Metz mecablitz 48 AF-1 digital

The Metz 48 flash is a real workhorse: very reliable and pretty powerful. Some specifications:

• Works on 4 x AA rechargeable batteries
• Guide number 48 at ISO 100 and zoomed to 105mm
• Zoom range: 18mm (with diffuser) 24 – 28 – 35 – 50 – 70 – 85 – 105mm
• TTL enabled (hardly used by me, though…)
• No optical slave or wired connections (unfortunately)
• Power settings 1/1 1/2 1/4 1/8 1/16 1/32 1/64 1/128

Below are pictures, taken with and without several modifiers to bundle or divert the light for later reference. The setup is:

• Distance to wall: 200 cm
• Wall width: 300 cm
• Wall height: 240 cm and flash set at 120 cm height
• Wallpaper: 2 colors is 70 cm width
• Flash power setting: 1/4
• Camera settings: f/10, 200 ISO, 1/25 sec, 16mm (APS-C)

Unmodified (bare) flash

Using a sto-fen diffuser

Foam + velcro snoots

Using grids

A few (very personal) conclusions:

• At 85 and 105mm light distribution is a bit uneven
• A stofen diffusor is a waste of light (built-in 18mm is more effective)
• Simple cheap foam snoots work fine
• A short grid works very well to bundle light
• Home-built grids of black straws have a great light fall-off

To demonstrate the zoom effect of the flashes at shorter range these shots: