ability to get focus.

I'm going to do some tests with an LED panel and see how that goes. Might end up going the cinema lighting look for receptions.

Gordon

 

[jloden]

I'm going to do some tests with an LED panel and see how that goes. Might end up going the cinema lighting look for receptions.

Neil van Niekerk actually talks about that a bunch on his blog and in his books. He likes to use a video light for dramatic lighting in portraits, macro details for weddings, etc. I haven't tried it yet (don't shoot video and thus don't have a video light yet haha), but I'd like to check it out sometime for sure.

I use third party flashes (Yongnuo) for my Nikons and they support all the features including TTL, wireless triggering with Nikon's CLS, and so on. I'm hoping that eventually if Fuji gains enough market share that Yongnuo, Metz, or some other manufacturers will develop options for the X system. Plus with future Fuji camera releases I would hope they add support for more extensive and flexible flash options!

 

[flysurfer]

I'd love to see wireless TTL and HSS multi flash with Fuji protocols. I know somebody is working on just that, and it would be great if Fuji came on board.