Customer Reviews

Sunpak Super 383 Flash

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
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I bought this flash unit for my Fuji Finepix 602. Unfortunately, for digital camera owners, this flash will make your rig a little "top heavy". However, if you want a decent flash unit, get used to it.

Nice thing about using an external flash is it has its own batteries, so your batteries in your camera will last longer. Also, the viewfinder doesn't "black out" while the flash is recharging (which is good).

I use this flash in auto mode, and as a "fill flash".

For fill flash, I just use my normal exposure settings on the camera, and put the flash on manual and either 1/16 power or 1/8 power (essentially adding one or two stops of light into the scene). The fill flash brings the subject out away from the background and gives the picture a nice contrasty look.

If its fairly dark, I just use the Auto setting. Basically, you can choose three apertures depending on the ISO setting your using. The Flash sync speed is 1/1000th of a second, so I just set my camera to manual, and set the speed to 1/1000. Then, depending on your ISO setting, the back of the flash will recommend which F stop to use, and how far the light will throw.

I usually use 1/1000th of a second, F2.8, ISO 200, which gives me about 60 feet of coverage. I can also use the F5.6 setting for medium distance settings, and F11 setting for "intimate" flash settings where the subject is close.

All in all, this is a very usable flash at a very reasonable price. I get about 80 shots out of a set of four NimH 2300mah rechargeables before the flash starts losing power a little, however I have taken well over 130 shots out of this flash using one set and still got some juice out of it.

The flash has a swiveling head which is cool for "bouncing". You can point the flash at the ceiling, set it on manual, the work out the right power to light the room. Bounced flash looks so cool, like a magazine picture.

I'm giving you, the potential flash buyer, lots of info about how to use this flash. Although the manual is pretty good with the product, it really doesn't do justice to the complexity of understanding light, exposure, and how flash fits into the picture (mind the pun).

Probably why so many people avoid using a flash, when it is really an invaluable tool.

Take your photography to the next level and get the Sunpak, its short money for the difference it will make in your photography.

I am a great proponent of the older flash technology that the SunPak 383 represents. It's inexpensive, powerful, versatile, provides reliable service and makes excellent, well exposed photos.

What a lot of people don't realize is that these Thyristor based units are semi-automatic flash units. How it works is as follows.

1) you set your camera to manual exposure, and set your ISO on camera.

2) You set the ISO on the flash unit and it will give you a choice of 3 or 4 f/stop settings(the aperture) and the distances that the flash will be effective at that f/stop.

3) You set the aperture (f/stop) on the camera and then set the camera's shutter to the fastest stutter speed that will synchronize with flash units. (In your camera manual).

4) Start taking pictures. The thyristor acts as a light meter and when it calculates that adequate light has hit the subject, it shuts the flash down. (calculations based on f/stop, distance and ISO settings).

Even bounce flash is well exposed because the Thyristor window always points forward. So if you point the flash head to the ceiling for a more natural light, the thyristor window is still aimed at the subject.

True, they are not foolproof, but very little in this life IS foolproof Including the FULL Auto Flash units). So you do need to practice a bit before shooting something important.

These things work great and the 383 is one of the best. Many wedding and commercial photographers use them because they are reliable, powerful, cheap, and they work with ANY camera that can manually set the f/stop and shutter speed.

I use my 383 with my Olympus E500 DSLR camera and the pictures are great. Hope this helps.

I have a Panasonic Lumix FZ50 digital camera and, when I use the wide angle extension on my lens, I can't use the intrnal flash (the lens casts a shadow). So, I began shopping for a flash. I was shocked when I saw the prices of the Panasonic flashes for this camera ($300 and $500). After searching the Internet, I found the Sunpack 383 flash. I was a little nervous buying it. I worried it might not sync well or have some defect since the price was so much lower. Well, I received the flash, slipped it onto my camera's hot shoe, and it works beautifully. No glitches and the results are great. I particularily like the 3 automatic settings -- maximum distance, intermediate distance and maximum depth of field. It also has a great bounce flash head that can be pointed in any direction. Reference marks give the exact angle of the bounce. I'm very happy with this purchased and thrilled that I saved quite a bit of money.

This flash is the perfect back-up for a studio, or Main/flash fill for an amateur studio. I use several w/slaves and lines and the images rival set-ups that cost thousands of Dollars. I like that they are light and easy to pack and transport. They are reasonably priced. They have been around for a long time and do not have bells and whistles. The SUNPAK has auto/f-stop and manual. If you are a real photographer, you will know how to use them. The down side is that if your SUNPAK is plugged into a wall, it takes far too long to recharge (sometimes 3-5 seconds). Rechargeable batteries seem to work the best with 1-3 second recharge times between flashes.

