K20D and Metz mecablitz 58 AF-1

Hi
I'm thinking of buying a Metz mecablitz 58 AF-1 for my K20D and wonder if anybody has one and can give me any good reasons why I shouldn't or indeed should get one.

I have the Metz, and love it. it's so powerful and versatile. I've lit up factory ceilings and 2mm insects equally well.
I haven't used anything else so can't offer a comparison.
I find the menu system long-winded but they might all be like that.

auto mode (when appropriate) is virtually infallible.

It's on the camera (or attached remotely) almost constantly it seems sometimes.

Hell of a lot of money tho'. I use it manually at least 50% of the time and sometimes wonder if I should have bought a old manual flash and a nice lens instead. But no regrets really.

I have the Metz 58 AF-1 P and use it with my K10D, I can highly recommend it.

thanks for the comments, you've convinced me now I just have to convince my wife I cant live without one

We have 2 and use them both on the K10 & K20, and love em to bits, can be fun using both wirelessly from the one camera as well.

We have had 2 faulty ones though, zoom errors, which were instantly swapped at SRS, so make sure you have a good supplier!

Hey Unlocker,
could you tell me about the zoom errors, I don't really understand what the zoom in the flash menu is meant to do to begin with. Is it automatic for new lenses but you're meant to set it for the older ones? I can't seem to be able to set it the few times I've gone there in the menu. thanks!

The zoom is automatic for newer lenses and is there to help concentrate the light from the flash. For example if you have a zoom lens picking out an object in the distance, there is no point in lighting up the scene around it if it is not in the shot.

There is a motor in the flash head that moves the bulb backwards and forwards depending on wether you are shooting a wide scene or a telephoto one. Try zooming in and out with the lens, and you will notice the flash moving with it!

The zoom error we had on 2 of these meant that it could not move the head back and forth, and my only guess is that they must have had a faulty (or cheap chinese import!) batch of motors or gears which caused this. Our current ones are perfectly fine, so it seems any problems have been ironed out.

Hope that makes sense as I'm not the best at explaining things!

OK, my new Metz mecablitz 58 AF-1 has turned up and is working like a charm, very pleased at this stage,and just want to say thanks to those who gave me their thoughts about buying one