METZ 45 CL - CT - 1.2.3.4.5 ONLY
The METZ 45 units were very popular with wedding guys for their great light and color but the Metz batteries and power supplies were very expensive (outrageous) to replace at the end of their cycle. Many foolishly gave theirs away on eBay for almost nothing.  Got to love it, one mans junk is another man's treasure and some of these are steals on the Web.  I have built one and two Black Box combos for the Metz 45. 

The power pack is adapted for those using the METZ on a stand as a portable studio or mounted with handgrip on a DSLR.  Both are powered by a stock 3.2 amp hour conversion that will bring the 45 back to life on camera very nicely and very reasonable.  Our photographer using the big boy shot an average of twenty rolls per day and the pack just kept going. 

FEATURES:
They were reliable, pro quality reliable, and worked, sometimes even dropped, they worked.
They had consistent good light both in color and in width of the beam. That's where Metz excels.

Many pro's will tell you the beam has better coverage, with a more lifelike color rendition than so of the hot stuff being pushed today. 

In addition, a higher (148 @ 10.ft) guide number from a bigger tube and head that was truer to it's stated power. Even older units are more consistent in their color interpretation than some of the stuff selling today.

Offset position allowed nice light modeling without a bunch of attachments, brackets, gizmo's and saved a lot of wasted money.

The Handle took the strain off prism structure, no broken feet, and no broken prisms, and a nice handgrip for verticals when needed.  Quick release allowed the now elusive Statue of Liberty over head light effect. Still the best natural light trick.

WHAT KILLED IT?
Miniaturization. Profit. CHINA.  The on top cobra head design on flashes better fitted the smaller lighter digital cameras than the handle mounts. Plus real numbers in sales went to the amateurs and they seemed to like lighter, smaller, wimpier stuff. 

Nothing Metz builds or sells is inexpensive. Most of the ancillary components were very, almost outrageously expensive. Partially due to exchange and overkill. They had really horrid capacity battery clips made up of seven NiCads welded together. 50 flashes on Ni-Cad Packs were OK in the days of weddings that used up one or two five roll pro-packs needing slightly more than 100 flashes.  Today's weddings with 1000 exposures need a lot more power for a lot longer time and their prices are "orbital".   I really believe the power issue and the issue with compatibility with newer products hurt the handle mounts. They are not the fastest company to make change on the market. They are however getting better. Their prism mounted 58 with digital upgrades and the 54-4MZ are awesome and simple to use.
 

SIMPLE STAND SETUP FOR METZ 45's
Thanks to Marc Slifkin... (who owns stock in METZ I think).  He uses all METZ flashes in Wedding and Event work in New Jersey.
Here with a simple adapter from Kalt, PhotoGenic, and others (online at B&H there is an assortment of light stand adapters) the Metz 45 easily converts to a slaved additional light.  Guide number 148 at ISO 100.  That's about as powerful as many of the smaller studio lights on AC. Most are about 170 guide/ from 320 watt seconds.  REAL NUMBERS! 

You can get shoot-thru or reflective umbrellas from as low as 9.95 at B&H.  Thus the Metz easily adapts to standalone, with umbrella or used with a softbox.  Here the Metz 45  is used with Black Box power, and the Pocket Wizards.

With the instant availability of used Metz's on the web at unusually low pricing, these make excellent portable location units for the budget minded shooter, no AC required and no cords for clients to trip over.  In addition the strobe can be used on camera as a conventional unit in manual settings.

COMMON CENTS 
Over the past year,  most of the wedding flash questions I get are about BUDGET off-site power and lighting.

Multi-light setups are popular. I  have seen good shooters go from flash to flash and systems like the SB-800's to Quantum’s and then back and then something else.  Something's missing and there unfortunately is no magic bullet for flash pictures. 

Learn the lighting and any flash can be made to perform even if it means throwing a sheet over the flash.  It's called photography, the study and execution of technique to change, alter, modify, create, remove and manipulate light to achieve a great picture or capture of a moment of time.

ON THE CHEAP!
OK multiple light setups are expensive. Three Nikons and you are into 700-900 dollars for relatively comfortable guide numbers.

