Metz 28 CS-2 User Manual

MECABLITZ 28 CS-2 digital

Bedienungsanleitung Mode d’emploi
Gebruiksaanwijzing Operating instruction
Manuale istruzioni Manual de instrucciones

Foreword

Congratulations on purchasing our
flash 28 CS-2 digital and thank you for the confi­dence in our products.

The following pages give useful instructions for
proper operation of the flash unit and a survey of
all its sophisticated functions.

Please read these operating instructions carefully,
even if one or the other point may not appear to
be very insteresting at first sight. Although our de­signers have attached great importance to making
the operation of the flash unit as simple as pos­sible, the cameras with which it will eventually be

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used often offer a great diversity of capabilities.
Please also fold open the illustrated page at the

end of these instructions.
We wish you great pleasure with this new flash

unit.

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Contents:

1. Safety instructions 88

2. Preparations 89

2.1 Power supply 89

2.2 Loading and replacing the batteries 89

2.3 Mounting / Removing the flash unit 90

2.4 Switching the flash unit on and off 90

3. Flash coverage and reflector attachments 90

4. Slave mode 91

5. Switch on and shoot in EASY mode 91

6. Slave modes (SL) 93

6.1 Slave mode without preflash suppression 94

6.2 Slave mode with preflash suppression 95

6.3 Adapted slave mode 95

7. Settings for camera and flash unit 96

7.1 Cameras where operating mode, ISO
and aperture can be set 97

7.2 Cameras where operating mode, ISO
and aperture cannot be set 98

8. Flash modes 99

8.1 Auto flash mode A 99

8.2 Manual flash mode M 100

8.3 Metz-Remote Flash Mode SL 100

8.4 EASY Mode 101

9. Flash parameters 102

9.1 Automatic f-stop 102

9.2 ISO speed 102

9.3 Reflector status 102

9.4 Flash exposure correction value EV 103

9.5 Manual partial light output 104

10. Displays 104

10.1 Flash readiness indication 104

10.2 Correct exposure confirmation 104

10.3 Maximum flash range indication 105

11. Special functions 106

11.1

Automatic switch-off function / AUTO-OFF

11.2 Meter-Feet changeover (m - ft) 106

106

11.3 Adapting the flash delay in slave mode
with preflash suppression 106

11.4 Re-establishing the flash unit settings 107

12. Troubleshooting, remedies and
after-sales service 108

13. Technical data 110

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1. Safety instructions

• The flash unit is intended and approved only for
photographical use.

• NEVER fire a flash from a very short distance
directly into the eyes of persons or animals. This
can cause damage to the retina and may even
lead to blindness.

• NEVER trigger a flash in the vicinity of flamm­able gases or liquids (petrol, solvents, etc.),
since this may cause EXPLOSIONS!

• NEVER shoot flash pictures of car or bus drivers,
cyclists or motorcyclists, or train drivers while the
vehicle is moving! This may dazzle the person

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concerned and result in an accident.

• Only use the approved power sources specified
in these operating instructions.

• NEVER attempt to open or short-circuit batteries!

• NEVER expose batteries to excessive tempera­tures such as intensive sunlight or a fire!

• Remove exhausted batteries immediately from
the flash unit. Such batteries may leak, releasing
chemicals which can damage the flash unit.

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• NEVER attempt to recharge dry batteries!

• Do not expose the flash unit to dripping or
splashing water.

• Do not expose your flash unit to high tempera­tures and humidity. Do not keep it in the glove
compartment of your car.

• Do not touch the diffuser after firing several
flashes at short intervals. Danger of burns!

• When taking flash shots at full light output and
in rapid succession observe an interval of at
least 3 minutes after 20 flashes.

• NEVER place material that is impervious to light
in front of, or directly on the reflector. If this is
not observed, the high energy of the flash light
may cause burning or bleaching of the material
or may damage the reflector.

• NEVER dismantle the flash unit! DANGER: HIGH
VOLTAGE! Repairs must only be completed by
an authorised repair service.

• Do not touch the contacts of the flash unit.

• The flash unit must not be used if the case has
been so badly damaged that internal com­ponents are exposed. Remove the batteries!

• Do not use defective batteries!

2. Preparations

2.1 Power supply

The flash unit can be operated with any of the fol­lowing batteries:

• 2 alkaline-manganese dry-cell batteries, type
IEC LR03 (size AAA). Maintenance-free power
source for moderate power requirements.

