To add a review:
I just did a 500 photo wedding shoot last week-end and the flash handled itself very, very well indeed. I'm not into portrait photography but the couple insisted that I do the shoot, so there.
As with all new gear I had to get used to it, but a few shots here and there took care of this and soon I was comfortable with the flash. The unit feels robust and sturdy and did not have a cheap feel to it. Everything feels solid, from the locking ring on the hotshoe to the battery compartment door and buttons on the back, everything seems solid.
It is a simplistic flash and has the basic settings but nothing fancy. Auto TTL, manual in six power steps, pilot test and off camera slave trigger setting.
To put it blunt, only 3 buttons that handles everything, that is it.
It sports more features, like red-eye reduction, AF-assist, etc. and is either handled automagically by the unit or it is features that did not interests me.
From the start TTL was nothing to get excited about, got some decent snaps with this and some misses, but if you take your photography serious then you should never rely on any auto feature anyway, so this did not bother me as such. 99% of the time I had the flash in manual and the camera in full manual as well.
Battery life was very, very good. I got around 300 shots out of a set of normal Duracells and much, much more out of heavy duty Duracells (this included all the test snaps before the wedding). The batteries were cooking hot after around 300 shots and it was actually so hot that you cannot handle them with ease, if I had know this I would have made sure to swap out the sets of batteries on a regular basis to prevent some heat damage, specially when using rechargeables. That said, running through 300 shots in 2 hours will test even the best equipment out there.
Recycle time was never a problem and I never had to wait for the flash and I got so used it being dependable that I later took it for granted that it will just be ready for the next shot.
Power, this flash has some serious power, and with a guide number of 45 at 35mm I was initially thinking that it was rather average, but it handled everything I threw at it with ease. At full power you can light up the entire reception hall seating 60 guests (with a bit of power to spare) and I had no problem using my 70-300mm Tamron lens and got excellent results from it.
I compared the flash to a Canon 580EX MKII from a friend before the wedding and the result need not be debated, the 580 whipped my unit, but this was with TTL only. This was a concern for me since the colour results were not on par with the 580 in the tests and I was expecting a bit of Gimping after the wedding to correct some colours, but in manual and at the correct settings I got similar results. Colours bright and vivid, just the way I wanted.
I think this about covers it all.
Pro:
Cheap - Bang for buck
Recycle time
Battery life
Power
Cons:
TTL could be better
Heat of batteries
Need to make sure you know how to use your unit and camera in full manual to make full use of it
and this brings me to last point, simplistic.
