Digital Flash?

[Alpha]

I'm sorry but what the hell is a digital flash? I don't understand the concept of needing a special flash for digital cameras. And why are they so expensive???

[Rob]

Due to the crop factor, some normal flashes waste power shooting wider than the effective field of view. A "digital" flash I would assume will take this into account and be E-TTL or D-TTL or whatever letter compatible with the digital SLR bodies.

Other than that, it's just a badge I guess!

Rob

[Big Mike]

OK....now explain to me what a 'Digital' tripod is? :lol:

['Daniel']

It has fingers instead of legs.

[Rob]

OK....now explain to me what a 'Digital' tripod is? :lol:

One which is too flimsy to hold a real camera!! :lmao:

[ksmattfish]

I'm sure there's a marketing report out there somewhere that says the term "digital" on a box increases sales. ;)

[Lumix]

Due to the crop factor, some normal flashes waste power shooting wider than the effective field of view. A "digital" flash I would assume will take this into account and be E-TTL or D-TTL or whatever letter compatible with the digital SLR bodies.

Other than that, it's just a badge I guess!

Rob

I think you will find that digital flash guns are made to work with a much lower trigger voltage due to digital cameras having electronic flash switching. Using flash guns with high trigger voltage will destroy most digital cameras. Also digital tripods by nature do not need to be as heavily constructed due to the general lightness of digital cameras.

[Big Mike]

I think you will find that digital flash guns are made to work with a much lower trigger voltage due to digital cameras having electronic flash switching. Using flash guns with high trigger voltage will destroy most digital cameras.
My digital camera has a much higher flash trigger voltage rating than my film camera...and don't all or most electronic cameras have electronic flash switching?

Also digital tripods by nature do not need to be as heavily constructed due to the general lightness of digital cameras.

My digital camera is just as heavy as my film camera. In fact, most digital point & shoot cameras are heavier than film point & shoot camera.

I'm pretty sure than "Digital" is just a marketing tool.

[Rob]

I think you will find that digital flash guns are made to work with a much lower trigger voltage due to digital cameras having electronic flash switching. Using flash guns with high trigger voltage will destroy most digital cameras. Also digital tripods by nature do not need to be as heavily constructed due to the general lightness of digital cameras.

Well, there aren't any rules with trigger voltages. I've not known of anyone having destroyed a camera by using an inappropriate flash, but I'm the kind of person who would check before putting a £9.99 Sunpak on my £1,000 camera body, or buy a same-branded compatible flash! It's a good point worth stressing though - always check trigger voltages. It'd be a sad day if someone did screw their lovely camera up because they used the wrong flash.

As for the tripods, as Mike says, my 20D with 100-400 on it is about on a par with my F3HP with 180mm on it. However, probably most of them are, as you say intended for lightweight compacts. In my personal and very cynical point of view, it's an excuse to sell crap plastic accessories to people via the internet (where they can't really feel the quality).

Rob

[ksmattfish]

The camera that seemed to have the most problems with high flash voltage is the 10D. For some reason Canon made it 6v or 12v, or something low like that. After a lot of complaints from people who fried their 10Ds, they've raised the flash voltage limit to 250v in the DSLRs put out since.

[2framesbelowzero]

I'm sure there's a marketing report out there somewhere that says the term "digital" on a box increases sales. ;)

there's a funny French & Saunders advert in London at the moment which has a woman going in a shop and asking for a (DAB) digital radio and the shop assistant is trying to con her into buying an old alarmclock radio as a DAB b/c it has a 'digital' clock-display.