I understand the pain points (I have that flash too). I guess I wouldn't mind the bad on/off indicator if it used AA batteries instead of AAA. Or 4 AAA instead of two. I'm not sure if those options would make the flash too bulky (definitely, it would be bigger), but at least it would turn on faster and have faster recycling.
Anyway, for the size, it's very capable, it fits anywhere, and it's easy to carry. For the type of photography I do with it, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
+Douglas Drumond tell me about it. It's still on my camera most of the time though. Although there are some things I would improve, I find it very useful. Thanks for the somment.
Awesome vid thanks! Awesome vid thanks! Whats the maximum shutterspeed we can use on a X-Pro3 with this flash attached? I want to fill in just a bit of light to lit up eyes in portraits on very sunny days with primes at 1/2000 of a second. Is that possible in TTL mode on this flash? And is that possible in Manual mode on this flash?
The XPro3 flash sync is 1/250 second. The EFX20 flash has manual and TTL functions. To sync at 1/2000 second you need a camera with a leaf shutter, like the X100 series cameras, or you need to use neutral density filters. Cheers.
Hi Robert, thanks for uploading this video. I’m a x100f user and recently I started to think about buying the tele conversion lens and Ef-x20, just like your set-up in this video. My only concern is whether the tcl lens will cast a shadow to the image when using Ef-x20?
Hi. Using the TCL and EF-X20 flash at the same time is ok. No shadow will be cast on your image. If you use the built in camera flash you will see a shadow. This is important to know about because if the camera turns off, the flash turns off too. However, when you turn the camera back on you will have to manually turn on the EF-X20 flash unit. Otherwise, the onboard flash will fire causing a shadow. So, now you know. Good luck and thanks for the question.
+Sam Saliba Hi Sam. Thanks for the question. The EF-X20 is absolutely better than the onboard flash. If my passion for this accessory didn't make it through the video then I apologise. I love this flash. First off it's a guide number of 20. The onboard is a guide number of 8. Secondly, it sits up higher on the camera. If you use any lens accessory such as a lens hood or converter, then the onboard flash will be blocked by the accessory. Therefore you will need a flash on the shoe to overcome this limitation. If you're going to use a flash, a small one would be best. If you're going to use a small flash, use this one. It's modes are well suited for the camera and the design fits the DNA of the camera. Lastly, remember that you're using a camera system with a leaf shutter. That extends the capabilities if any flash because of being able to photograph at higher shutter speeds. In this instance, the efx 20 pairs perfectly.
So will this flash fire if I hold it in my hand off-camera? Say if I want to hold the flash at an angle for example to get a 'bounce' off a nearby wall or ceiling? I used to be able to do that with my film SLR via a long sync cord that attached to the hot shoe on the camera and the other end plugged directly into my flash gun. (it was a cord sold by Nikon specifically designed for that purpose) In other words wireless flash firing capability?
Thanks for the great video! I recently got this flash for my x100f and noticed that the flash does not lock onto the camera body. Is this normal/expected? Thanks if you have the time to respond. Best regards, Jamie
So would I be able to use this flash unit with my film SLR in addition to my X100F? I have a Nikon FM film SLR camera which of course does not have any provision for TTL flash guns but could I use the EF-X20 in an 'auto flash' mode in addition to manual? My old Vivitar 2500 flash gun is dead and I need another flash unit so I was hoping I could use one flash gun instead of buying a couple.
The brown case is beautiful but why do you need it? My X100F fits nicely into a small shoulder pouch I carry or my coat pocket and the build is so good why is a case needed for protection?
