I Keep Seeing Flashes.....

bsclark_1

Good Evening,

Since the people on these forums are the smartest camera people I know, I was wondering if you might be able to help me out.

My aunt , who was an avid 35mm photographer when I was young, recently passed away. Since I am a "budding photographer" myself, I inherited all of her old equipment.

Most of it will be good to play with, or for sentimental value, but I am wondering if I might be able to use any of it -- Specifically, the flashes.

I have a Nikon D200, and she had the following flashes:

Pentax AF160SA
JC Penney Zoom Thyristor Strobe
Focal M500C-Zoom
Focal M-200
Vivitar 40D

So, can any of these be used successfully with my D200 (On the hotshoe) until I can save enough money to but some SB-600 or SB-800 speedlights?

Thanks for all of your input!!

ziggy53

A big thing to consider is that most old flashes are designed for mechanical shutters and mechanical points that contact to perform flash sync. Most old flashes have a trigger voltage potentially dangerous to a modern dSLR. Here is a list of some known trigger voltages:

http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html

If you see your flashes listed as above 6-8 volts then I would not recommend using them directly attached to the modern camera.

You can either isolate the flashes using a Wein SafeSync device:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/245292-REG/Wein_W990560_Safe_Sync_Hot_Shoe_to.html
http://www.adorama.com/WNSSHSHS.html

... or you can use an inexpensive radio trigger/slave:

http://www.gadgetinfinity.com/product.php?productid=16766

I would not guarantee that the radio slave (receiver) is safe from the high voltage but at least you won't fry your camera.

bsclark_1

Thanks Ziggy,

Those are good, fairly inexpensive, options....

I had read that you needed to watch the voltages, but then I saw this in the D200 manual

"

Use only Nikon Speedlights. Negative voltages or voltages over 250V applied to the accessory shoe could not only prevent normal operation, but damage the sync circuitry of the camera or flash. Before using a Nikon Speed light not listed in this section, contact a Nikon-authorized service representative for more information.

"

And I know these are nowhere near 250V..... So I wasn't sure....

ziggy53

Trigger voltage has nothing to do with the battery voltage. The Vivitar 40D is the only flash that shows on the trigger voltage page I linked (and it may be fairly safe by the one respondent). Unless you measure the trigger voltages of the other flashes you cannot be sure what they produce. Even measuring the voltage at the shoe contacts with a voltmeter you cannot be sure about "transients" and spikes. I recommend the "better to be safe than sorry" attitude with old flashes.

photogreen

you could probably find a way to use them off-camera (optical trigger?). off-camera is always better lighting wise, and safer - hot-shoe wise

www.SGphoto.us

i'm not usually one to follow "only use xx accessories with xx gear" i mix and match all the time, but one thing i would never do is put a non nikon flash onto one of my expensive nikon batteries. I have fried electronics before an a kid experimenting w/ things, it only takes a split second and theres no saving it once its burnt up.

you could put together a remote setup and try some strobist stuff. i have 2 vivitar flashes i use remotely. Strobist stuff is pretty freakin awesome.

forsooth

This is not really a reply but it's somewhat related to the discussion. I'd welcome your comments
My wife has some old Speedotron gear that I think I'm about to put on ebay because based on what Ziggy said earlier I could do some damage to our gear by using it. It's a Speedotron D-300 power supply with three Speeedotron 8 1/2" M90 heads. One of the strobes bulbs needs replacing. The strobe bulbs seem to be a 276 Kemlite MW3 or similar. I had gone to the Speedotron site and asked if they can get a replacement bulb and for their opinions on this old gear. No reply so far. Should I dump these? We are completely digital and have been for years. I'm reading the Strobist blogs and getting more interested in studio stuff. The Alien Bees are tempting!

forsooth

forsooth

I checked Ziggy's post here...... http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html and decided that the Speedotrons have to go. We are on Canon 5D MKIIs and the quick answer is no, no, no!

Alien Bees here I come!

forsooth