Steve'sDigicams

I am Uske · Feb 25, 2007, 5:15 AM

Hi people:

I need some help here with the Olympus FL-50 flash.

My first Digi Cam was the Olympus C-700 UZ. After a while I upgraded to the Olympus C-770 UZ. To get better indoor pictures I bought the Olympus FL-50 flash. It is one of the best investments I ever made in my life. The pictures I tookusing this flash in bouncemode were superior to anything else I ever did before. Just type my name John Uske into any search engine to see. My resume ison the top page of most search engines and you can see many of my photos there.

Olympus has gone on and upgraded the C700 series super zoom cameras to the SP500, SP510, and now the SP550. None of these cameras have a synch outlet or hot shoe. So if I upgraded to these cameras I would lose the use of the Olympus FL-50 flash. I need a camera with a big zoom, but a small body. So this knocks out the E-Volt 330 as an alternative. I did think a slave triggermight work, but I was not sure because I did note the 5 pinson the Olympus hot shoe.

This problem has plagued me for over a year now. On the way home from school on 02/24/07 I stopped into Calumet Camera on 22nd St in NYC and asked for aslave trigger to work with the Olympus FL-50. They sold me one made by Wein.I bought it took it home and tried it but it does not work. It was a Hot Shoe mount type trigger. I bought this type because I already owned the Olympus flash bracket for mounting the flash off camera anyway.So I put the FL-50 on the trigger shoe and the trigger shoe foot into the flash bracket shoe and attached the bracket to the C-770 and tested it it by popping up and using the C-770 built in flash as a trigger. Itdid not work.

At this point I am thoroughly disgusted. Olympus has set me upon an upgrade path that leads to oblivion. I would love to upgrade to their newer versions of the UZ series of cameras, but to do so would render my investment in the FL-50 flash useless. Does anyone out there have knowledge of a slave trigger device that works with the Olympus FL-50 Flash, and the flash cost me more money than the camera did.

Thanks to this forum I learned about the Canon off camera synch cable. I will try and return the useless Wein Slave Trigger back to Calumet and ask them to get get me the Canon cable in exchange, because I did notice the extreme wobblyness of the Olympus off camera cable when I use the flash bracket to reduce red eye in my photos.

Than you for your time in reading this long diatribe, but your help is appreciated.

kenbalbari · Feb 25, 2007, 9:03 AM

Hi Uske:

I believe the Panasonic hot shoes also support the Olympus flash. Look into the FZ30 or FZ50.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/fz30.html

I am Uske · Feb 25, 2007, 4:31 PM

Ken:

It would seem that you are right on target! I went on line to look at the Panasonic camera flashes for the Lumix FZ-50 and I saw a model DMW-FL500 Camera Flash that looks like a spittin image of the Olympus FL-50. I will check this out further and buy the Lumix if it is compatible.

Thank you!

:-)

HarjTT · Feb 25, 2007, 6:03 PM

Hi Uske

You'll find that the FZ50 will work in TTL mode with the FL50 flash. The FZ30 will work with the flash but only in manual mode - both are good cameras esp if you keep the ISO low.

Apparently Panasonic make quiet a few flashes for other manufacturers including the FL's for OLY.

Cheers

HarjTT

:Oc:?

I am Uske · Feb 25, 2007, 11:54 PM

Thank you HarjTT

I am leaning towards the FZ-50 in making a purchase but here is another wrinkle in the equation I own both the wide angle and telephoto converter lenses for the Olympus C-770. I see that the FZ-50 has a 55mm thread on the lens barrel which is the same as on the CLA-4 lens adapter that I use for the Olympus.

As resident of New York City a lot of my friends live in small apartments so get everyone in the photo at birthday parties and other events I am always using the wide angle converter on the C-770 with the FL-50 flash to illuminate the scene.

It would be nice to know if I can use my old Olympus glass with the FZ-50. What do you think? Do you know anything about this?

I also noticed another camera on Panasonics web site. It looks like a blocky rangefinder camera, but it is actually a D-SLR it's called the DMC-L1K. It uses the 4/3rds system of lens mount. Is that the same as Olympus too? Will Olympus lenses fit on this camera?

I am sure glad I signed on to this site I am learning a lot.

Thanks to you all once again.

:?:-)

Rriley · Feb 26, 2007, 12:01 AM

hey Uske

check out this link

http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/

whatever applies to FZ30 also applies to FZ50
you will see the Olympus converters there

the L1 is 4/3rds yes, and Olympus lenses for 4/3 fit

http://www.four-thirds.org/en/products/index.html

Riley

Norm in Fujino · Feb 26, 2007, 9:53 AM

I am Uske wrote:

Quote:

I also noticed another camera on Panasonics web site. It looks like a blocky rangefinder camera, but it is actually a D-SLR it's called the DMC-L1K. It uses the 4/3rds system of lens mount. Is that the same as Olympus too? Will Olympus lenses fit on this camera?