So the next step is Quantum’s and they are not cheap. Neither are their packs. Here’s the questions I usually get..."what do you make for the Quantum T series"  and I explain "NOTHING:.

3 Q-Flashes and Turbo 2+2 packs to go along is about 3300.00 dollars.  And if the T2 you got used on the web goes zonk,  it's repair is about the same as a Tokina 12-24 NEW.  After about 200 flashes you're out of luck because 200 full pops is about what you get from a Q Turbo. You have to go for the more expensive 2+2's. Quantum T's use one type of battery pack, theirs or another high power pack with a minimum $400.00 plus dollar tag on it.  Believe me I feel your pain when you just spent your child's future college and Wedding money on your new camera and now you need FLASH MONEY...worse, your wife found out about it...

Those looking at Quantum's and wanting to stick them in light boxes or softboxes. Think before the inheritance gets blown. You can find all the Metz 45's with the same 148 guide number for a seventh the price of a Q5 with a 160 guide number. At ten feet 148 vs. 160 means zero. Whether you use a T5 or a 45CT or 45CL in a softbox, it's what comes out the shooting end that  matters.

But have pictures gotten better? Don’t think so. Beginners with no skills in lighting get luckier more often, that’s why weddings went from 15-180 to 1000+ plus shots now. But wedding and event work is not luck when you have to produce. All flashes make flash. It still takes a photographer to control the lighting. 

SUNPAK 522, 544, 555 HANDLE MOUNTS
You got to love EBay.  Where else can you find these little jewels of light horsepower so cheap.  Many who know nothing about light are dying to give these SunPaks away for next to nothing and spend a ton on some super auto strobe that dooms them to "P" mode thinking forever.  That's the crazy part.  Whatever the reasons for dumping them are, there is a simple solution.  You just think out of the box.

PROBLEMS:

• Sync voltage: If plugged into a Digital camera without a Wein SafeSync or Paramount cable safety sync easily exceeds the average rating of most cameras and you may be creating a toaster.  The voltage on the 522 and the 544 may hit 190-230V.  
  The 555 is usually Ok but I test everything.  But it doesn't matter since we will be using an inexpensive remote relay. 

• Another point or reason for their lack of popularity is that they are old school basically not integrating with any thing, no i-ttl, e-ttl, AFL-tttl, CIO-ttl, FOB and CIA-ffl and the NFL.  Solution: Look up the word manual, you'll get better pictures.

• It's a battery hog.  It's six AA batteries and not that fast, better than some, less than others.

• And lastly they are not pretty and they are a handle mount.

So we picked up an absolutely trashed 522, another really nice one, a couple of DEAD, DOA, BLOWN, Quantum number two packs all for about 85 dollars including freight...  Hee Hee...

MODIFICATIONS TO THE SUNPAK:

• We made a module from the battery clip.

• Took the used Quantum CK cable and cut it at both ends, and used my DIN setup. 

• Dremeled and relieved a hole in the head for the cable, cleaned it's internal contacts and overall tightened the whole mess. 

• The older unit glass had scratches, so we polished the Fresnel glass.

• Fixed a loose wire on the flashtube and made a lady out of the strobe.

• Last step tighten the top down into position and install a lock screw in the top. Done

MODIFICATIONS TO THE QUANTUM

• We then gutted and I mean gutted the Q2 packs, they were dead.

• We dumped the 10 year old Cyclones and threw the motherboard and other parts away saving the off/on switch and a few metal standoffs.

• I have ready made tops  for the battery pack out of the same ABS I use for twin mounts. We simply added a DIN chassis mount, the off on switch and I hand soldered all the wires.  The Black Box for the Metz 45 will also power this strobe.

• We purchased a "Ghetto trigger", one of the inexpensive ( nicer than the word "CHEAP")  wireless triggers from our friends on the web, obviously eBay.  We cut off the end of the SunPak trigger and subbed a simple 3.5 female barrel plug on to match the drawer full of receivers I have.  I use the R616 version.  I changed all the transmitters to straight 3.5's a long time ago so anything I use is universal.