Intro2020 has announced the UK availability of Metz’s new top-of-the-line Mecablitz 64 AF-1 flash. The Canon and Nikon versions are available now, with Sony, Pentax and Four Thirds versions to “follow shortly”. All have the recommended retail price of £375.00 including VAT.
The German-made flashgun features a “ground-breaking guide number” (presumably one measurable on the Mercalli scale), full colour touchscreen, secondary fill-in flash and a special “Rapid” function to shorten recycle times. For just about every brand of camera system there is TTL support, including advanced master/slave mode and high-speed sync. You’ll have full manual control too, including the four customizable programme settings.
How does the Metz 64 AF-1 compare to the competition? With a recommended retail price of £375, it costs slightly more (but arguably packs in more features) than the Nikon Speedlight SB-910 (£339) but is considerably cheaper than the radio-enabled Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT (£469). Are a touchscreen and a secondary flash tube preferable to Canon’s built-in radio triggering? Alternative third-party options include the Phottix Mitros(+), which either £100 cheaper or a similar price depending on whether you want the +’s integrated 2.4GHz transceiver or not.
For more information, visit www.metzflash.co.uk.