+Bernie Hunt Hi, Bernie. To answer your question we need to make some observations. First, a flash with a higher guide number is more powerful than one with a lower guide number. Guide numbers, or flash maximum output, are rated in feet or meters at a given ISO. A flash with a guide number of 10 at ISO 100 is twice as powerful as a flash with a guide number at 10 rated for ISO 200. The final observation to determine a strobes usefulness would be the sync speed of the camera it is being used on. Most cameras max out around 1/125- 1/250. That means that to use a strobe the camera settings must be changed to match the speed of the shutter to the flash, otherwise banding will appear. With the leaf shutter in the X100 series of cameras the sync speed at f2 aperture is 1/1000. This is important because the flash can faithfully sync with the shutter in brighter conditions. Of course, the flash can sync at other speeds up to 1/4000 at f8. Now that we know this, we can understand the usefulness of the EFx20 better. This flash was not contrived to be used at night, although it does a fine job, the inclusion of a bounce would have been very helpful here. Instead, Fuji included a leaf shutter, neutral density filter, and a high sync speed. This flash is designed for on the street use where filling shadows in faces and other details areas is most important. It doesn't bounce because it was designed to take a great photo of backlit subjects. Think about a bright sunny day at the beach, or a beautiful sunset landscape with friends in the foreground. Any situation where you need to brighten the shadows under the chin, around the eyes, and next to the nose will be helped using this flash. If it did bounce it would be ok, but not great. The reason is because if you were using this flash in a condition where bounce would be needed, such as an indoor party in the evening, then the shutter could be slowed and the aperture opened up. Of course you could also up the film speed to get better low light sensitivity. I use the efx20 outdoors as described in the video. When indoors I try and use a flash with bounce. Keep in mind that the flash was designed for a very large but also very specific role: to fill the shadows on human faces during bright backlit outdoor conditions. Secondary roles are to add directional fill light to a scene, such as night or others. However, this secondary role encounters some obstacles, bounce being chief among them. In summary, the flash is powerful enough to use with bounce, but without a good way to do it, a flash with bounce would be a better option. Cheers.
Robert Hamm Thanks for the detailed response Robert. In other reviews I heard the same suggestion about hinging the flash to bounce, but as you mentioned here, it is intended as more of a fill flash, which is what I use it for! Great information here. Thanks again!
I don't have that lens. However, it is exactly the same as the original version except that it has magnets in the treads that tell the camera when it is attached. This allows the camera to automatically switch into the wide or tele conversion mode without a trip to the menu. Cheers!
What do you think of the bigger EF-42 compared to the EF-x20. ? The 42 seems to be more powerful, cheaper and it allows to bounce the flash. Yet , does its big size make it unworthy of using it with the X100F ?
SO the EF-42 ( or any full size flash) is more powerful and has more features, such as swivel and bounce. The LCD screen isn't that important because the EF-X20 has a very useful dial system that is just as easy to read and navigate. The solution- get both. Or, get some other full size flash. I use both at different times. When photographing outdoors in bright light, I use the EF-X20 because it's smaller, and i need the direction of the flash to face forward. When photographing indoors at night, I use a full size flash and face the light straight up to bounce off the ceiling. In the end, 80% of the time I use the EF-X20. It works great, is made to the same standard as the 100 series, and fits the design language. Plus it's smaller and easier to carry around. Cheers.
Hi Yi-Tee. Good news, Yes it can! Just switch the little switch on the bottom of the flash from x to P or N to make the flash fire on a preflash from the x100f or on the firing flash (like a regular slave flash). Cheers.
I don't actually know the name of it because it's just a font that I like from Adobe Premiere. Premiere doesn't show the name of the font directly, and I've never taken the time to look. However I think it mostly resembles Aerial with an outer stroke. Cheers.
I got the link this morning and have been going through it. You put a lot of work into it and I appreciate it. I'm thinking it might make for a good video, a highlight so to speak. Would you mind if I put something together? My favorite image so far is here: aphex2.deviantart.com/art/Palermo2012-125-330620872 . It was a toss up between that one and the boats in the harbor. Really great stuff. I'll email you back when I'm done looking through everything.
