Hi, as youcan see this is my 3rd post tonigh, Im quite active tonigh. well I am looking into buying a second Flash unit to elaborate a littel my lighting and since I already have my all gadgeted brand name flash, I was thinking about a simpler unit like a metz 45, now, I found out many models 45: CT1, CT3, CT4, CT5 (the LED one, very fancy) and of corse CL1, CL3, and CL4. its obious that the CL's are more recent but what is the diference between them? I could not find out. The only thing I noticed was that the CT5 needed an added cable that would cost me almost 100$ (in Spain) apart from the basic unit (for TTL). Thanks Diego K.

-- Diego k. (taisabaki@yahoo.com), October 23, 1999

Answers

I wish I could be of more help, but I can only answer with about 90% certainty on this one. I think the only real difference is that the CLs are the newer, current flashes. I wouldn't be surprised if they worked a little better with TTL, but I don't have any supporting evidence for it.

-- Brad Hutcheson (bhutcheson@iname.com), October 24, 1999.

Diego,

I own a 45 CT4 and one of collegues owns a 45 CL4 - I bought mine(used of course) after he did and I borrowed his manual. His 45 CL4 manual is actually a 45 CT4 manual with 2 additional pages. In fact the photo of the flash on cover is a 45 CT4. Metz didn't even bother taking pic of the 45 CL4 to replace it when they updated the flash/manual.

Differences? My CT4 uses a tiny red bulb to indicate that it is fully recycled while the CL4 uses a LED. The other difference CL4 also has an extra LED to indicate if the backgrd was under or overexposed(I'm a bit unsure of the details on this one - need to read the manual again).

My $0.02

P.S. I don't think the CT5 is worth the extra $$. The dedicated Metz rechargable NiCad batteries for the flash would be a better investment - cuts down on recycling dramatically.

-- Shannon (shong@lhc.qld.edu.au), October 26, 1999.

Firts you may notice that I have changed my Email NOw about the flash tonight I saw a CT 5 with 2 chargers sinch cable and a TTL for Olimpus OM. It looked like never got out the box, however the owner told me that he had it sitting in his closet for about 5 years, It was a shame that the capacitor (or what ever the buzzing thing is called) went intermitet every time it got empty like it couldnt handle it and it didnt sound clean when charging (like my SB 25 does) so I told him that Ill give it back to him tomorrow. Ill probably buy a ct4 that I have my eye on.

-- Diego K. (heuristica@yahoo.com), October 27, 1999.

Diego,

U'll find that capacitors will behave that way once they have not been used in a while - the chemical(electrolyte) in them will dry out over time - just like a dry cell battery.

Sometimes, U can revive the capacitor by putting a charge though it(using it). Try recycling the flash several times - this may revive it. Otherwise, I believe Metz can replace the capacitor for a small cost - that is if U really want the CT5.

-- Shannon (shong@lhc.qld.edu.au), October 28, 1999.