This Sunpak flash is a very nice flash for the price. It is very cheap compared to other 3rd party flash manufactures. The Auto mode for this flash works really well. I say the exposure calculated by the flash is accurate 90% of the time given under normal lighting. There might be some tricky lighting conditions that could fool the the flash in Auto mode... but then again, nothing is perfect. I use this flash with my Fujifilm S9100 digital camera and it's very simple to use. Even though it might take some pratice, but it shouldn't scare you from using a manual flash. Plus, you should feel like a "real" photographer if you are able to use a manual flash. Just tell the flash what ISO you are using and the how far the subject is from the camera, the flash will do the rest. In return, the camera will tell you what aperature to use. For the shutter speed, just set it to the highest speed that your camera could synchronize with an external flash and everything should be ok. Also, if you feel that the exposure is a little too dark or too bright, just adjust the shutter speed on step at a time to compensate it. For the battery life, I get about 100 shots out of 4 rechargeable batteries (NiMH at 2500 mAH). Anyway, this is a really reliable flash for the money. You don't really have to spend big bucks on original manufacture flash such as Nikon or Canon. Just get Sunpak flash and it should work the same, if not better. Thanks for reading.

I purchased my Sunpak 383 Super a little over three years ago for my Fuji digital camera. Not only is it easy to use, but is has great battery life and is very inexpensive for what you get. I have used it in a number of locations including auditoriums and other large rooms with very impressive results. I would recommend this to anyone who uses digital cameras that have a hot shoe.

This was my first external flash, mainly used with my Canon 350D (About 1/250 max sync speed). After reading around the photography forums, I was between this and the Vivitar 285. The Canon line of flashes were way beyond what my budget was set for, and quite honestly, I was looking to learn and use the flash manually, which meant I would not be taking advantage of the TTL technology as often. The 383 offered light output comperable to the 580EX at a fraction of the price, and offered 3 automatic modes if I chose to be lazy about metering and test shooting. As others have mentioned, the automatic exposure modes are typically accurate, and perform exactly as you'd like whether you use it as direct flash, bounce, or for fill (Although using it as fill flash when your subject is backlit may be tricky for the sensor).

I chose this flash over the Vivitar, as I found the swivel head would be much more useful than the zoom, which is still very true today. Like other have mentioned, the battery consumption is about or above "average" (a set of batteries will last you an evening out with friends, but will not last a serious photo shoot), I shoot with the flash occasionally, and seldom need to recharge the batteries. The recycle time, although highly dependant on battery type, is realistically very usable, but occasionally slows me down, which is honestly helpful in promoting me to carefully frame the shot first before pressing the button as a side benefit (a quality over quantity thing).

After becoming familiar with using the external flash and becoming familiar with the controls and exposure, I ordered a set of wireless triggers off ebay. Use of the strobe (a flash not mounted to the camera body) has opened up new horizons for me, and has become a whole other tool. The Sunpak 383 is a great budget flash with high output that has been able to fill my needs for the past year. I will be picking up another Sunpak 383 soon to compose more complex lighting setups. It is incredible to be able to do all of this with less money than I would have spent on a single 480ex Speedlite (which has lower light output). Of course different users will have different needs, but as an amatuer, this will be able to fit the bill for the next couple of years to say the least.

However, I do have 2 small complaints about the Sunpak 383:
1) The back label with the settings/instructions on the flash has delaminated, and started to look like it is "bubbling up", this is such an insignificant thing considering the price and functionality. You wont get "space age" anything with this, just so you know what to expect.
2) The external trigger port is a miniplug jack that I've heard is proprietary to Sunpak, it is just slightly different enough from the universal size for it not to work with radio shack parts. This became an issue when there was a short somewhere in the supplied wire, and wouldn't fire when using the wireless triggers. I have to Mcguiver and solder something to make it work with the wireless triggers again.

All in all, this was a great buy for me, and would recommend this products to others.

I have a Canon DSLR. For external flashes, I had always relied on Vivatar. Based on other users reviews, this flash was selected. Battery usage is economical (even on full power). I use this flash and camera primarily for indoor sports (basketball and racquetball pictures) and it has performed flawlessly. I've played with both the automatic and manual settings and all pictures turned out as expected.

Real bright flash,work great with my camera.Lights up a long way, away,getting more into my pictures.Camera flash isn't enough flash,383 flash makes up what the camera can't reach.

I use this with my Olympus E-500 and it works perfectly every time. I'm not going to get into to much techie stuff here, but if your on the fence with this flash, don't be. Buy it, it works great!