Summary: I have owned two MZ-440AF flashes for the Minolta Maxxum. Both of them broke in two different places. The door for the batteries broke on the first one.
Summary: Mark had it right when he said "If you're looking for a completely automatic TTL flash with no options for any manual flash work, then this is a well-priced unit that
Pros: PRICE, Guide number (40 @50mm), 90 degrees tilt, 270 degree swivel, manual zoom capability, 20mm coverage with panel
Summary: I got this flash because my current Pentax flash (the AF200T) does not have a bounce head, and I wanted to try out bounce and use some of the nifty Lumiquest gadgets
Pros: Bounce/swivel head, AF assist, powerful, TTL support, neat accessories (WA diffuser and angle bouncer)
Cons: poor instruction manual (one sheet of paper), simplistic controls, Pentax version does not fully support all exposure modes
Summary: I tried the Canon 380ex before purchasing the Sunpak flash. I needed a little extra power, and I was looking to save a few dollars(like to save up for the 540).
Pros: Powerful, Swivel/ Tilt, Price
Cons: (Manual Zoom), (no E- TTL), Manual controls, no display
Summary: Its a powerful flash that's easy to use. It doesn't have any cool features, but it will make a good student flash, especially since you can get it for around $90.
Pros: powerful, easy to use
Cons: exposure confirmation light fades too quickly.