Yes, all 4/3 cameras and lenses are interchangeable--although if you're looking for a small body, the L1 isn't it. Wait a couple more weeks till PMA and Oly should have an upgraded E-400 that may well fill your bill, both for size and flash compatibility.

I am Uske · Feb 26, 2007, 11:27 AM

Thanks Rriley and Norm.

Rriley:

I checked out your web links. They were great and I am sold on the FZ-50. I will go to store to look at it and hold it to see how it feels in my hands before I buy it. If Olympus had put a hot shoe on the new SP-550 I would have bought that camera because of the 18:1 zoom.

Norm:

I am always the photographer amongst my friends when we get together. Some times I give them my camera to take pictures so I can get into the photos too. Most of my friends are real comfortable using the screen to frame the shot before they press the shutter button. So I give the C-770 with the wide-angle converter and FL-50 flash to take the shot. That is the camera rig I am holding in my picture you see on the left.

When Olympus announced the Evolt 330 with a preview screen I became very interested but then I saw the camera in person and it is huge. Then yesterday as I was reading about all the Panasonic cameras I stumbled upon the DMC L1K and it stated that it too had a live preview screen like the C-330, which is what I need.

I heard that Olympus has new D SLR out but only in Europe, that is smaller and lighter, but I don't think it has a preview screen.

I want to upgrade to a D-SLR type camera but I need to have the live preview screen. Have heard if Nikon or Canon are going to come out with this feature?

:?

Rriley · Feb 26, 2007, 11:32 AM

the small dSLR u mention is the E 400
will be released globally next week as E410, we think
rumored to have LiveView too ( preview )

Riley

I am Uske · Feb 26, 2007, 1:11 PM

Hi Riley:

You are right the rumours are very hot.

Here is blog with some inside info on the E410 and others. This blog says that once Oly comes out with these new D SLRS the E-Volt 300 series will be discontinued immediately.

http://fourthirdsphoto.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=9416

It sounds like Oly wants to mimic Canon and Nikon by having D SLRS that all use the same family of lenses but has a D SLR at several price and feature points to attract a wide variety of buyers. And yes the rumors are strong that the new D SLRS will have live preview

Here is a giant ballon mockup of the E-10 in Japan

http://www.four-thirds.cn/news/2007-...873d73846.html

Check it out!

:?

Feb 25, 2007, 4:31 PM	#13
I am Uske Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 5	Ken: It would seem that you are right on target! I went on line to look at the Panasonic camera flashes for the Lumix FZ-50 and I saw a model DMW-FL500 Camera Flash that looks like a spittin image of the Olympus FL-50. I will check this out further and buy the Lumix if it is compatible. Thank you!:-)

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Feb 25, 2007, 5:15 AM	#11
I am Uske Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 5	Hi people: I need some help here with the Olympus FL-50 flash. My first Digi Cam was the Olympus C-700 UZ. After a while I upgraded to the Olympus C-770 UZ. To get better indoor pictures I bought the Olympus FL-50 flash. It is one of the best investments I ever made in my life. The pictures I tookusing this flash in bouncemode were superior to anything else I ever did before. Just type my name John Uske into any search engine to see. My resume ison the top page of most search engines and you can see many of my photos there. Olympus has gone on and upgraded the C700 series super zoom cameras to the SP500, SP510, and now the SP550. None of these cameras have a synch outlet or hot shoe. So if I upgraded to these cameras I would lose the use of the Olympus FL-50 flash. I need a camera with a big zoom, but a small body. So this knocks out the E-Volt 330 as an alternative. I did think a slave triggermight work, but I was not sure because I did note the 5 pinson the Olympus hot shoe. This problem has plagued me for over a year now. On the way home from school on 02/24/07 I stopped into Calumet Camera on 22nd St in NYC and asked for aslave trigger to work with the Olympus FL-50. They sold me one made by Wein.I bought it took it home and tried it but it does not work. It was a Hot Shoe mount type trigger. I bought this type because I already owned the Olympus flash bracket for mounting the flash off camera anyway.So I put the FL-50 on the trigger shoe and the trigger shoe foot into the flash bracket shoe and attached the bracket to the C-770 and tested it it by popping up and using the C-770 built in flash as a trigger. Itdid not work. At this point I am thoroughly disgusted. Olympus has set me upon an upgrade path that leads to oblivion. I would love to upgrade to their newer versions of the UZ series of cameras, but to do so would render my investment in the FL-50 flash useless. Does anyone out there have knowledge of a slave trigger device that works with the Olympus FL-50 Flash, and the flash cost me more money than the camera did. Thanks to this forum I learned about the Canon off camera synch cable. I will try and return the useless Wein Slave Trigger back to Calumet and ask them to get get me the Canon cable in exchange, because I did notice the extreme wobblyness of the Olympus off camera cable when I use the flash bracket to reduce red eye in my photos. Than you for your time in reading this long diatribe, but your help is appreciated.

