So, whenever I refer to the 9xi or 700si I am talking about a camera. The 3500 and 5400's are flash units. These are all professional caliber pieces of equipment that more than deliver the needs of todays working pros, and yet, are simple enough for Joe Amateur to use.

I am about to embark on a rave review of the Minolta flash system. They have thought of everything. Mostly I rave about the wireless remote TTL ability of the system. However, the system also offers complete manual override, manual operation, various manually selectable power settings, tilting, swiveling flash heads etc. And, I don't cover it all. There are other flash models and accessories available that I do not cover at all.

So What's the Big Deal?

With the Minolta system the camera is in control. The camera tells the flash what to do. You select the shooting aperture from the camera and the camera controls the flash output via TTL exposure. I f you do not want to set anything, you can let the camera do it all. Put the thing in the P program mode, set your remote flashes wherever and fire away. The camera will pick the aperture, shutter speed and all. The Minolta flash system is EASY to use. It is the ONLY wireless remote flash system that uses TTL technology to control flash out put. That means, Through The Lens flash exposure. You select the shooting aperture & the camera adjust the light output of the flash units, measuring the light as it comes through the lens. All other manufacturers flash systems have TTL capability only if the flash is somehow directly connected to the camera. They must be attached directly to the camera's hot shoe, or connected via a cable. Minolta's system lets you place your flash units OFF camera with no cables, no wires. This is a blessing. Anytime you can get an obstacle out of your way and make your shooting faster is a blessing. This system was designed for professional shooters. It makes multiple lighting setups a breeze for beginners too. It removes many of the headaches that make lighting a hassle.

Prior to the Minolta Wireless TTL system you had to add slaves of some sort to your remote flash units. Then, after positioning your flash units you would have to trip them one by one, metering the output, balancing them for whatever ratio you needed/wanted. The more flashes you used the bigger the headache. If you want to use TTL capabilities with other manufacturers units you must hardwire them together. This poses the problem of having very long cables for distant units, and the problem of hiding the wire so it would not show in your photo. Cables and wires are notorious for malfunctioning also. (Not just in the photo world either. Ask any musician on stage with an electric guitar about cable problems. They always pack several new ones.) Hassle, hassle, hassle.

Not only does the Minolta flash system operate in TTL wireless remote mode, they have also set up RATIO control of two or more units, maintaining the TTL. This is AWESOME. Your poor old flash meter is going to get lonely. No flash meter. No wires in the way or failing.

What else is so great? Check out the feet. Every Minolta 3500xi, 5400xi, 5400HS flash comes with a Mini stand. These little "feet" are about the greatest thing since Velcro or Scotch tape. Slide them onto your flash & you can stand them almost anywhere. They are very stable in both the upright position & with the flash in a bounce position. I use them all the time. Set them on a fireplace mantle. Set it on a coffee table, end table, dresser, shelves, bookcases, on top of a computer, on the floor, on any piece of furniture. Set the little guys up anywhere that is halfway level. In kitchen cabinets. In a childs toy box. I placed one in an oven in a kitchen one time to light up the glass door! I put one inside a divers hardhat to illuminate it from inside! These feet are terrific. But wait, Minolta did not stop there. They threaded the feet to fit a standard tripod thread. WOW! Put them on a tripod or a light stand outfitted with appropriate threaded socket.

Bottom line: Put your flash units just about anywhere and don't worry about tripping over wires or going around the room with your flash meter. Place them, select an aperture (or don't, just set the camera in P program mode) and shoot away. It is really that easy.

Minolta cameras that have pop up flash units can be used in conjunction with the Wireless remote system also. Position your remote 3500 or 5400 flash units and use the built in pop up flash to trigger them, all the time maintaining TTL exposure control. Even their very low end, el cheapo amateur cameras can take advantage of the PRO feature! Guess what else? The built in pop up flashes also offer you Ratio Control. Set the remote 3500 or 5400 where you want it and it will put out 2/3rds of the light required while the built in pop up flash fills in the remaining 1/3rd of the light. TTL. Automatically. Perfect. You pick the aperture, it does the rest. Canon, Nikon, Olympus and the rest of them simply cannot do this.

And that's not all. The 5400xi & 5400HS can perform the exact same function as the built in pop up flash. Just set them to there wireless controller mode & mount them on your cameras hot shoe. The shoe mounted 5400 acts as the controller for the remote units. The shoe mounted 5400 also lets you select 1:2 or 2:1 lighting ratio, where by the shoe mounted flash supplies either 1/3rd or 2/3rds of the light while the remote supplies the other 1/3rd or 2/3rd. (Are you with me? Send me e-mail if you need clarification on any of these points).

