Canon HF-DC1 High Power Flash for Canon Powershot Digital Cameras

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Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 2.9 x 1.8 inches ; 1.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0007MGFI2
• Item model number: 9940A001
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank

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  Electronics > Camera & Photo > Flashes

• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 25, 2005

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

In a first for its digital camera line-up, Canon has introduced an optional zoom flash, the HF-DC1. Linked to the zoom lens, the zoom mechanism narrows the flash's angle of throw to extend flash range at the telephoto end and further extends the options for night and indoor shooting. With a guide number of 18 (ISO 100 meters), the slave flash automatically fires in-sync with the camera's in-built flash, ignoring any pre-flash. It can be adjusted to three power output settings based on the aperture value of the camera. The unit attaches to the camera with a supplied bracket that maintains the ability to mount both camera and flash on a tripod.

Product Description

This attachable supplementary flash can be used to capture photographic subjects that are too distant for the built-in flash to illuminate. The range of the flash is approximately twice the range of the camera's built-in flash. This figure will vary according to such factors as the camera lens brightness (f/number), the zoom setting and the ISO speed setting.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

239 of 241 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works as expected but not spectacular, August 29, 2005

By	W. Mayall - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This flash does what it shound but don't expect wonders. It essentially "brightens" your flash photo. I am using it with a PowerShot S2 IS.

When reading reviews, you might see it said that this is a wireless flash. While true, that's a bit misleading. The flash works by simply sensing that the primary flash has occurred and then firing as well. This means that you *must* fire the primary flash to have it work.

Another thing that you might read is that this flash "focuses". I can't imagine what the reviewers mean. This is a simple slave flash. You can set the "range" in 3 basic increments but that seems to be it for adjustments. The manual is slim and gives no hint that there is anything sophisticated occurring.

A few notes:

- The flash is very compact and lightweight.

- You can easily hold the flash in your hand to position it for better coverage.

- The recharge time is extremely fast with a new battery -- essentially immediate.

- It uses a non-rechargable lithium battery. These tend to be pretty expensive. The manual says it will get over 250 flashes on a battery.

- This flash *does not* eliminate the shadow that the PowerShot S2 IS wide angle lens creates. It does reduce the shadow.

Overall this is a good flash but seems a bit pricey.

112 of 113 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Canon HF-DC1 Slave Flash, February 19, 2006

By	R. Andelfinger "randelfi" (Southwest, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent add-on to the Canon series of Powershot cameras, I am using it with an A620 and it produces beautiful pictures. The flash is a "slave" in that it triggers when the camera's built-in flash fires, so there is no cord needed to connect it to the camera. It comes with a fixed bracket but you can also hand-hold it for bounce flash effects very easily. It uses a 123A lithium battery which recharges very quickly (generally less than 2-3 seconds, about 7 seconds for a maximum-brightness flash), Canon claims approximately 250 shots from a new battery. There is an adjustment for low-mid-high intensity but the flash does not, to my knowledge, focus or adjust for subject distance (the camera auto-exposure does an excellent job of that). Finally, there is a "manual" mode which only means that you have to press and hold the indicator button to enable the flash to fire, this is to attempt to avoid having the slave trigger on someone else's flash if you are in a roomful of cameras. The guide number is 18 meters at ISO 100. I have found that, for example, taking pictures of actors in a high-school play from the audience, about 30 feet away, with relatively dim stage lighting, this flash was more than powerful enough to get excellent face shots, even with the camera moderately zoomed. This is a very useful and high-performance accessory, definitely worthwhile if you do a lot of indoor shooting where you can't get close to your subject.

83 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful Little Wonder Flash, November 18, 2006

By	thetoolman (Hillsborough, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

I tried to save money by buying a Sunpak slave that was triggered (like the HF-DC1) by the camera's built in flash and was supposed to work with all digital cameras, but it failed to work with my Canon S3 IS. Even though my Canon S3 IS did trigger the Sunpak, it would not fire in sync with the S3 since the S3's (other Canon Powershot cameras do the same thing) flash sent out an imperceptible pre-flash that caused the Sunpak to fire before the real full flash on the S3 fired. I called Sunpak and they had no clue what was happening. A call to Canon, however, got me answers and also got me to return the Sunpak and buy the HF-DC1. In summary, don't play games and save money just buy the flash that is made to work with this and other Canon Power shot cameras. In any case, the HF-DC1 is really, really, tiny and light and uses the funky and expensive CR123a battery. Buying a rechargeable CR123a with a charger is also an expensive proposition. What to do if you want to save money on batteries? Nothing! Buy the CR123a on the WEB cheap and be thankful that each one will let you take a tremendous amount of flash photos before you need another. This Canon flash is quite efficient in its power usage. The HF-DC1 also comes with a bracket that lets you use the tripod socket on the S3 and other Canon Powershot cameras to mount it on the side of the camera. You can also experiment and hand hold the flash at different angles without the bracket. The HF-DC1 is silver in color and doesn't really match the S3's black body but it still looks OK. The flash has three buttons. The first allows you to set the power of the flash from min to mid to max. You will need to think this through since there are no wires going from the flash to the camera so how far the subject is from you will determine the setting you choose. Figure the HF-DC1 working with the flash on the S3, for example, will extend the distance from 15 to 30 feet and play with the setting accordingly. The next button allows you to set the flash to fire automatically or manually and is also the power on button. The word "automatic" here means nothing more than the flash firing without you touching it as soon as it sees a flash, any flash. Thus, if you are in a crowd and everyone is taking flash photos your HF-DC1 will be triggered by the flash of other cameras in this setting. What to do? Set the flash to manual and hold down the third button on the flash when you are ready to take the shot. This prevents the flash from being fired by another flash until the button is pressed This is truly a great feature and it did not exist on the Sunpak flash. The HF-DC1 is not cheap but it seems help make fairly well exposed photos most (not all) of the time. These exposures would not be possible with the camera's built in flash alone. HF-DC1 is extremely small (smaller than you think!) and is truly a featherweight. Since the Canon Powershot cameras in question have no hot shoe, you must buy a slave that is triggered by the flash built into the camera. The HF-DC1 is worth the money and I highly recommend it.