• 2 nickel-metal-hydride batteries, type IEC HR03
(size AAA). They have a significantly higher ca­pacity than NiCad batteries and are less harm­ful to the environment (no cadmium). They per­mit very fast recycling and are economical in
use because they are rechargeable.

• 2 NiCad batteries, type IEC KR03 (size AAA).

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The batteries are exhausted if the recycling
time exceeds 60 seconds when firing flashes
at full light output. Remove the batteries from

the flash unit if you are not going to use it for
an extended period of time.

2.2 Loading and replacing the batteries

• Turn off the flash unit by its main switch.

• Slide the battery compartment cover to the out­side of the flash unit.

• Insert the batteries as indicated by the symbols
in the battery compartment.

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When loading the batteries ensure that their
+ and - poles are aligned with the symbols.
Transposed poles can destroy the flash unit.
Always exchange both batteries, replacing
them with identical batteries of the same
capacity from the same manufacturer! Do not
dispose of spent batteries in the domestic
waste bin. Spent batteries should be handed
in to an appropriate collecting point.

• Close the battery compartment cover and slide it
towards the unit’s foot.

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2.3 Mounting / Removing the flash unit

Turn off the flash by their main switch!

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Fold down the flash unit’s pivoted camera bracket.
Secure the flash unit to the camera with the thread­ed tripod screw.

To dismantle release the threaded tripod screw
and remove the flash unit from the camera. Push
the camera bracket forwards at the hinge and si­multaneously fold upwards.

2.4 Switching the flash unit on and off

To switch on set the main switch to “ON”. To
switch off push the main switch down.

Automatic switch-off function / AUTO-OFF

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To save battery power and prevent inadvertent
battery discharge the flash unit is factory-set to
switch over to standby mode (AUTO OFF) approx.
8 minutes after:

- switch-on,

- a setting procedure,

- firing a flash.

The flash readiness signal and the indications on

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the LC display go out. After automatic switch-off
the last used settings are retained and instantly
available when the flash unit is switched on again.

The flash unit is reactivated merely by depression
of any key (wake-up function).

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The flash unit should always be turned off by
its main switch if it is not going to be used
for an extended period of time.

The automatic switch-off function can be deacti­vated whenever required (see Chapter 11.1).

3. Flash coverage and reflector
attachments

If there is no attachment in front of the reflector,
the flash unit provides full lighting coverage for
normal 24x36 mm shots with lenses as of 35 mm
focal length. If a wide-angle diffuser (identified
by W) is used the flash will cover the image angle
of a 24 mm lens. When positioning the telephoto
attachment (identified by T) in front of the reflector
the flash unit will fully illuminate shots taken with a
telephoto lens of 85 mm focal length and longer.

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Please note that the effective range of the
flash light is diminished by using a wide­angle diffuser, and increased with a tele­photo attachment . For digital cameras take
into account that the focal lengths are given
for the 35 mm format (see operating instruc­tions of the individual camera).

4. Slave mode

The slave mode is intended for cordless, delay-free
triggering of one or more slave flash units. The
slave is triggered by the light pulse from the flash
unit built into the camera.

Some digital cameras fire one or more measuring
preflashes a fraction of a second before flash ex­posure. Normally, these measuring preflashes can­not be deactivated on the camera because they do
influence, for example, the flash exposure. More­over, a preflash function can be activated on many
cameras to diminish the “red eye effect”.

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The internal photo cell sensor of the slave
must be able to perfectly capture the light of
the camera’s flash unit reflected by the sub-

ject so that it can be triggered. The working
range of the assembly depends on the inten­sity of the light pulse from the camera-inte­grated flash, the reflective properties of the
subject and the prevailing ambient light.

Please note that the working range is diminished
outdoors and with bright ambient light. Avoid
exposing the sensor to direct sunlight!

5. Switch on and shoot in EASY mode

The EASY mode permits easy use of the slave flash
unit for flash photography. Auto aperture, ISO
speed rating, etc. do not have to be set on the flash
unit.

The EASY mode is a simplified automatic flash
mode intended for digital cameras without setting
capabilities, or the “Program P” and full auto
modes.

Prior to its first use, the slave has to be adapted to
the technology of the flash unit built into the came­ra to find out if the camera-integrated flash unit
works with or without preflashes.

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Adapting the slave flash unit

• Activate the camera’s internal flash unit. If ne­cessary, switch on the camera’s red-eye re­ducing preflash function.

• Turn on the slave flash unit by the main switch
and wait for the flash readiness indicator to
light up.

• Keep the “Mode” key on the flash unit depress­ed for approx. 5 s until the symbols
flash in an ascending sequence on the LC dis­play. All other indications on the LC display and
the flash readiness signal go out.

