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2026-04-26 Image TFD-45 Electronic Flash

    This Image TFD-45 electronic flash doesn’t show up on the internet search engines. So we are going to simply go over how much fun it is. It doesn’t have a zoom head for various focal length lenses, but has a “wide” panel that we will get to during the examination of the control panel. It has a Canon control module attached to the bottom we will also get to later.


Starting at the top of the back you have a choice of six ISO settings.  As you slide the ISO settings back and forth the “F” band below the two range slashes (orange and blue) changes so different f/stops line up with the slashes.
  •     Below the f/stop band there are two auto ranges displayed in the two slash colours.
  •     Below that there is a distance scale with “M” (Meters) in yellow on top and “FT” (Feet) in green below.
  •     Below that there is a toggle with “W” (Wide panel installed) in yellow and “S” (Straight flash) in red. When you switch between W and S the distance scale changes to show the new effective range. (If you spread the light over a wider angle to cover wide angle lenses the light gets dimmer so won’t reach as far).

    But we aren’t done!

    Below the “W&S” toggle there is the on/off toggle centered between the “Ready/Test” clear button on the right and the “Auto Check” light on the left. 

    On the bottom of the flash there is a separate control module. Some Image flash separated the flash unit and the control unit. That way the retailer could order a case of one style of flash and then stock the control modules for popular manufacturers like Nikon and Canon.



    The Canon control module has a switch for Slow Sync off/on. Canon cameras dedicated flash had the flash—when it was charged—switch the cameras to their sync shutter speed (often 60 sec). 

    Sometimes that wasn’t what you wanted. If you wanted to balance the flash with the ambient illumination you might like to use 25 sec. Then you would use the slow-sync switch (On) to have the freedom to chose your preferred shutter speed.

    And choosing to use “slow Sync” is when I suspect you have to use the second DIN/ASA setting switch. Or maybe all Canon flash have to tell the camera what DIN/ISO film you have in the camera. The top ISO scale on the flash is just setting up the lower distance/range scales and doesn’t actual have any electrical signal connection.

    The modules snap onto the base of the flash. To remove the module you screw the lock down (turning the screw clockwise). This is confusing because the counter clockwise screwing actually locks the module in place. That is because the whole lock section is actually a button you have to press down to release the module.

    This is the view of the base of the flash. There are nine small gold pins that carry signals from the contacts on the hotshoe to the flash (and vice-versa). Maybe pairs are used for Nikon/Pentax/Canon/Olympus and a signal contact for ground. Maybe there are nine different link-ups that the module plays a tune on. 

    The top of the Module (that is hidden when installed) is marked “Module C” with a strip of gold pins to match the flash.



    (above left) This slightly more diagonal view shows the orientation of the contacts to the rear control panel.

    The wide panel has a catch on the bottom of the flash lens, with a protruding catch in the center of the top that snaps into a socket. These accessory lenses often get lost between the original owner and the collector—so having the flash and lens still together is a bonus!

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