I never used external flash. Please tell me what to look for in an external flash for my Panasonic DMC-FZ200 camera.
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External would also apply to a hot shoe mounted flash. It doesn't have to be off camera to be an external flash. – Michael C Jun 4 '17 at 19:11
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Possible duplicate of Can I use non-Panasonic flashes on the FZ1000's hot shoe?; see also What features should one look for when selecting a flash? – inkista Jun 4 '17 at 19:32
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2@MichaelClark I think matt was going by the off-camera-flash tag; I've removed it since there was no mention in the question text of going Strobist. – inkista Jun 4 '17 at 19:37
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Can I use non-Panasonic flashes on the FZ1000's hot shoe? – Michael C Jun 4 '17 at 21:45
If you want full TTL (automatic) flash with the flash mounted on the camera's hot shoe or connected to the camera's hot shoe via an off-shoe cable: you need a "dedicated" Panasonic flash. The Olympus flashes for 4/3 and ยต4/3 systems use the same pin arrangement and protocol as the Panasonic flashes and are generally said to be better and cheaper than the Panasonic flashes. Any third party flash "made for Panasonic" or "made for Olympus" should also work.
If you want manually controlled flash, either on or off the camera: pretty much any flash with a center pin that has a trigger voltage your camera or wireless trigger can tolerate will work. The trigger voltage is important! If the flash has a higher trigger voltage than the camera can tolerate the voltage applied by the flash to the hot shoe can fry your camera's electronics!
For more, please see:
Can I use non-Panasonic flashes on the FZ1000's hot shoe?
Can vintage strobes damage wireless receivers?