Second-hand flash units

[Gwendal]

Hello - I'm looking for a flash unit (specifically, the FL36) and I'd like to know if there is such a thing as "shutter count" for flashes ? Is it risky to buy one that has been used for two years ?

 

[Brianetta]

Hello - I'm looking for a flash unit (specifically, the FL36) and I'd like to know if there is such a thing as "shutter count" for flashes ? Is it risky to buy one that has been used for two years ?

Depends on the flash, I suppose. My only flash is a Sunpak that was probably about five years old when I got it from my uncle. That was twenty years ago. It's still going strong. Probably not the most heavily used flash in the world, but it is a flash that gets used, and those years certainly do add up.

In fact, that very flash is in my bag here at work, just in case. If I were buying a second hand flash, my greatest concern would be that it had been properly looked after, hadn't been dropped, etc. I wouldn't be concerned for the life of the thing, especially for only a couple of years, unless perhaps it had been used in a studio for thousands of shots every day the entire time.