Metz 58 AF-1

Metz 58 AF-1

The Metz mecablitz 58 AF-1 is a fully dedicated and compatible Nikon speedlight or on-camera flash. What it is not is a cheaper alternative to the Nikon speedlight options, so being a 3rd party alternative that costs a few more dollars than the Nikon units, it has to perform as well as the Nikon speedlights in addition to offering something extra. In times long since past, the best photographic equipment came from Germany. Japan clearly dominates the industry nowadays but there are a few premium brands with German roots and I think of Metz in this way. It is a company that has a history of making quality equipment with innovative features and has a huge range of every type of flashgun you could most likely ever want.

The Metz 58 AF-1 is the top of the range Metz dedicated speedlight. It communicates directly with the camera body using the accessory shoe and is able to communicate all the same information as a Nikon model. This means you have i-

TTL (plus the older D-TTL & 3D) for almost effortless perfect flash exposure as well as an Auto mode if you want the speedlight to use its internal ‘brains’ to figure out the correct power instead of the camera. Of course it offers full manual control with 25 steps of power adjustability. I find the Metz 58 AF-1 to be every bit as precise as my Nikon speedlights when it comes to using it in i-TTL or Auto modes. I have no complaints with its power as it is slightly more powerful than the SB-800, although it isn’t a reason to pick one over the other as there isn’t enough between them to make it a worthwhile comparison.

Just like the SB-800, the Metz 58 AF-1 allows the use of wireless speedlights. It can be used as the master to control other speedlights or as a wireless remote/slave flash. I have found it works excellently in a wireless CLS setup, either using it on its own responding to the camera’s built-in commander or in a mixture of SB-800, SB-600 and Metz 58 AF-1’s. I will mention here that it seems just as important to make sure it has a line of sight with the commander to pick up the signal as the Nikon units, its no better in this regard but no worse either.

So far it sounds like a slightly more expensive SB-800, what does it offer in addition then? Well two things I find important, one more so than the other. Metz is making a big deal about the fact that the Metz 58 AF-1 is the first speedlight to have a USB port for future upgrades to the firmware. As of writing this, I haven’t had reason to use it as Nikon hasn’t added a new type of control to the alphabet soup of D-TTL, i-TTL etc and Metz hasn’t needed to upgrade the firmware. I do find it reassuring however as when buying a 3rd party accessory for your Nikon camera, there is always the (albeit slight) concern than Nikon will change something than will render your expensive accessory/lens useless due to being unable to communicate with their camera’s. The USB port is a helpful guarantee against this happening as Metz should in theory be able to upgrade the firmware to ensure that any changes/enhancements will also be available to the Metz 58 AF-1.

The second addition the Metz 58 AF-1 has in something called a ‘wink light’ or secondary reflector. As you no doubt know, direct flash is the most unflattering lighting for your subject. A way to soften the light is to bounce the light off the ceiling/wall/reflector which will almost always help the shot. What you often loose doing this though is catchlight in the subject eyes which is attractive and gives a little sparkle. With the Metz 58 AF-1 you can bounce the main flash head and the small secondary flash will throw a little light forward to give life to the subjects eyes. It isn’t a powerful flash obviously as it isn’t adding much lighting to the scene, its got one important job and it does it very well. It is adjustable with 3 settings, I normally have it on the middle setting but its easy to change and a wonderful addition to a speedlight that I wish all flashes had.

Perhaps I am in the minority here as I’ve been told by several people they really like the menu and button layout of the Metz units. If I’m being honest, I personally think they’ve almost made them too simplistic and I’d prefer more direct buttons. I will say though that once you get used to it, you can reach most settings very quickly. My second wish for a future model would be a 5th battery chamber like the SB-800 has, as I do find that the Metz 58 AF-1 is perhaps ever so slightly less quick at recycling. What the Metz does have however is the ability to use the Metz power packs which will speed up the recycling a great deal. A good news, not so good news scenario is the unit itself is built to a very high standard and I have no worries about it standing up to constant use. Something I have noticed though is that if I have a light modifier on the flash head whilst it is at an in-between angle such as 45 degrees I have to be careful the extra weight doesn’t make the head fall back down to 90 degrees. Lastly, I prefer the shoe locking mechanism of the current Nikon units.

In reality though, these few things are very small issues that hardly distract from what is without a doubt an excellent speedlight. If you are thinking of buying a SB-800, I think the Metz 58-AF-1 is worth some consideration as it offers the same features as the Nikon units such as all the flash modes (D-TTL, i-TTL), wireless CLS in both master and slave/remote modes, modeling light, HHS, 1st and 2nd curtain shutter and even a stroboscopic mode which I have never had use for but clearly someone must. I find the Auto mode very accurate and I must be one of those old fashioned photographers who finds the A mode very useful in situations where the otherwise excellent i-TTL can have difficulties. Its dead on accurate which is everything for a speedlight as if it can’t do that, all the features in the world are useless. The big selling point to me though has to be that secondary reflector of the 58 AF-1, a very useful addition that once you have it, the wink light will be missed whenever you use a speedlight without it. The Metz 58 AF-1 may not be the cheapest speedlight available for your Nikon camera, but it certainly gives you a lot for the money and when I next add another speedlight in a month or two (I buy on average 2 a year for replacements/additions to the kit) it will be a hard decision to make choosing between the excellent SB-800 and 58 AF-1. It is a great speedlight