4 Traits To Ask For When You Buy Your Olympus Flash

Your off-camera Olympus Flash allows you to immensely improve the style of your SLR pictures. I personally use an Olympus E-510, but you may own another make, so substitute Olympus with the make of your camera. I bought the Olympus Flash FL-50 a couple years ago, and I instantly saw a tremendous improvement in my photography. There was only one reason for this: off-camera flashes provide you creative versatility.

There are many other off-camera flashes that you can use with your DSLR. However, it is best to buy the off-camera flash for your SLR model. It will probably be more expensive, but it has properties that some generic off-camera flashes do not have. And if you aim to take better pictures, using a flash with an Olympus camera is the best approach.

So what traits should you ask about when getting a flash? There are many types of camera flashes, that it is quite difficult to know if what you have is what you want.

Here is a list of 4 properties that you should watch for.

1 – Size: How big is your flash?. Usually, the larger the camera flash the brighter it is. This is extremely useful as it can reach much further. Unfortunately, this might make it expensive. If you know you will only shoot indoors, then you may not require a strong flash. But, if you want to use it in concert halls, then you probably need a very powerful flash. Tiny camera flashes do exist, and these are easier to carry than the bigger flashes, as they are easy to fit inside your pocket.

2 – Speed: What is the maximum shutter speed your flash will work at? Your full picture frame needs to be open when the flash turns on. When the shutter speed is too fast, and the flash can not synchronize to it, then this will not happen, and your image will not be exposed properly. This is partly a property of the camera as well, so always make sure to sync both of these properties up!

3 – Controllability: What forms of options do you desire? Personally, I enjoy being able to change everything manually, because this provides me extra control, and because I find it fun. Always make sure that you are aware of whether the camera flash is only completely automatic, or has a manual configuration.

4 – Auto-focus: Do you need some infra-red for your camera? In extremely low light scenarios, your camera may have issues auto-focusing. Several SLRs have in built capabilities, in the form of infra-red. Other cameras don’t, and it may be worth testing to discover if the flash you want to purchase has this functionality. My flash has this, and is a useful since my camera doesn’t.

If you keep this list in the back of your mind, then the first camera Olympus Flash you buy will be productive. And after you have some experience with camera flashes, you can always upgrade.

Mark Chams is an avid photographer, and loves using his olympus flash to create better pictures.. This article, 4 Traits To Ask For When You Buy Your Olympus Flash is released under a creative commons attribution license.