alternate to sunpak 383's

[33L]

I am setting up a small studio in the converted attic in my house.

I have read numerous post on here and elsewhere about the 383's however they seem like gold dust to try and track down especially in the UK. I have some cheap ebay flash trigger and receivers. light stands and umbrellas.

since these are hard to find even on ebay that i don't have to pay silly postage fees from the US. Is there any alternatives that i should be looking for. Sorry if this has been asked before!

TIA

33L

[Strayz]

they should not be that hard to find, have you tried Amazon.com ? last time I looked there were plenty of people selling there.

[33L]

I had a look but for some reason they wont ship to the flashes to the UK and Amazon.co.uk doesnt stock them. It seems that the warranty is limited to the US or something like that!

[FlashZebra]

I think the 383 will not meet the European RoHS requirement.

See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restriction_of_Hazardous_Substances_Directive

Enjoy! Lon

[scot079]

Vivitar 285HV?

Canon 550/540?

Nikon SB?

[33L]

I think the 383 will not meet the European RoHS requirement.

See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restriction_of_Hazardous_Substances_Directive

Enjoy! Lon

That makes sense and why i cant get them here! oh well - need to still find something availabel here to use!


Vivitar 285HV?

Canon 550/540?

Nikon SB?

Are these the vivitars without the manual setting of 1/8 power? If so i would like there to be that option.

The 550's are out of my price range i can get the sigma 530 supers brand new for that money. The 540's dont seem to be coming in cheap again.

Not familiar with nikon flashes! can you let me know what models are decent money and fully manual.

[FlashZebra]

Not familiar with nikon flashes! can you let me know what models are decent money and fully manual.
The Nikon SB-24, SB-25, SB-26, SB-28, SB-28DX, and SB-80DX are all nice units for off camera manual flash.

The features are a bit different from model to model, but all are good flash units if you can find a good quality used unit.

Enjoy! Lon

[tim]

Buy them new (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/52799-REG/Sunpak_0383_383_Super_Auto_Flash.html/BI/2312/KBID/3114) from B&H. They ship to anywhere.

[Psychobiker]

ROHS is such a load of bullcrap. Try hand soldering surface mount stuff with lead free :p

That said, I found my 383 online in hte UK

[33L]

ROHS is such a load of bullcrap. Try hand soldering surface mount stuff with lead free :p

That said, I found my 383 online in hte UK

Please do share where?

[Strayz]

The Nikon SB-24, SB-25, SB-26, SB-28, SB-28DX, and SB-80DX are all nice units for off camera manual flash.

The features are a bit different from model to model, but all are good flash units if you can find a good quality used unit.

Enjoy! Lon

Hey Lon, I could be wrong, and if I am please correct me, but isn't the SB-25 manual but it doesn't have a optical slave as an option? (if it does I passed up a good deal on 2 of them.. :( )

[René Damkot]

SB-26 (http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/05/for-few-dollars-more-nikon-sb-26.html) is the one with the built in slave. AFAIK the SB-25 doesn't have it. Not sure about the newer models. The SB-24 doesn't have it (used to own one when I shot Nikon ;))

[FlashZebra]

Hey Lon, I could be wrong, and if I am please correct me, but isn't the SB-25 manual but it doesn't have a optical slave as an option? (if it does I passed up a good deal on 2 of them.. :( )
As René indicates, the SB-26 has a built in optical slave, as does the SB-80DX.

Enjoy! Lon

[33L]

im not worried about being able to us as optical slaves. i have
2 wireless receivers and a trigger so just manual adjustment of power poutput is needed.

[Rudi]

Buy them new (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/52799-REG/Sunpak_0383_383_Super_Auto_Flash.html/BI/2312/KBID/3114) from B&H. They ship to anywhere.

That's what I just did. Best solution, IMO. :)

[33L]

I will try them $35 is not too bad for shipping for a 3-5 days service!
I will be buying 2 for now!

[Rudi]

You won't regret it! :)

[pridash]

I will try them $35 is not too bad for shipping for a 3-5 days service!
I will be buying 2 for now!

You may wish to factor in what Customs may levy on your package and their delay as well. I'm pretty sure B&H won't declare the item as a "gift".

I think someone on Strobist mentioned that when purchasing the Vivitars/Sunpaks, once tax was added it didn't work out that cheap.

But if it works out for you, please tell the rest of us here in the UK as it will sure prove to be a popular choice for many of us!

[Rudi]

Luckily for me, if the package is under $1000 AUD there are no taxes payable. I ordered some things from B&H early Friday morning my time, and it arrived by courier at 8:30 AM Monday morning! I could not get that sort of service locally! Halfway around the world, and faster than if I ordered something from Sydney! (And I only live 1.5 hours drive away from Sydney...). :)

[tim]

That's incredible - it usually takes about a week to New Zealand via UPS, but it takes time for the international credit card to clear, and usually a day for them to ship it after that.

[Rudi]

To be fair, I'm a long-time B&H customer, so my credit card is on file. They don't have to do anything, just make sure I have money in there, and ship the stuff. :D

[tim]

Yeah me too, i've spent a few dollars there. Still seems to take them a couple of days from me ordering to the gear leaving the warehouse.

[Rudi]

You must order weird stuff! ;)

I think I just got extremely lucky! I have placed another order since then, and that took a whole day (24hrs) before they shipped it. I guess it depends on what you order, and where they source it from. Just because it says "in stock", doesn't mean it isn't in some warehouse at the other side of New York (or worse). :)

[33L]

the only thing i am worried about is the RoHS and being stopped at customs! I dont mind paying duty on them. Where do i stand if they get stopped surely thats my problem and not of B&H. B&H will probably not refund me if i never got to recieve them.

[Rudi]

I wouldn't think that Customs would have the slightest clue about RoHS! All they will see is a couple of flashes, and charge you duties accordingly. They won't check a list of different manufacturers and models to see whether they comply with RoHS, I wouldn't think...

[bmxfro]

I haven't tried the flash yet myself, but I was thinking of ordering this flash from dealextreme.com..... It is cheap ($30.00)compared to other flashes, and it has a guide number of 28 meters at iso100
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6242

[strobe monkey]

Get 540ez's, I bought 2 540ez'x off ebay UK for £60 each. Modded them to accept
3.5mm mono jack.

[Rudi]

Get 540ez's, I bought 2 540ez'x off ebay UK for £60 each. Modded them to accept
3.5mm mono jack.

Sounds like hard work, and for what? For £40 each, he can have the Sunpak 383 - a strobe proven over many years! 540 EZ won't even give you ETTL (should you want that), so I don't see why you'd want to spend the extra money...

[33L]

I think all in 2 flashes are £100 delivered not accounting for fluctuations in currency.

stillworks out cheaper! if anyone can suggest an equally featurepacked flash for less i am all ears!

[pridash]

I think all in 2 flashes are £100 delivered not accounting for fluctuations in currency.

stillworks out cheaper! if anyone can suggest an equally featurepacked flash for less i am all ears!

I was fortunate to pick up a used Nikon SB-25 for £51 on ebay. The SB series are well recommended on Strobist...and because of that a lot of people are after them. If you are patient you should find similar bargains...but if you can't wait go with the Sunpaks.

...but as mentioned earlier, love to hear your experience of buying from B&H and what happened via Customs - if it works out I may get another flash from them instead.

[strobe monkey]

Sounds like hard work, and for what? For £40 each, he can have the Sunpak 383 - a strobe proven over many years! 540 EZ won't even give you ETTL (should you want that), so I don't see why you'd want to spend the extra money...

