can i use this flash safely?

weetsie · 29-09-2009, 12:11 AM

so i have a konica flash pictured here: http://static.photo.net/attachments/...6050-78641.jpg

it may look a bit weedy but its a hell of alot more powerful than the popup flash on the 450D.

im just worried because someone told me i shouldn't use it because of the different voltages or something and i could break my 450D, is this true?

and also why would canon make the fastest flash sync speed 1/200th when the camera is clearly capable of much faster shutter speeds with flash? its like they are limiting the camera for no reason.

shotokan101 · 29-09-2009, 12:30 AM

If you've already used it and it works and the camera is still o.k. why worry ?

Electrical circuit usually let you know pretty quickly if they are being driven over-voltage or current.

Jim

weetsie · 29-09-2009, 1:03 AM

well thats what if thought at first, if it works once it will work always.

but i just read this:
Will using a Vivitar 285 flash unit damage my Nikon D200? - Yahoo! Answers

which suggests that your flash could still damage your body even if it doesn't do it first time

however i found this page and it claims that my flash is safe to use on an EOS.

useful website for anyone else with an old flash too:
Photo Strobe Trigger Voltages

shotokan101 · 29-09-2009, 7:47 AM

Yep - looks like it's better to be safe than sorry.

At least you've been lucky

Jim

mg-paul · 29-09-2009, 1:28 PM

You could always get a cheap optical slave unit from the bay. Then use the onboard flash to act as a trigger. That way you can use the flash for extra power and also use the on camera flash for fill in.

I use one on an old Nissin Flash unit as a 2ndary flash to my SB800, works fine, but of course you will need to make sure you get the flash strengths right as they will be acting without the TTL features.

weetsie · 29-09-2009, 2:52 PM

exactly what on ebay would a be looking for? and you think i can use both pop up flash and my external flash?

as for TTL i just always use iso 100 F13 and 1/320th and full power.

mg-paul · 29-09-2009, 6:35 PM

Hi,

Something like
Flash Hot Shoe Sync Adapter Slave Trigger Wireless T1C on eBay (end time 30-Sep-09 05:28:28 BST)

basically it picks up the flash from the camera and triggers the remote unit. Hence you can use both, of course you can then play with different levels of power from the 2 units.

Only downside is you will need to put the remote flash on something (a tripod) or prop it up, or get someone else to hold it for you.

HTH

weetsie · 29-09-2009, 11:49 PM

so that thing is triggered by the light from the flash on your camera?

jradley · 30-09-2009, 3:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weetsie

and also why would canon make the fastest flash sync speed 1/200th when the camera is clearly capable of much faster shutter speeds with flash? its like they are limiting the camera for no reason.

What makes you think it will reliably sync at anything much faster that 1/200th ? I'm guessing it wont but also can't really imagine any situation where you would need it to.

With a speedlight attached I can't make the shutter speed go above 1/200th to test but I'd guess anything above about 1/400th and you'd start to get banding due to mis-sync.

Cheers,

John

weetsie · 30-09-2009, 7:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jradley

What makes you think it will reliably sync at anything much faster that 1/200th ? I'm guessing it wont but also can't really imagine any situation where you would need it to.

With a speedlight attached I can't make the shutter speed go above 1/200th to test but I'd guess anything above about 1/400th and you'd start to get banding due to mis-sync.

Cheers,

John

at 1/400th there is a black line across the bottom but i have taken over 100 photos at 1/320th and there has never been a problem.

i dont need a faster 1/200th shutter speed but i dont need 3.5FPS or 12MP either, its just stupid limiting it for no reason.

mg-paul · 30-09-2009, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weetsie

so that thing is triggered by the light from the flash on your camera?

Yup, works fine most of the time, the only time I had issues were not really my problem. I had it set up as a side fill for some group shots at a wedding aniversary, mine all came out right but a few with little P&S's found that it was responding to their camera flash as well and they were getting swamped. whoops.

There are also other units where you get a wireless link between the hotshoe of the camera and the remote flash, but these are usually more expensive, so give one of these little (and cheap) units a go and then you can start playing with multiple flash units.