Flash for Fuji Camera MEIKE MK-320F review
The Meike MK 320 Speedlite. A tiny flash with some serious packaging.
How to write a review for a flash? I have been thinking about this for a while now. I don’t like technical reviews and don’t want to write one. I want a real-life review of the flash, but that is so difficult to write and to qualify an opinion, as a flash does not control the quality of the photo, only the quality of the light. You could easily take terrible photos with a flash, but that is not the flash’s fault. So I will review this flash based on the following criteria. Firstly, I will review build quality and ease of use. Secondly, I will look at the TTL metering and the quality of light given off by this flash.
The original flash for the Fujifilm XT1 is really awkward-looking and not very versatile to use.
The Meike flash is much bigger than the one supplied by Fuji
My purchase of this flash began with a broken lens. I broke my Nikon 16-35mm f/4 VR zoom lens that I use to shoot music festivals. Since I already had a super-wide zoom lens for my Fuji XT1 camera, I decided to buy a flash for the Fuji XT1 and incorporate it into my workflow. The Fuji XT1 comes with its own flash, but it is a terrible, dinky flash that is only good for some fill light and is completely unusable for me in my line of work. Fuji really does not have many flash options, so after some searching, I found out about the MEIKE MK-320F flash.
From the manufacturer’s website where I bought the flash, the Chinese description basically says that it is a TTL flash for Fujifilm cameras, which is what I wanted.
On paper, this flash seemed to have everything that I would desire.
Specifications
- GN 32 (Iso-100) 5-second recycle time
- (NiMH) Powered by 2 AAs Tilts –7° to 90° Swivels 60° left, 90° right
- TTL, manual, and stroboscopic modes
- Optical slave S1/S2
- LCD control panel LED modeling lamp
- Dimensions: 110 x 65 x 36mm
Another specification that I liked on paper was the ability to charge your batteries in the flash via USB. This meant that I could charge my batteries on location with a USB charger that I carry around with me for my phone.
USB Charging is such a great feature in a flash. All flashes should include this in their design.
The flash unit sounded fantastic, so I ordered one online and received it the next day. When it arrived, I was amazed at the quality of the packaging for the flash. The flash is not very expensive, so I would have expected cheap boxing from the Chinese company MEIKE, but the boxing and packaging were at a much higher level than what I would get from my Yongnuo flashes.
The packaging for the flash is impressive, especially considering the price. This is not an expensive flash, but it delivers much more in the packaging department than many of its competitors.
While I was taking the photos for this review, a new Yongnuo flash arrived, giving me a chance to compare the packaging. The Yongnuo costs nearly three times the amount of the Meike flash, but it cannot compare. The Meike packaging is really well designed and not only makes the product seem more premium but also protects the flash unit as well.
Taking the flash out in my hand, I was struck by how small it was compared to the bigger SLR flashes, so I had high hopes for it. The box includes a flash stand, a stofen (diffuser), instruction manuals, and a cloth pouch.
This flash is small, really small and it is easy to carry around.
Compared to the supplied flash with the Fujifilm XT1 and a Yongnuo YN560 flash.
The flash runs off two AA batteries, so even with batteries, it is extremely light, weighing only 200g. Therefore, the combination of this flash with the Fuji XT1 is not very heavy.
The flash is powered by two AA batteries.
The flash itself feels well-constructed, about the same quality as the Yongnuo flashes that I use very often with my Nikon, but not in the same league as the build quality of Nikon or Canon flashes. The LCD screen and the buttons on the flash are well-designed and easy to use. You can change settings on the flash relatively easily, and it is highly unlikely that you will accidentally change a setting. I really like the LCD and button layout on this flash. It is much better than the systems on the Yongnuo or Nikon flashes. It feels easier to use and more modern. The Yongnuo flashes tend to copy Canon or Nikon in their design, and they feel like they are stuck in the ’80s with their interfaces. So the MEIKE MK-320F flash definitely has an advantage in that department.
The interface and buttons on the flash feel really good. I wish more flash makers would take a look at their system and copy it.
I started to play around with the MEIKE MK-320F flash on top of the camera when I noticed the first real problem with it. You really cannot bounce light very well with this flash as it has limited mobility with the flash head. You can bounce light to the left or right of you, or from the roof, but you will not be able to bounce light from behind you as the flash head does not swivel 180 degrees. When tilting the flash head, there is just enough resistance to make it feel good. Again, I was disappointed with the degree of motion you could move the flash head, but you could work with it, and it has more range of motion than the supplied flash that came with the Fuji XT1.
The flash does look a bit comical on the Fujifilm camera when you have a small lens attached to it.
You can rotate the flash head to 90 degrees to the right. Good for bouncing the light off the wall.
The flash head will only rotate to 45 degrees to the left. Not as useful in my opinion.
Bouncing the light up off the roof is usually the best option with this flash.
The flash mounts to the camera with the traditional wheel to tighten onto the camera body and feels strong. I never worried about the flash falling off my camera while I was shooting. The LED flashlight is very useful in the dark, but I would not use it as a video light. The quality of light from the LED for video is extremely harsh. The only time I would use it for shooting video is when I was running and gunning in an extremely dark environment and it was my only option. However, the flashlight is great for packing your gear up in the dark. I have used it as a flashlight on many occasions now; it’s really useful. So far, so good for this flash.
