When it works, it's beautiful!

Poor controls

Maybe I bought a lemon, but this particular flash has been in the repair shop four times now. The controls stop working after about four days, and blast two stops over.

Customer Service

It takes about a month to fix, then breaks again under a week, so I would not buy another.

Similar Products Used:

Metz, Canon, Minolta

- direct and bounce flash head
- excellent power per cost
- manual variable power and auto power flash output
- could add dedicated flash module for through the lens (TTL) metering (planning to purchase this month)
- used for sports and wedding photography
- mostly used as a fill flash to obtain a more natural lighting situation
- mostly used with homemade bounce attachment to eliminate red eyes
- bought it used for $150 in Jan. 1999 after my Sunpak 522 died (bought new in early 1980's!)
- like the quick disconnect handle from camera bracket
- found flash with handle are very sturdy during sporting events

- Sunpak made a filmsy bounce flash adapter (don't know it is being sold), made my own bounce flash adapter over 15 years ago for the Sunpak 522 and now, it is being used for my used Sunpak 555.
- it is difficult to determine if the recessed light sensor is dirty and require cleaning.
- during portrait shots with bounce flash, the flash cast a noticible side shade... wished camera bracket would allow in-line lighting during portrait shots

- features of 555 flash unit is great
- flash is sturdy for sporting events
- lot of power
- excellent portable fill flash unit
- flash unit is reliable... I just hope I don't need service for this flash unit
- overall rating would have been 5 thumbs up, but I give it 2 thumbs due to a lack of service in 1999 for my old Sunpak 522

Customer Service

- none for the Sunpak 555 yet
- Sent Sunpak 522 for repair estimate, gave OK for $100 repair estimate, came back unrepaired... claimed unavailable parts. Should have checked parts stock room before sending out repair estimate! Of course, it took over 4 months from start to end! Customer service could be more responsive. They claimed the unit was too old to be repaired. They offered me a discount to purchase a re-built 555 at a cost of almost new! They could have had me endorsing the reliability of their flash units!

Similar Products Used:

- Vivatar 283 (hot shoe mount kept breaking and insufficient light output during my beginning years in photography)
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Full features. Good interface with Hasselblad 503cw, which is my favourate.

Not find yet.

I bought this flash unit for my Hasselblad 503cw. I used the combination with Kodak e100vs slide film at TTL function. It gives excellent result.

Customer Service

Not use yet

Similar Products Used:

None

Good GN, easy to use controls, built quality,

Poor battery location. Tilt angle transition not sharp.

Just bought to replace the 16 years old 285HV, which has deteriorated significantly. I was also looking for a handle type flash. The output is powerful enough that leaves me many aperture setting options and choice of reflector / diffuser. I will not be able to comment on any of the auto functions since I'll be using it exclusively in manual mode.

Similar Products Used:

Vivitar 285HV

Good GN, tilt and swift head, handle mount for stability, TTL capable

Too big for travel

This is a follow up to my previous posting. While I did say I was not going to use any of the auto feature, I ended up using it in TTL mode most of the time.

I bought this flash for taking wedding photos for a relative. I need a flash with high GN so that there is still enough light after bouncing off a Pocket Bouncer. It worked beautifully with my Pentax ZX-5n's TTL feature. Exposure was correct all the time. The Pocket Bouncer softened the light enough that the light was really not harsh. What is even more surprising was that even without the bouncer, the light was not that harsh either. Of course, this is relative.

I made a gamble to buy this flash but the results fully justified the decision.

Similar Products Used:

Vivitar 285HV

More power than I'm used to. More auto exposure f/stop selections. Can use my Lumndyne batteries.

Lots and lots

I bought this in April, tested it, shot a wedding, it died, begged them to return for the Memorial weekend, didn't hear a thing for two weeks when they decided I needed to send them proof of purchase, they sat on it for at least ten days. end of June, I get back, test it, try another wedding, dies in mid first roll again. this time I get curtesy professional rush, only four weeks. It's still sitting in the closet a waste of a coule hundred bucks, I can't trust it with my career.

Customer Service

Disinterested, probably used to dealing with disappointed owners.

Similar Products Used:

Graflex Singer 500's (showing my age)
Honeywell Strobonar
Norman
Vivitar