I thought that I would start a topic regarding equipment for FLASH photography. No need to be GH2 centric- but would be good to play nice with the GH2.

There is no TTL (Through The Lens) metering system of 3rd party Flashes that is Panasonic compatible, thus everything you buy for GH2 will be manual. This is no super big issue, as the moment you bounce the flash off the ceiling your TTL dies anyway.

Also note that many clients now days need more than just a simple video package. Many need images, and adding a big flash unit does help this (not only for the light- but also helps client respect).

And to be honest providing services such that we provide should not involve us giving away jobs to other companies. If its out of your comfort zone don't worry- however nothing wrong with offering photography in the package. Learn a few 'key' setups and simply take the photo.

You will also find that continuous lighting is VERY costly for images as you are normally not taking a photo at 1/50 of a second. You will also be able to create studio quality images and learn more about lighting.

There are MANY great and cheep Flash units out there currently- and they are only getting better.

Currently I have a YongNuo YN-560ii (RRP $70 ebay) which I am very happy with, (and will be getting a few more for 2 point lighting) I will mainly be using this with a radio frequency trigger.

Share below your Flash gear and thoughts.

Cheers, A

I am selling the ultimate filmmakers kit.

Camera Panasonic GH4 + Battery Adapter (DMW-BGGH3) 7 batteries

Memory Cards Sandisk Extreme Pro 64GB Transcend U3 256GB Transcend U3 64GB

Lenses Lumix 35-100mm F2.8 Lumix Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 SLR Magic Cine II 12mm F1.6 Olympus 60mm Macro F2.8 Voigtlander 25mm F0.95

Metabones XL 0.64x EF Adapter (with auto focus for EF Lenses)

Additional Panasonic FL580 Flash LCW Variable ND Filter 77mm Lens Clean Kit

ALL lenses come with step up rings attached to 77mm.

I can send pictures of all items on request. This is a serious filmmakers package.

I'm looking for 1-2 off camera strobes for my GH4 for an upcoming shoot. Heard the Panny FL360L isn't too great. So what would you guys recommend instead?

Thanks!

Such a device would for example convert a Nikon cam with no internal 4K to a mean, lean, video machine. I'm posting this to see if there is interest in such a device, and maybe we can find someone to fab it or maybe some of us can make a Kickstarter project to produce it. I realize that HDMI has its problems.

Also, if there is a cheap option out there that does on the fly compression it would be interesting to see if the manufacturer would make a special edition, if there is enough interest.

Shenzhen, December 2013- Aputure is pleased to release our superior Amaran Halo LED ring flash AHL-H100. It will be the first CRI 95+ ring flash in the world.

Amaran H100 uses brand new led color rendering technology for critical applications. H100 has high color rendering index (CRI 95+) leds gather in 1 compact ring, providing double output to previous model (60 leds). Higher CRI makes Aputure CRI95+ ring flash is ideal solution for macro photography including nature, medical and scientific photography.

http://www.aputure.com/blog/2013/12/02/cri95-amaran-halo-led-ring-flash/

At the Computex trade show in Taipei, Intel showed a key-shaped prototype 128GB thumb drive that plugged directly into a computer’s Thunderbolt port. The drive required no cable and resembled flash drives in size.

This is one of the first thumb drives demonstrated using Thunderbolt connectivity, which is the fastest technology available to transfer data between computers and peripherals, said Oren Huber, a Thunderbolt engineer at Intel Israel.

Via: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2040903/intel-shows-worlds-fastest-thumb-drive.html

Reviews

• http://www.lightingrumours.com/yongnuo-speedlite-yn568ex-for-canon-hands-on-review-3327

Available at:

• http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=Yongnuo+YN568EX&_osacat=0&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313&_nkw=Yongnuo+YN568EX&_sacat=0

What my initial primary purpose for getting a flash now is for club photography (such as this kind of style: http://www.snapstarlive.com/events.aspx ), which means challenging lighting conditions (a fast wide prime lens will be my next purchase after this... but one thing at a time!).

I think the most important features I'm looking for is:

a) ability to bounce the flash off the ceiling (essential!)

b) rear curtain sync (essential!)

c) affordable

d) compatible with my Nikon D50 (of course... )

Would be "nice to have":

e) iTTL

f) would also be compatible with the Panasonic GH2 (as I'm going to buy this for taking video next month, or sooner... as soon as I spot a Christmas sale bargain, was very recently going for only US$499 for the kit. I wonder if I might again see this kind of pricing, or better, soon?)

g) fast recycle

h) swivel head

i) has a battery pack option

Suggestions that fit my criteria? (and is there anything else important that I'd use which I'm missing out from this list?)

Am a little lost when looking at flashes for bargains, but it seems these would be good options:

http://www.amazon.com/Opteka-Autofocus-Dedicated-Digital-Cameras/dp/B005KA60BS/ (with this too: http://www.amazon.com/Opteka-Universal-Diffuser-Olympus-External/dp/B0017U0WM8/ yes? )

Seems to have everything I want (except I can't tell if it would be any use with a Panasonic GH2?), but I'm a little concerned about quality.

From what I've read about Yongnuo (http://stores.ebay.com/hkyongnuophotoequipment/Flash-Speedlite-Unit-/) as a non-Nikon option they seem like a really good choice, I would quite like to consider the Yongnuo 460 (the cheapest), the 560 (cheapest with an option of later getting a battery pack), or the YN-467 (I quite like that it has a reported extremely fast recycling time in the test) if they would work as that would be ideal (or from any other brand at a comparable sub-US$100 price?). However I've read in quite a few places that although the Yongnuo range for Nikon is compatible with Nikon i-TTL cameras it is not however compatible with D100 D50 D2Hs D2X D70 D2H. Hmm... why? Can I still get it for my D50?

http://speedlights.net/2010/09/10/yongnuo-yn-467-speedlite-review/ The YN-467 originally is reported not to work with certain older Nikon DSLRs but the more recently produced YN-467 models are reported to work with the D200, so would it be reasonable to assume it then works too with the comparably aged D50?

This thread mentions the D50 a few times and makes feel optimistic the Yongnuo range can work with my D50: http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157627857970265/ But they're only mentioning the YN565EX (which is almost the most expensive Yongnuo flash), would it be reasonable to assume from that thread the cheaper Yongnuo flashes should also work similarly with the Nikon D50?

Disappointed I didn't have the guts earlier to pull the trigger and buy this when I saw it: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=543490048 As I'm realising now in hindsight that was a really good deal (even though it doesn't have iTTL).

Thanks

I'm asking $400 for everything. I'll ship here in the U.S. at no charge but overseas I'd have to have that covered by the buyer. Seems these are still retailing for $500, so I feel this is a good deal.