Vivitar 6000AF TTL Ring Light Flash for Minolta

Significantly cheaper and more powerful than most other ringflashes. This is a very useful tool for macrophotography. It runs on four AA batteries. The attachment of the light onto the lens is by means of a built-in 49mm ring, with stepping rings provided to allow connection to lenses with 52, 55 and 58mm filter threads. Using extra stepping rings to mount it on a larger lens would probably result in vignetting, as the light is not very wide. It works absolutely fine on my Olympus E620 ( manual mode only) which has a 58mm filter thread. I have achieved good results using it on my E620 with the use of the chart on the back of the flash for calculating the correct aperture. As it has a higher guide number than most ring flashes, one could be tempted to use it for more general photography, but the limited features (see below) make it less suitable. The high output is still useful though, as it allows a small aperture for greater depth of field (which you need to make the most of when photographing in true macro at 1:1 scale). The features on the flash are, as might be expected at this price, pretty basic: no second-curtain sync; no strobe; no facility for filters or diffusers; not even manually variable output, but most of these features are hardly relevant for macrophotography, which is, after all, what this flash is designed for. The limited features are forgivable, especially at this price.Plasticky build and the limited lens-compatibility are less forgivable especially at this price for those on limited budget.

Strengths:
Good value for money. High guide number (15m/ISO100). Accurate autoexposure with TTL metering. Fast recycle time.

Weaknesses:
No manual output control. Awkward battery compartment cover. Fiddly attaching to and detaching from lens. Cannot be used with lenses with wide filter threads.
Thank you Miracle Man!!!