Yes fine with me. I am also into editing FCPx and Motion. A friend of mine was one of the first VJ's in the Dutch club scenes in the early 90's. He lived also in Goa , Inda for a while (english guy) he has tons of old footage on Betacam and Hi8. Recently we digitized everything so now we are ready to make small video's and edit music. We have the original sound tapes with the music too so we can delete the camera sound and put the real stuff with the video (in sync) Exciting project.
+Jed Teng Hi Jed. It's not about expense. It's about size, power, and utility. That is to say it is about the system itself. Of course you can buy a more powerful flash for less but it would be hard to match the same size flash with the same build quality, reliability, and power. It's not about the size here, it's about the quality. This flash was designed to be used with the xPro and x100 series cameras. It matches these cameras quite well. That's it's purpose. It was specifically designed to be used in tandem with the x100 AND filter and Leaf shutter- two things DSLR's do not have built in. Best results will be found when using with the intended system. Just like with cars, some choose Honda, others choose Audi. This flash may not be for you, but it is for me. Cheers.
"I'm just out photographing kids,
...
MY kids"
That made me laugh too hard
2:44 if you've got your boy... Umm ಠ_ಠ what? Lol
Lmaooo
I understand the pain points (I have that flash too). I guess I wouldn't mind the bad on/off indicator if it used AA batteries instead of AAA. Or 4 AAA instead of two. I'm not sure if those options would make the flash too bulky (definitely, it would be bigger), but at least it would turn on faster and have faster recycling.
Anyway, for the size, it's very capable, it fits anywhere, and it's easy to carry. For the type of photography I do with it, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
+Douglas Drumond tell me about it. It's still on my camera most of the time though. Although there are some things I would improve, I find it very useful. Thanks for the somment.
Directional flash is good most of the time esp for older people with wrinkles
Awesome vid thanks!
Awesome vid thanks! Whats the maximum shutterspeed we can use on a X-Pro3 with this flash attached?
I want to fill in just a bit of light to lit up eyes in portraits on very sunny days with primes at 1/2000 of a second.
Is that possible in TTL mode on this flash? And is that possible in Manual mode on this flash?
The XPro3 flash sync is 1/250 second. The EFX20 flash has manual and TTL functions. To sync at 1/2000 second you need a camera with a leaf shutter, like the X100 series cameras, or you need to use neutral density filters. Cheers.
Hi Robert, thanks for uploading this video. I’m a x100f user and recently I started to think about buying the tele conversion lens and Ef-x20, just like your set-up in this video. My only concern is whether the tcl lens will cast a shadow to the image when using Ef-x20?
Hi. Using the TCL and EF-X20 flash at the same time is ok. No shadow will be cast on your image. If you use the built in camera flash you will see a shadow. This is important to know about because if the camera turns off, the flash turns off too. However, when you turn the camera back on you will have to manually turn on the EF-X20 flash unit. Otherwise, the onboard flash will fire causing a shadow. So, now you know. Good luck and thanks for the question.
Good review on the flash Robert. My question is though, is this tiny flash that much better than the build in one on the x100 series?
+Sam Saliba Hi Sam. Thanks for the question. The EF-X20 is absolutely better than the onboard flash. If my passion for this accessory didn't make it through the video then I apologise.
I love this flash. First off it's a guide number of 20. The onboard is a guide number of 8. Secondly, it sits up higher on the camera. If you use any lens accessory such as a lens hood or converter, then the onboard flash will be blocked by the accessory. Therefore you will need a flash on the shoe to overcome this limitation.
If you're going to use a flash, a small one would be best. If you're going to use a small flash, use this one. It's modes are well suited for the camera and the design fits the DNA of the camera.
Lastly, remember that you're using a camera system with a leaf shutter. That extends the capabilities if any flash because of being able to photograph at higher shutter speeds. In this instance, the efx 20 pairs perfectly.
Thanks Robert, makes sense, appreciate the reply!
So will this flash fire if I hold it in my hand off-camera? Say if I want to hold the flash at an angle for example to get a 'bounce' off a nearby wall or ceiling? I used to be able to do that with my film SLR via a long sync cord that attached to the hot shoe on the camera and the other end plugged directly into my flash gun. (it was a cord sold by Nikon specifically designed for that purpose) In other words wireless flash firing capability?
