Old speedlights?

Through the haze of screaming children and crashing toys today, I was trying (unsuccessfully) to straighten out my gear.  Once everyone was down for a nap and the house was quiet for an hour or so, I was able to really dig through my stuff and get things arranged.

During this time of focused sorting in silence, I realized two things.

1: I'm completely at peace when I can find silence.  It was a good feeling.

2: I really love old speedlights.  

That second thing got to me a little.  Why do I love old speedlights?  Why do I have so many?

Well, I have so many because I use them all the time and I love them because they're cheap and crazy powerful for the money.  I like the subtlety of the smaller lights and lower outputs from speedlights.  I like the control I have with them.  Need more than max output but not a full stop more? Bring out another speedlight at half power.  Sure, you could get the same sort of fine control out of a big studio strobe but can you do it for $200 at a flea market on a Saturday and walk out with a duffel bag full of them?  Probably not.

If you're reading this, and I don't know if anyone even is, give old Vivitar, Sunpak, Quantaray, etc. speedlights a shot.  You won't get functional TTL but, if you don't mind playing with your seings manually, I think you'll be glad you did.