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To terminate briefly depress the “Mode” key.

• Take a picture of an appropriate subject (e.g.
wall or ceiling of a room) at a distance of 2 m to
3 m with the camera’s internal flash. With the
aid of this shot the 28 CS-2 establishes the num­ber of preflashes fired by the camera-integrated
flash unit and automatically stores the data.

• The flash readiness indicator on the flash unit
briefly lights up again to confirm the completed
adaptation.

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• The LC display indicates the symbol “SL ”
for adapted slave mode, “EASY” flash mode
and the maximum flash range (see Chapter

10.3).

• The slave flash unit is now ready for operation.

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Flash unit adaptation only has to be completed
once because the stored settings are retained,
even when the flash mode is changed, the
flash unit is switched off and the batteries are
replaced. Adaptation must be renewed when
the settings of the camera’s flash unit, the pre­flash mode (e.g. red-eye reducing preflash
ON / OFF) or the camera are changed.

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The flash mode of cameras working with an
automatically changing number of preflashes
(e.g. Nikon 3D and D-TTL), as well as the
Metz Remote Flash Mode, is not supported!

Test shots

Take some test shots with flash: The subject must
be within the maximum flash range indicated on
the LC display (see Chapter 10.3)! Assess the ex­posure results, e.g. on the camera monitor.

Depress the “+” key on the flash unit for a positive
correction value when the flash shots are too dark,
and the “-” key for a negative correction value
when the flash shots are too bright. The correction
value can be adjusted from +10 to -10. The setting
becomes immediately effective and is automatical­ly stored. The set correction value is taken over as
the new zero value (“0”) for the next flash shot.
Maximum flash range indication is adapted to the
given correction value.

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If the slave unit is not triggered repeat the
flash unit adaptation procedure and take
another test shot.

Tip:

Carefully read the next chapters of these Operat­ing Instructions to be able to make full use of all
the capabilities of this flash unit.

6. Slave modes (SL)

Selection of the slave mode suitable for your ca­mera depends on the properties and technology of

the camera-integrated flash. The important point is
to know whether the flash unit built into your came­ra works with or without measuring preflashes.

Selection of the slave mode determines whether
the slave is triggered immediately after the first
flash pulse from the camera’s flash unit, or whe­ther one or more preflashes have to be suppressed
before the slave is triggered together with the ca­mera’s main flash.

Select one of the three different slave modes by
repeated combined depression of the “MODE”
and pre-select keys. The selected slave mode
flashes on the LC display of the flash unit.

Establishing the slave mode suitable for your
camera

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It is not necessary to establish the suitable
slave mode if you know whether or not your
camera operates with preflash measuring
technology!

Often it is rather difficult to establish whether or not
a digital camera operates with preflash measuring
technology. Proceed in the following manner to se­lect the slave mode that is suitable for your camera:

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• Activate the camera’s internal flash unit.

• Deactivate the red-eye reducing preflash func­tion on the camera.

• Select on the slave unit the “M” flash mode with
P 1/1 full light output (see Chapter 8.2).

• Then select the slave mode without preflash sup­pression on the slave unit (see Chapter 6.1).

• Take a test shot in which the reflector of the slave
unit can be seen, for example in a mirror.

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NEVER look directly into the flash unit’s reflector
from a short distance as this could blind or inju­re your eyes!

• Assess the test shot, e.g. on the camera monitor.

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• If the slave unit’s reflector is brilliantly illuminated

in the test shot, then you have set the right slave
mode for your camera.

• If the slave unit’s reflector is not bright or is dark

on the test shot, then select on the slave unit a
slave mode with preflash suppression (see Chap­ter 6.2) and take another test shot.

• If this still proves to be unsuccessful, then select
the adapted slave mode. This enables you to

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adapt the slave automatically to your camera’s
flash function (see Chapter 6.3).

6.1 Slave mode without preflash
suppression SL

This slave mode is suitable for all cameras working
without measuring preflash technology. The slave is
triggered at the same time as the flash unit incor­porated in the camera. The light output of the slave
is controlled by the selected flash mode (EASY, auto
flash mode A or manual flash mode M).

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If your camera has a red-eye reducing preflash
function, this function must be switched off!
Otherwise it may be accidentally activated by
flashes of other photographers working within
the same action radius as the slave flash unit .

Settings on the slave flash unit

Repeatedly depress the pre-select and “MODE”
keys simultaneously until the symbol SL flashes on
the LC display. The setting instantly becomes effective
and is automatically stored after 5 s.