Feb 25, 2007, 9:03 AM	#12
kenbalbari Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 822	Hi Uske: I believe the Panasonic hot shoes also support the Olympus flash. Look into the FZ30 or FZ50. http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/fz30.html

Feb 25, 2007, 6:03 PM	#14
HarjTT Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 4,555	Hi Uske You'll find that the FZ50 will work in TTL mode with the FL50 flash. The FZ30 will work with the flash but only in manual mode - both are good cameras esp if you keep the ISO low. Apparently Panasonic make quiet a few flashes for other manufacturers including the FL's for OLY. Cheers HarjTT :Oc:?

Feb 25, 2007, 11:54 PM	#15
I am Uske Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 5	Thank you HarjTT I am leaning towards the FZ-50 in making a purchase but here is another wrinkle in the equation I own both the wide angle and telephoto converter lenses for the Olympus C-770. I see that the FZ-50 has a 55mm thread on the lens barrel which is the same as on the CLA-4 lens adapter that I use for the Olympus. As resident of New York City a lot of my friends live in small apartments so get everyone in the photo at birthday parties and other events I am always using the wide angle converter on the C-770 with the FL-50 flash to illuminate the scene. It would be nice to know if I can use my old Olympus glass with the FZ-50. What do you think? Do you know anything about this? I also noticed another camera on Panasonics web site. It looks like a blocky rangefinder camera, but it is actually a D-SLR it's called the DMC-L1K. It uses the 4/3rds system of lens mount. Is that the same as Olympus too? Will Olympus lenses fit on this camera? I am sure glad I signed on to this site I am learning a lot. Thanks to you all once again. :?:-)

Feb 26, 2007, 12:01 AM	#16
Rriley Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 1,066	hey Uske check out this link http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/ whatever applies to FZ30 also applies to FZ50 you will see the Olympus converters there the L1 is 4/3rds yes, and Olympus lenses for 4/3 fit http://www.four-thirds.org/en/products/index.html Riley

Feb 26, 2007, 11:27 AM	#18
I am Uske Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 5	Thanks Rriley and Norm. Rriley: I checked out your web links. They were great and I am sold on the FZ-50. I will go to store to look at it and hold it to see how it feels in my hands before I buy it. If Olympus had put a hot shoe on the new SP-550 I would have bought that camera because of the 18:1 zoom. Norm: I am always the photographer amongst my friends when we get together. Some times I give them my camera to take pictures so I can get into the photos too. Most of my friends are real comfortable using the screen to frame the shot before they press the shutter button. So I give the C-770 with the wide-angle converter and FL-50 flash to take the shot. That is the camera rig I am holding in my picture you see on the left. When Olympus announced the Evolt 330 with a preview screen I became very interested but then I saw the camera in person and it is huge. Then yesterday as I was reading about all the Panasonic cameras I stumbled upon the DMC L1K and it stated that it too had a live preview screen like the C-330, which is what I need. I heard that Olympus has new D SLR out but only in Europe, that is smaller and lighter, but I don't think it has a preview screen. I want to upgrade to a D-SLR type camera but I need to have the live preview screen. Have heard if Nikon or Canon are going to come out with this feature? :?

Feb 26, 2007, 11:32 AM	#19
Rriley Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 1,066	the small dSLR u mention is the E 400 will be released globally next week as E410, we think rumored to have LiveView too ( preview ) Riley

Feb 26, 2007, 1:11 PM	#20
I am Uske Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 5	Hi Riley: You are right the rumours are very hot. Here is blog with some inside info on the E410 and others. This blog says that once Oly comes out with these new D SLRS the E-Volt 300 series will be discontinued immediately. http://fourthirdsphoto.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=9416 It sounds like Oly wants to mimic Canon and Nikon by having D SLRS that all use the same family of lenses but has a D SLR at several price and feature points to attract a wide variety of buyers. And yes the rumors are strong that the new D SLRS will have live preview Here is a giant ballon mockup of the E-10 in Japan http://www.four-thirds.cn/news/2007-...873d73846.html Check it out! :?