• Newly designed energy circuit improves recharge rates and enables the flash to operate on just two AA batteries or one CR 3-volt Lithium battery
• A cost-effective, full-featured alternative to the the larger FL-50
• Specifically designed for digital with an accurate 1/8 step illumination control
• Built-in wide-angle diffuser panel allows the flash to provide even illumination with wide angle lenses
• Compact, lightweight, and extremely portable

The FL-36 Electronic-Flash is specifically designed for digital with an accurate 1/8 step illumination control to provide the precision required by digital cameras, while minimizing illumination reduction. The built-in wide-angle diffuser panel will allow the flash to provide even illumination with wide angle lenses like the new Zuiko Digital 14mm-45mm zoom. The inclusion of a lockable bounce and swivel mechanism offers a variety of bounce photography options including left-right, as well as top-bottom in addition to a compact zoom head to accommodate lenses from wide angle to telephoto.

I chose this flash due to my budget. But have not been disappointed. It may have a slow cycle time. In my type of photography with light, controlled environment that has not been an issue. For macro photography of animals/insects it has not seen that much action lately. Waiting on light stand to try out some strobist style shooting with this flash.

I'm new to the whole external flash scene, and this seemed to be my best option. I've used it a handful of times yielding some good results, but there are better flashes out there (for more money of course). The FL-36 is a great flash if you are looking at getting into flash photography with an Olympus SLR. You can also use it as a stand-alone flash unit, which is rather fun!

Lightweight but still firm enough. It can tilt and swivel, so you can bounce it whatever you like. It offers zoom range from 12-42mm, and light isn't too hard even without dedicated diffuser. You can use it in auto-TTL mode, auto-non-TTL mode or as a fully manual flash. I would like to see it running on 4 AA's instead of 2, which would give even quicker recharges, still it's not too slow with 2 batteries (~6 secs).
I knew exactly what I was buying and it's everything I expected it to be. Price is also reasonable, so I recommend it.

I bought this flash about a month ago, and wish I had bought it sooner. I have an E-500, and have had problems shooting in low-light situations. The flash solves these problems. I have successfully taken outdoor photos in the dark, as well as a bunch of indoor shots. It does take a few seconds for the flash to regenerate, but by the time you review a photo on the LCD screen, you are ready to shoot again. This flash should suffice for 80% of my shooting needs.

I have an Olympus E-510 camera, and this flash unit is just what I needed. It has all advanced functions, like tilting head, different shooting modes, including TTL-auto (my favorite). It communicates flawlessly with all e-volt series cameras.
I really liked the light bulb zoom function. It detects the focal distance of your actual lens, and adjusts the flash accordingly, illuminating just the zone that will be actually captured by the camera sensor.
It takes some seconds to charge, but once it's charged and unless you use the maximum power of the flash, the recycle time is very fast.