Zomei ZM430 Speedlight Review

Zomei ZM430 Speedlight Review

Buy it at Amazon: Zomei ZM430 Speedlight [Affiliate Link]

Takeaway: Good as a main flash or additional remote lighting, fast response/sync speed, easy to read LCD.

The speedlight includes a dome diffuser, a tabletop stand, felt drawstring carrying bag, and an instruction manual. This speedlight requires 4 AA batteries which are not included and I recommend using re-chargable Ni-MH batteries. The speedlight features a built-in wide angle diffuser plate and reflector that pulls out above the light. The flash sits at -7 degrees vertical and can be adjusted upwards up to 90 degrees and rotates 270 degrees: 90 to the left and 180 degrees to the right. On the right hand side of the unit is the battery bay. On the front, the large red plastic section is the flash sensor for slave modes. On the left hand side there's a rubber door that conceals the PC sync port. On the back face of the unit is the LCD display, on/off button, menu selection keys, flash charge key and indicator, and mode switch button. Finally, on the bottom you have the mounting foot plate and locking nut.

Turn the unit on by pressing and holding the power button. When the flash capacitor is charged and ready to fire, the indicator light will turn blue and the average reset time is about 3 seconds. The modes on this unit are Manual, Multi-Strobe, S1 which is a manual slave mode, and S2 which is a TTL or through the lens slave mode. S2 mode is useful if you're using any kind of pre-flash like red-eye reduction since the speedlight will detect and cancel the pre-flash, so it won't fire until the main flash goes off. On the display, you'll see the mode icons along the top, power regulation meter, power trimming and strobe frequency, slave mode, flash frequency and zoom focal length. If the light starts to overheat, a thermometer will pop up on the screen indicating you should let the light rest for about 15 minutes. Attaching the speedlight to your camera or mount is straightforward. Simply slip the foot plate into the hot shoe and screw down the locking nut to secure it. The bottom of the tabletop stand also has a threaded screw hole for mounting it to a tripod for use off camera.

The flash performed as expected and has a good response time and sync speed. There are plenty of options and settings for those just learning to use speedlights and professionals alike. The color temperature is on the cool side, so using gels, reflectors, and diffusers can help you blend the light better for your shot. The unit is overall easy to operate and functions well.

Buy it at Amazon: Zomei ZM430 Speedlight [Affiliate Link]

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