Canon HF-DC1 High Power Flash Light - 9940A001
Manual, Automatic - 30ft Range

HF-DC1 is a must attachment for the Powershot series. Improves the range of the built in flash on my Powershot A-95. Should be only used in manual mode to prevent others from firing your flash.
 
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I tried to save money by buying a Sunpak slave that was triggered (like the HF-DC1) by the camera's built in flash and was supposed to work with all digital cameras but it failed to work with the S3. Even thought my Canon S3 IS did trigger the Sunpak if would not fire in sync with the S3 since the S3's (other Canon Powershot cameras do the same thing) flash sent out an imperceptible pre-flash that caused the Sunpak to fire before the real full flash on the S3 fired. I called Sunpak and they had no clue what was happening. A call to Canon, however, got me answers and also got me to return the Sunpak and buy the HF-DC1. In summary, don't play games and save money just buy the flash that is made to work with this and other Canon Power shot cameras. In any case, the HF-DC1 is really, really, tiny and light and uses the funky and expensive CR123a battery. Buying a rechargeable CR123a with a charger is also an expensive proposition. What to do if you want to save money? Nothing! Buy the CR123a on the WEB cheap and be thankful that each one will let you take a tremendous amount of flash photos before you need another. This Canon flash is quite efficient. The HF-DC1 comes with a bracket that lets you use the tripod socket on the S3 and other Canon Powershot cameras to mount it on the side of the camera. You can also experiment and had hold the flash at different angles without the bracket. The HF-DC1 is silver in color and doesn't really match the S3's black body but it does look good anyway. The flash has three buttons. The first allows you to set the power of the flash from min to mid to max. You will need to think this through since there are no wires going from the flash to the camera so how far the subject is from you will determine the setting you choose. Figure the HF-DC1 working with the flash on the S3, for example, will extend the distance from 15 to 30 feet and play with the setting accordingly. The next button allows you to set the flash to fire automatically or manually and is also the power on button. The word "automatic" here means nothing more than the flash firing without you touching it as soon as it sees a flash, any flash. Thus, if you are in a crowd and everyone is taking flash photos your HF-DC1 will be triggered by the flash of other cameras in this setting. What to do? Set the flash to manual and hold down the third button on the flash when you are ready to take the shot. This prevents the flash from being fired by another flash until the button is pressed This is truly a great feature and it did not exist on the Sunpak flash. The HF-DC1 is not cheap but it seems help make fairly well exposed photos most (not all) of the time. These exposures would not be possible with the camera's built in flash alone. HF-DC1 is extremely small (smaller than you think!) and is truly a featherweight. Since the Canon Powershot cameras in question have no hot shoe you must buy a slave that is triggered by the flash built into the camera. The HF-DC1 is worth the money and I highly recommend it.
 
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