We have the most unusual of gear posts today; we take in three posts about three flash kits.  The makers are Lowel, Nissin and Pentax, and we make stops on pdn online, Shutterbug, and Digital SLR Photo.

Okay, the Lowel unit is not a flash per se; it’s an LED spotlight.  Jesse Will on pdn online has the goods on the Lowel GL-1.

This unit has enormous selling points.  It is lightweight, hand-held and battery-operated.  Add to that a focussing ring to adjust the coverage angle and a dimmer to control the intensity, and one has an extremely powerful lighting solution for many outdoor needs.

You can use it as a spot, fill, or deploy it with an umberella.  Apart from its versatility, other positives, according to Will, are ergonomic design and long battery life.

Next up is the Nissin MF18.  And – uh-oh – this one isn’t a proper flashlight either!  As Jack Neubart explains on Shutterbug, it is a specialized unit: a ringlight for macro work.  This unit is meant for Canon and Nikon’s TTL systems.

Neubart explains the technical construction and function of this ringlight, going into details about its LEDs, flash tubes, etc.  The specs that are most interesting are that several adapter rings are included and that in TTL mode, output intensity is adjustable from 1:8 through 1:1 to 8:1 (the ringlight has independently-controlled halves).  This point is illustrated with close-ups of a miniature rose.

This ringlight has other strong points which Neubart enthuses about, for instance, its display is highly “readable” and overall operability is “simple and straightforward.”

Finally, we get to an honest-to-goodness flash unit – two of them!

Ricoh’s new Pentax AF540FGZ II and AF360FGZ II boast a host of enviable features from what may be seen on the full press release on Digital SLR Photo.  As reflected in the model numbers, these units’ guide numbers at ISO 100 are 54 and 36 respectively.

These speedlites’ main claim to fame is ruggedness – ‘neither rain nor snow.’  Their 28-point sealing ensures that they are highly weather-resistant.

They possess a handy-dandy up-to-date feature: a fixed-light LED.  This combines with the now-ubiquitous Video Mode on cameras to give an assist in low-light situations.  On top of that this LED also has a few other uses.

These speedlites have customizable presets and four kinds of flash controls from TTL to manual.  Add to that adjustable coverage angles, vertical and horizontal bounce flash, and more, and the sum amounts to superlative products from Pentax.