The flashlight ability with the LED lights is not that useful, but it works well as a torch. I don’t really like the light for video, but it could work in a run-and-gun situation where you need more light.
The flash works well in S1 and S2 modes, but I seldom use them, to be honest. If I am shooting with some slave flashes, I have a ton of Yongnuo at home or at the office that I can set up quickly. I only tested the functionality once when I bought the flash. However, you could easily use an on-camera flash and use this off-camera somewhere. Still, I doubt this functionality will be used by most people who buy this flash.
Getting the flash to work with remote triggers has been a nightmare. Sometimes it would fire with my old Yongnuo triggers (maybe 20% of the time), but it never worked with the bigger Yongnuo triggers. I still have no idea why the flash only worked sometimes with the Yongnuo triggers, but it was extremely frustrating trying to get it to work.
But I am afraid I don’t have too many more nice words to say about this flash for the rest of the review, as using it left me extremely disappointed and frustrated. Some of my frustration with this flash stems from the Fujifilm flash system itself. The system is extremely frustrating at times and just stops working for no reason. When that happens, you have to remove the flash and the battery before it will work again.
I mostly bought this flash to shoot crowds at the concerts I work at. I depend completely on TTL for this as I have no time to do it manually. One of the biggest problems that I have with this flash is light falls off very quickly from the center of the image.
Let’s start with the TTL part of the flash. The flash provides full TTL support with the Fujifilm system, which is great for the type of run-and-gun work that I do at my shows. However, the TTL system is not as accurate as the one I get from my Nikon. I get a lot of overexposed images with this flash, but I shoot in RAW, so I can fix them in post-production. Nevertheless, it is frustrating having to fix images in post all the time.
Band portraits after a show are extremely important in my line of work.
The light the flash gives off is not balanced very well. I find the center of the image to be extremely hot, and the light falls off very quickly. As a result, many images I shoot are overexposed in the center while the sides are underexposed.
Fan shots are the other big reason that I have a flash on my spare camera in the pit
As stated previously, the flash has a recycle time of 5 seconds, and it sometimes feels like a lot longer than 5 seconds to me. If you are shooting a lot, the recycle times seem to get longer. It was extremely frustrating trying to work with this flash. Basically, you have to take one photo, put the camera down, then come back later and shoot again. The flash will fire if it is not completely recharged, but you will be left with an extremely underexposed image. The recycle times on this flash are simply too long. Five to seven seconds to recharge is terrible, to be honest, and when you are waiting for it to charge, it feels like hours have passed before you can shoot again.
Crowds in China get a raw deal, in that we shoot and flash the hell out of them.
The flash has no bounce card, and the tilt is limited, giving you fewer options when trying to bounce the light. Often, when I shoot a band’s portrait, I would bounce the light off the wall behind me, but this is not an option with this flash. The only real options to bounce the light are the roof or maybe the wall to the left or right. The MEIKE MK-320F flash does come with a stofen, but I have never used it and leave it in the flash box at home.
Simple crowd shot that I would shoot between songs
So this flash is clearly not a unit for a working photographer. Would I recommend this flash to non-professionals looking to get a better image in the dark compared to the supplied Fujifilm flash? That’s a difficult question to answer. The flash is small and easy to carry. It can be used to bounce light off walls if you are creative. Its TTL metering is average, and the light falls off the center really quickly. There are many negatives to this flash, but as far as options go for the Fujifilm system, this is likely the best one right now. However, being the best option when there are no other real options is not great.
This flash is ideal for some fill flash. The flash is not super powerful, so when filling in shadows in strong sunlight, you cannot be too far away.
Most people will use this flash with their small cameras to shoot portraits, rather than events like I normally do. So let’s compare the light to the supplied Fujifilm flash. The quality of light you get from the MEIKE MK-320F flash is much more workable and easy to manage than the Fujifilm flash. You can bounce it and work with it much more to get pleasing results. If I had to choose between using the Fujifilm flash that came with the XT1 or this flash, I would pick this one every single time. In this regard, the flash does its job really well.
The flash obviously has no HSS, so it is hard to use with a shallow depth of field if you want it to fill in some shadows. If you want to shoot with one of your lenses wide open during the day with flash, you will need to use an ND filter.
Writing a conclusion for this flash is difficult. Personally, I don’t like this flash a lot—I missed many shots with it at work, but I was using a flash not designed for professional use, so it is partly my own fault. As a flash for everyday life, shooting your friends or family, it is a good buy. If you want to shoot more demanding subjects, you may need a flash with more power and versatility.
The MEIKE MK-320F flash has many good features, and I really like the LCD interface and buttons. The LED light is really useful, and the USB charging is a unique feature that I wish many other flashes would incorporate. Despite these strong points, think carefully before you buy it. I still carry the flash in my camera bag when I shoot with the Fujifilm XT1. It is the best option for me to carry around every day—it is small, compact, and great for quick shots in the dark. However, when I’m at home and shoot with the XT1, I never grab this flash. I always grab a Nikon or Yongnuo flash and shoot manually because I find it much easier to control the light with those flashes.
I guess this is the best conclusion I can give this flash: It is great for run-and-gun type shooting, where you don’t care much about controlling the light, but if you want to control the light to any degree, this is not the flash for you.
Conclusions
Pros
- Good build quality
- great interface
- Unique features such as USB charging and LED light
- Small and compact
Cons
- Limited mobility
- inconsistent light spread.
- Slow refresh times.
Shaun