Thanks for the great video! I recently got this flash for my x100f and noticed that the flash does not lock onto the camera body. Is this normal/expected? Thanks if you have the time to respond. Best regards, Jamie
So would I be able to use this flash unit with my film SLR in addition to my X100F? I have a Nikon FM film SLR camera which of course does not have any provision for TTL flash guns but could I use the EF-X20 in an 'auto flash' mode in addition to manual? My old Vivitar 2500 flash gun is dead and I need another flash unit so I was hoping I could use one flash gun instead of buying a couple.
The brown case is beautiful but why do you need it? My X100F fits nicely into a small shoulder pouch I carry or my coat pocket and the build is so good why is a case needed for protection?
For the same reason I put a case on my cellphone. Protection. I carry my camera with me everywhere. So I got a nice case and strap. Simple as that.
Thanks for the great review. Very helpful. If it were hinged to bounce off of a ceiling, is is powerful enough to be a bounce flash?
+Bernie Hunt Hi, Bernie. To answer your question we need to make some observations. First, a flash with a higher guide number is more powerful than one with a lower guide number. Guide numbers, or flash maximum output, are rated in feet or meters at a given ISO. A flash with a guide number of 10 at ISO 100 is twice as powerful as a flash with a guide number at 10 rated for ISO 200. The final observation to determine a strobes usefulness would be the sync speed of the camera it is being used on. Most cameras max out around 1/125- 1/250. That means that to use a strobe the camera settings must be changed to match the speed of the shutter to the flash, otherwise banding will appear. With the leaf shutter in the X100 series of cameras the sync speed at f2 aperture is 1/1000. This is important because the flash can faithfully sync with the shutter in brighter conditions. Of course, the flash can sync at other speeds up to 1/4000 at f8.
Now that we know this, we can understand the usefulness of the EFx20 better. This flash was not contrived to be used at night, although it does a fine job, the inclusion of a bounce would have been very helpful here. Instead, Fuji included a leaf shutter, neutral density filter, and a high sync speed. This flash is designed for on the street use where filling shadows in faces and other details areas is most important. It doesn't bounce because it was designed to take a great photo of backlit subjects. Think about a bright sunny day at the beach, or a beautiful sunset landscape with friends in the foreground. Any situation where you need to brighten the shadows under the chin, around the eyes, and next to the nose will be helped using this flash.
If it did bounce it would be ok, but not great. The reason is because if you were using this flash in a condition where bounce would be needed, such as an indoor party in the evening, then the shutter could be slowed and the aperture opened up. Of course you could also up the film speed to get better low light sensitivity.
I use the efx20 outdoors as described in the video. When indoors I try and use a flash with bounce. Keep in mind that the flash was designed for a very large but also very specific role: to fill the shadows on human faces during bright backlit outdoor conditions.
Secondary roles are to add directional fill light to a scene, such as night or others. However, this secondary role encounters some obstacles, bounce being chief among them.
In summary, the flash is powerful enough to use with bounce, but without a good way to do it, a flash with bounce would be a better option.
Cheers.
Robert Hamm Thanks for the detailed response Robert. In other reviews I heard the same suggestion about hinging the flash to bounce, but as you mentioned here, it is intended as more of a fill flash, which is what I use it for! Great information here. Thanks again!
get sanyo eneloop batteries. they are amazing
I'll check them out. Thanks for the tip!
Sanyo sold the business to Panasonic, so they are Panasonic Eneloop batteries now. As Stephen Kho said, get the Eneloop batteries. They ARE amazing.
Can you review the version 2 of TCL-X100 and WCL-X100 and how they block the OVF?
I don't have that lens. However, it is exactly the same as the original version except that it has magnets in the treads that tell the camera when it is attached. This allows the camera to automatically switch into the wide or tele conversion mode without a trip to the menu. Cheers!
