Be Careful What You Wish For - Fuji X500 Flash

Click here to read the entire review

The new Fuji EF X-500 flash is apparently a reality, as B&H Photo is taking pre-orders. It turns out that Fuji announced the unit in January of 2016, but not being a complete Fuji-SuperFan, I didn't know about it. Details are still a little sketchy, but if will apparently offer High Speed  Synchronization and an EF-BP1 optional supplementary battery pack which will add the power of 8 additional AA batteries to the 4 housed in the flash body.

I think I'm going to wait a while on this one (no reflexive pre-order for me) and see what other photographers think. The price is what I would expect ($450.00 for the flash and $200 for the battery pack). While the price is certainly in line with what I would have paid for a comparable Nikon speedlight. Just the same, I've found the Fuji TTL a little inconsistent, and I'm willing to wait a while.

I have some options. I could continue to use a Nikon SB-80 in the manual mode, as it's fast and convenient, as I already have 3 plus a bunch of compatible Nikon SD-8 packs. My other option is more theoretical: I could modify a Vivitar 283 / Quantum Battery cable (I have several)  to work in my Quantum battery packs and my new Braun flash. This is theoretical, of course, but it could be tested with a minimum of effort. If I proceed with this project, I'll document it here.