Metz Mecablitz 32-Z2 Review

Overall Rating

Strong flash in a compact body. Produces very natural light. Accurate exposure in Auto Mode. Full set of accessories.

Fragile hot shoe mount. Slightly pricey.

I got my first Metz Mecablitz 32-Z2 Flash Gun new at a hefty price of SGD250. The flash has justified the price over and over again over the last 1-2 years.

As the name implies, the guide number for this flash is 32 meters for a 50mm lens for ISO100 film. It is less for a 35mm lens and about 37 meters for a 70mm lens. Comparatively, this is middle to strong flash. Any stronger and you would need to have a side mounted hammerhead type.

This flash is mounted on the top of the camera via the hot shoe. It is able to tilt and swivel both vertically and horizontally for bounce shots. In a unique feature, it is also able to tilt downwards for flash on near object (e.g. macro shots).

There are 3 modes: Manual, Auto and TTL.

In Manual Mode, the flash outputs the maximum amount of light at each shot. You use a lookup table to decide the correct aperture setting for a given focal length and film speed. I seldom use this mode.

In Auto mode the flash detects the amount of light reflected from the subject and cuts off the flash output when it decides correct exposure has been reached. There are 3 Auto f-stop settings. You need to set the aperture of the camera to the f-stop that you have selected on the flash. An easy to read manual indicator tells you the effective range of the flash for each f-stop setting. It takes a while to get use to setting the flash. But once the settings are correct, the flash exposure is perfect. No more overblown or underexposed images. No bright, artificial lighting. The flash exposes the film beautifully, in a very natural light. This is what this range is known for, the quality of the light. It is so good that I always try to use direct flash instead of bounce, if I can get away from the issue of unsightly shadows. I feel that this mode is the best for this flash.

This flash is part of the mecablitz SYSTEM. Just like a camera system, there is a vast set of interchangeable parts. With a SCA adaptor (simply change the hot shoe adaptor) for whichever camera system of your choice, the flash is capable of TTL (Through The Lens) exposure control. This is very useful in case you have more than one camera system. All you need to do is buy 1 flash and 2 SCA adaptors.

The camera body, which must be capable of TTL control, decides when enough light has reached the film by sensors that sense the light through the lens. The camera then sends a signal to flash to cut off the flash output. This mode is said to be the most accurate. However, the Auto mode on the mecablitz is so good that I cannot see any visible difference. I tend to use the Auto Mode often and only resort to the TTL mode in situations where I do not have the luxury of checking my settings as I take a shot (e.g. At a wedding shoot with a zoom lens or with shutter priority).

Btw. I got my second mecablitz 32-Z2 secondhand with a SCA343 adaptor (for Nikon TTL systems) for SGD150.

If I upgrade, it will have to be a Metz again. Maybe a more powerful hammerhead type. But be warned, I understand that this flash model was one of the last to be made in Germany. The newer ones may come from China. I am not certain of the build quality of the newer ones but I can vouch for my flash; I've dropped it down a staircase during a wedding shoot and 3 minutes later it was delivering perfectly exposed shots.

Members' Comments onstanley c wong's Review

• Bertie on 26th Jun 2004

  Stanley...It's been many, many years since I used a Mecablitz flash gun and I can't remember now which model it was.
  
  I can believe everything you say about this fine brand and I would think that the materials in the Chinese-made ones would be the same as the German-made ones. It's just that labour costs are much cheaper in China.