Minolta also has a Wireless Controller. This is a great item, cost about a hundred bucks and worth every penny of it. I have two of them. This little gem slides onto the hot shoe of your camera and can control a large number of remote units. (All TTL exposure control, of course.) It has four different selectable channels, as well as a ratio control mode. You set your flash units for whatever channel you want & then select that same channel on the Wireless Controller. The first, most obvious advantage of the different channels is that if two or more photographers are shooting the same scene (say a fashion show), you can each select a different channel and thereby not trip each others strobes. The other, less obvious use of this feature is for multiple lighting setups. Let's say you have a shoot where you want to try different lighting arrangements. Position one or more of your flash units for a given lighting set up and set them to channel One. Set one or more flashes in a different arrangement for lighting set up number two, etc. Thus, while shooting you toggle back & forth between the channels, selecting Channel One, then Channel Two (&Three & Four if set up so) on the Wireless Controller shooting your subject under different lighting setups. Now that is simply a TERRIFIC pro feature. Worth its weight in gold.

WHAT ELSE? Well, if things were not good enough, Minolta advanced their system one more FINE, BEAUTIFUL step. The 5400HS flash unit has a built in Modeling light! The last great hassle overcome. With this feature you can preview where the light is falling & the shadows are being cast before you take the picture. They have the ONLY system portable, TTL Wireless Remote flash with a Modeling light in the photographic industry. I have one question? Why in the World has Minolta not blown it's horn about this? THIS SHOULD BE BIG NEWS! MAJOR NEWS! SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT!! Pro shooters all over the globe would DROOL over this feature. There are a lot of them that would go Minolta because of this Flash Unit. Most of them have never heard about it.

What ELSE? Well, the 5400HS will also sync with shutter speeds up to 1/8000th sec. when used with the 700si camera. The HS stands for High Speed. It is essentially the same as the 5400xi, the 5400xi will not sync above 1/300th sec. no matter what.

WHAT ELSE? How about Flash Bracketing? The 9xi has a programmable Quick button that can be set for flash bracketing when you want it. This can be useful when you are shooting chrome film and you know you cannot come back for a reshoot and you really want to cover your bases. Chrome film has much narrower lattitude than negative film, so, is less forgiving with exposure errors. Push the Quick button with your thumb to begin a three frame sequence that is under/normal/over exposure.

If that is not enough the flash bracketing range can be extended over a seven frame sequence by using the creative expansion card "Bracketing Card 2". This card has two modes and allows the user to set a 3,5, or 7 frame series of exposures with 0.3, 0.5, or 1 EV between each frame.

SOMETHING ELSE: Slow shutter synch. If you want to quickly and automatically let more ambient light into your flash exposures just press and hold the AE lock button on the 9xi or the Spot meter button on the 700si. The camera then drops to a slower shutter speed, correctly exposing the background while the flash correctly exposes the subject in the foreground. What does that mean for you or for Joe Amateur? Click here for a sample.

Remember this, you also can have complete manual control over this system if you need to. For example, you may want a specific shutter speed to pick up an ambient light source. The system lets you do this. You have the option of anything from complete manual control to partial manual/auto control, to complete AUTO control by the camera. It's like Burger King, you can have it YOUR way.

Just an aside, here. There are three things that pro shooters want: Fast glass, fast film advance, and easy remote lighting. The 9xi & Minolta's lenses and flash units deliver it all. I am convinced that with the proper advertising, Minolta would win over swarms of photographers. They would drop their Canons and Nikons in a minute.

After all this blather about how wonderful this system is, I must tell you about it's ONE weakness (which isn't really that big a deal). In the Wireless remote mode the highest shutter synch speed you can use is 1/60th of a second. You can use ALL slower shutter speeds. 1/60th is max. Now that really isn't too bad, all things considered. Now then, if you want off camera flash to synch at higher speeds YOU CAN STILL DO IT! You simply have to hardwire it. Yep, use a cable. I know that is a drag, but you won't have to do it that often. AND, Minolta has taken care of us in the cable area too. You can string several cables together to really get your flash off camera. You can wire three flash units together. You can cable them together and not only get to use them at a higher synch speed off camera, but, you can use RATIO CONTROL TTL. This is great. Watch this site. I hope to go into that more in the future.

I don't know when it happened, but somewhere in the Mind of Minolta they came up with a lighting system that is CUSTOM TAILORED to the needs of the location working pro. It is so terrific & well thought out that I cannot reccomend it highly enough. It is hard for me to believe that so much of the photographic world doesn't know about it!

I have been using this system day in and day out for five solid years and it has not failed me yet. Some quick math. I am going to be very conservative here. Let's say that I shoot four assignment a week that require lighting. (There are many days when I have shot three or four assignments, lighting every one.) Multiply that by 50 weeks a year. Multiply that by the last five years and I can safely say I have lit 1,000 jobs with my Minolta Maxxum Flash System and it has never failed me. Never.

I have put it through its paces and can rely on it. I have the utmost confidence in this system. Lighting used to be a hassle. Now it is fun. Use your imagination and let loose.

Why use a cable?This link not yet in place. Please be patient. Slowly but surely I keep adding and changing things here. Feedback from you is always welcome. Thanks, Gary.

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This Page Created 1/1/97 Modified 2/19/97
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