1. I use it to accept 3.5mm mono jack with my modded ebay trigger- the joy of DIY
2. 540ez can go down to 1/128 power. 383 is only 1/16
3. 540ez has manual zoom, from what I understand (though I might have misunderstood) 383 does not have manual zoom.
4. I don't use ettl when using offshoe. 383 is also not ettl
5. I like to cook my own food:p

[Rudi]

1. I use it to accept 3.5mm mono jack with my modded ebay trigger- the joy of DIY
2. 540ez can go down to 1/128 power. 383 is only 1/16
3. 540ez has manual zoom, from what I understand (though I might have misunderstood) 383 does not have manual zoom.
4. I don't use ettl when using offshoe. 383 is also not ettl
5. I like to cook my own food:p

I understand that the 540EZ has more "features" but these are mostly useless or redundant when using a flash off-camera. Given that the OP can buy a brand new flash (with warranty AND sync cable included) for 2/3 of the money that you have spent, well... I know which way *I* would ( and did) go! (And I have 580EX flashes as well, still bought the Sunpaks - they're much easier to use off-camera!) :D

[René Damkot]

I wouldn't call the zoom head, or the much larger f/stop range, useless or redundant :p

It's more a question of: Is it worth the extra $$$ for your intended use.

[Rudi]

A snoot is easily manufactured, working around the zoom head issue. Larger f-stop range... meh. Nice to have, but I can already go down to 1/16 on the Sunpak, and they're not THAT powerful to start with!

Don't get me wrong, if they were the same price, then yes, go with the Canon. At 50% extra, not worth it IMO.

[Chosenbydestiny]

Would you guys choose a Nikon SB800 over a canon 580EX II for strobist?

[tim]

Would you guys choose a Nikon SB800 over a canon 580EX II for strobist?

Makes little difference. Both put out light, with strobist stuff you're in manual anyway. Get whatever's cheaper, unless you want a 580 II to go on your camera as well.

[Chosenbydestiny]

Makes little difference. Both put out light, with strobist stuff you're in manual anyway. Get whatever's cheaper, unless you want a 580 II to go on your camera as well.

Definitely wanted it off camera. I'm just having a bad experience with the sunpak 383s i bought because of fishing for the right adapter cords for them. I just want flashes that I can hook up the existing cables that came with the pocket wizards and there's a small advantage to getting nikon flashes since my partner shoots nikon. Nikon SB800 uses the same pc connection the 580EX II does right? I'll look it up anyway...

[SnlpeR]

i have a 540ez
and this is the 2nd one that ive seen the power level not working
any power level you set manually will output the same flash power (1/128 is the same output as 1/1)

this happend after i did a shoot
and i only took about 100 shots at the flash at 1/16 power
i think i fried the capacitors or something
my friends 540ez does the same thing

i was gonna get another used 540ez but decided to get another sunpak383 instead

[Strayz]

Definitely wanted it off camera. I'm just having a bad experience with the sunpak 383s i bought because of fishing for the right adapter cords for them. I just want flashes that I can hook up the existing cables that came with the pocket wizards and there's a small advantage to getting nikon flashes since my partner shoots nikon. Nikon SB800 uses the same pc connection the 580EX II does right? I'll look it up anyway...

Go to www.flashzebra.com and buy this cable http://www.flashzebra.com/wizardcables/0016.shtml

all your troubles will amazingly go away.

and if you really want to get rid of your sunpack 383's send me a PM and we can discuss the details. :)

[Hermes]

the only thing i am worried about is the RoHS and being stopped at customs! I dont mind paying duty on them. Where do i stand if they get stopped surely thats my problem and not of B&H. B&H will probably not refund me if i never got to recieve them.

Customs will charge you VAT, and also charge you around £12 for the privilege of them opening your package and working out the 17.5%. Bear this in mind as it will often wipe out any cost benefit from importing from the U.S.

I have 2x Vivitar 285HVs among other small flashes. They are big but they have a zoom head unlike the Sunpaks (makes a big difference when using umbrellas, grids, e.t.c.), they have a built-in slot that can hold gels and they are readily available along with accessories on Ebay. Better option than the 383s IMO.