Sunpak 622 Super Pro

I finally purchased this Sunpak 622 pro system flash gun on Ebay for 89$ used. 1st of all i like to mention for all buyers out there that this is a biggest flash i've seen.its huge!the flash head is about 80% bigger than an average flash head.the battery pack is also a handle that clip and plug in in front of the grip,it uses 4 C size batteries, therefore it is very heavy and bulky on left side when mounted with camera. its built solidly and sturdy, when you do wear the entire system with your camera on your neck its will loft side and drop to left side cause of its weigh, so i basically hold it on my left hand often.
I bought a set of 4 reg alkaline C batts, but it didnt perform too good, its getting weak on power very fast.
so i bought 8 C rechargeable batts with 5000maH for it and it fires much better, after all this is a high voltage flash, it can be plug into the wall outlet too.I use it on Auto mode, it works very good, its TTL works great, it measures the distance of the subject infront of the flash and compensates for the flash power, if its close it use less power, if far away it use max power, for max power it will takes time to recharge about 2-3 secs on fresh batts, but for close shots it can recharges in 1sec each.
The flash can be tilted and swivel around for bounce flash. I use it with a diffuser to soften off shadows.
I must mention for 1st time buyers, that you should study about this flash before buy it, its sync cords are not cheap, it can be complicated, if you want to use it TTL with your camera hotshoe. I just use it simple way of the sync cord with household 2 prong plugs into the flashhead and the other end into the sync hole on my camera, make sure your camera has a sync hole, ok?, otherwise you have to buy a TTL hotshoe mount, you can see all accessories here..
http://www.adorama.com/Search-Results.tpl?page=searchresults&searchinfo=sunpak%20622
Finally, i like it, but its weigh can really wear you down.not an everyday flash use, only for wedding and such.
I personally like to use my Sunpak TrakII power pak better.
Hope this will help, good luck..

powerful, solid , pro use..

Uses C size rechargeable batts...
Sync cord is expensive..

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This flash is very powerful and fast, but what I find amazing about this unit is it has the capability of giving you the “perfect” exposer in the auto and TTL mode no mater how much or how little flash power you need. Some of the flash unit, such as the Q-flash, have the power, but will over expose when you only need a puff of flash.

All the cable such as the power cords and TTL connections are extreme high quality. Nothing is going to fall off or break. This is also a very versatile unit such as multiple power sources and flash heads.

This flash unit weighs about 2-lbs, my personal opinion, I would not use this with a swivel camera bracket. It needs to be directly attract to the camera. I personally made a metal bracket. The plastic flash bracket that comes with the camera is too flimsy. Once I attach this metal flash unit to the camera, the flash unit because part of the camera and it can use it as a handle.

The weakness of this unit is the visibility of these controls. Yes they work, but when you doing weddings and your are out in bright sun light and in dark reception halls and you have to work quickly, it is not good. The controls can be accidentally moved, and I wish they had a sound to indicate the flash was working. This flash unit is technically very good, but the people that design it, never used it in the real world.

Borrowed that monster (the non-dedicated auto version) for a couple of events. Man, that thing has power!!! Exposures are dead on. It looks a bit plasticky, but is very well built.

Power without end! Not as expensive as Metz Very reliable Perfect exposure Balances very well with a heavier body/lens combination - forget a compact camera with that rig.

The PC cable is in the way most of the time - too long.

Nothing in that size, but Vivitar 285HV, Sunpak AF4000, Nikon SB23, Metz MZ28

???

This is the second time in less than six months that a Sunpak 622 flash has failed new out of the box. On line company I purchased the first one and now the second one refuses to replace it. Refered me to Sunpak who only takes messages and promises to return calls within 24 hours in the order in which they were taken. I'm buying a Metz.

When the Sunpak 622 Super works, it works great. Very powerful and more important, repeatable.

Power, repeatability, ease of use, different heads

Without warning this product will fire off 2-4 stops under when in the auto mode. I own three of these and two of them have done this at the worst possible moments during weddings. There is no indication that there is a malfunction since the "OK" light comes on and the full ready light returns each time. Sometimes it's one frame, but at the last job two weeks ago it was 8 frames in a row and then random frames.

Vivitar 283's

You leave a message and yes, they do call back in 24 hours. No, they've never heard of one of their products ever doing this. But other photographers I've talked to have had this problem.