What do you think of the bigger EF-42 compared to the EF-x20. ? The 42 seems to be more powerful, cheaper and it allows to bounce the flash. Yet , does its big size make it unworthy of using it with the X100F ?
SO the EF-42 ( or any full size flash) is more powerful and has more features, such as swivel and bounce. The LCD screen isn't that important because the EF-X20 has a very useful dial system that is just as easy to read and navigate. The solution- get both. Or, get some other full size flash. I use both at different times. When photographing outdoors in bright light, I use the EF-X20 because it's smaller, and i need the direction of the flash to face forward. When photographing indoors at night, I use a full size flash and face the light straight up to bounce off the ceiling.
In the end, 80% of the time I use the EF-X20. It works great, is made to the same standard as the 100 series, and fits the design language. Plus it's smaller and easier to carry around. Cheers.
Thanks a lot for your pro advice . You are very helpful as you have always been.
The pics are beautiful. Were all the wedding pictures taken with the X100?
+Island Pics Hi. Thanks for your comment. Yes. All images were taken with the x100s. Cheers!
Robert Hamm Wow. Well I was thinking of getting the F. I think I'm sold after seeing your videos.
I did wind up getting the x100f today. I can't wait to try it out this weekend.
Oh man, I know you're excited. Please share your thoughts with us when you have time. Cheers!
Nice video.
Can the X100F build-in flash able to trigger the EF-X20 remotely?
Hi Yi-Tee. Good news, Yes it can! Just switch the little switch on the bottom of the flash from x to P or N to make the flash fire on a preflash from the x100f or on the firing flash (like a regular slave flash). Cheers.
feeling abit late to ask but, does it make any shades when using the tcl converter,??
Hello, Charlie. No. I have not experienced any color shifting or vignetting when using the teleconverter
awsome! thanks :)
does this flash make the camera
focus faster while on ttl?
nice video
Thanks!
Do you know if the flash can do HSS with a xpro2?
+Catherine Manne Hi Catherine. Nope. Not to my knowledge.
Nice vid, what font do you use in your leader
I don't actually know the name of it because it's just a font that I like from Adobe Premiere. Premiere doesn't show the name of the font directly, and I've never taken the time to look. However I think it mostly resembles Aerial with an outer stroke. Cheers.
Okay thanks, send you the email with the link, have fun ;-)
I got the link this morning and have been going through it. You put a lot of work into it and I appreciate it. I'm thinking it might make for a good video, a highlight so to speak. Would you mind if I put something together? My favorite image so far is here: aphex2.deviantart.com/art/Palermo2012-125-330620872 . It was a toss up between that one and the boats in the harbor. Really great stuff. I'll email you back when I'm done looking through everything.
Yes fine with me. I am also into editing FCPx and Motion. A friend of mine was one of the first VJ's in the Dutch club scenes in the early 90's. He lived also in Goa , Inda for a while (english guy) he has tons of old footage on Betacam and Hi8. Recently we digitized everything so now we are ready to make small video's and edit music. We have the original sound tapes with the music too so we can delete the camera sound and put the real stuff with the video (in sync)
Exciting project.
Hello, Robert Hamm. -TH-cam world
+Nick Hanlin Hello, Nick. Cheers!
Dont know what makes that flash so expensive,I can buy more powerful flash than that...
+Jed Teng Hi Jed. It's not about expense. It's about size, power, and utility. That is to say it is about the system itself. Of course you can buy a more powerful flash for less but it would be hard to match the same size flash with the same build quality, reliability, and power. It's not about the size here, it's about the quality.
This flash was designed to be used with the xPro and x100 series cameras. It matches these cameras quite well. That's it's purpose. It was specifically designed to be used in tandem with the x100 AND filter and Leaf shutter- two things DSLR's do not have built in.
Best results will be found when using with the intended system. Just like with cars, some choose Honda, others choose Audi. This flash may not be for you, but it is for me. Cheers.