All-

Merry Christmas! Santa brought me a Metz 32Z-2 and SCA3502 last night and I have some new gadget weirdness to run by the collected wisdom here after the first set of flash exposures (no film developed yet, so the data that count are unavailable).

On my M6TTL, with the flash set to TTL mode, SCA 3502 flash exposure correction switch set to "on," shutter speed <= 1/50 sec, and meter triggered, I get a steady lightning bolt in the viewfinder. Hmm, both the Metz and Leica manuals suggest that it should be blinking (at the rapid 4Hz rate, if I'm reading correctly) at this point.

On the first few exposures, the lightning bolt remained steady after flash firing (and yes, it did fire consistently). Then, maybe at around frame 5, it began to do the 4Hz blinking (indicating recycling, ostensibly), followed by the steady signal when, I guess, ready.

All batteries are fresh, fiddling with the SCA adaptor settings and slower shutter speeds don't seem to affect anything.

Can anybody comment on whether this is normal behavior for this setup?

Thanks and take care.

-- Rick Koo (rpkoo@pacbell.net), December 26, 2001

Answers

Rick,

I use the same combination (M6TTL/Metz SCA 3502-M2/Metz 32 Z2) and it behaves as you describe. It works fine too (especially for “bounce” lighting).

My reading of the manuals is different from yours. Page 12 of the Metz manual states the lightening bolt is “permanently lit” to indicate the flash is ready. The Leica manual is more ambiguous, saying if the bolt “continues to flash” this indicates the flash unit is ready. This may be a poor translation of the original German I suspect.

In any case, I think you’ll find your unit is working fine. The 32 Z2 is a handy light, small and versatile. You can’t beat the swivel head for fast & easy lighting options either.

Cheers,

-- Jeff Stuart (jstuart1@tampabay.rr.com), December 26, 2001.

I also use the 32 Z-2 and M6 TTL but with a 3501 adapter. Ignore the wording in the Leica manual - I think they confuse the word "flashing" with "shining" or "glowing". The behaviour you describe seems right to me.

After a few sequential flashes, the 32 Z-2 may require a little time to recharge to a state of readiness, depending on how much of the flash charge you are using (e.g. with a slow film / narrow lens aperture / dark background you will use more of the flash's charge each exposure than with fast film / wide aperture / light background).

-- Ray Moth (ray_moth@yahoo.com), December 26, 2001.

What is difference between the 3501 and 3502 Metz adapter? Thanks!!

-- Mitchell Li (mitchli@pacbell.net), January 01, 2002.

I used to use the 32Z2 with adapter on the R6 and never could figure out what the flash symbol meant. I used to just check out the little light on the flash instead. The 54MZ has a buzzer which takes the guesswork out of it.

-- rob (rob@robertappleby.com), January 01, 2002.

Mitchell,

Currently, the 3501 and 3502 modules perform alike. The 3501 module is hard wired for the adaptor logic function while the 3502 module is supposed to be electronically reprogrammable by Metz. This implies to me that the 3502 could be upgraded in the future by Metz without having to replace the module with a new one.

Happy New Year to all who use the Gregorian or similar calendars. To others, Happy New Year to you whenever your calendar changes. I hope everyone can enjoy a peaceful year free from terrorists and war. May the only shooting in this new year be done with Leicas! LB

-- Luther Berry (lberrytx@aol.com), January 01, 2002.