Vivitar 285HV help

rsparts · May 1, 2008

Hi everybody. I just bought a Vivitar 285HV on the recommendation of some other fellow photographers. It's a nice flash but I am totally stumped on how to use it. I've been reading the owners manual but it's really just not making sense to me. I'm mostly stumped on how to use the calculator dial.

I'll be honest, I've never shot with a flash before so I think I need more basic info on that before I can fully understand how to use this great new piece of equipment I just bought.

please help.

a frustrated newbie

pathfinder · May 1, 2008

Welcome to dgrin, rsparts.

Start here

What is your level of knowledge of basic photography and flash photography? Do you fully understand aperture, shutter speed, flash duration and focal plane shutters, and ISO speeds? You will these very helpful to understand a fully manual strobe.

The 285HV is basically used as a totally manual flash as rec'd in The Strobist.

To tell the truth, I never bothered to look at the calculator dials on the 285HV itself. The colors match the colors of the aperture range choice when the flash in is the Auto mode - that is the aperture is chosen from the flash, placed into the camera settings, and then the flash is quenched by the exposure meter in the flash. This was how things were done 20 + years ago on the Vivitar 283 which is what the 285HV evolved from.

These days if you want an automatic ( ETTL) flash, you are better off buying an EOS or a Nikon speedlite to match your system.

The 285Hv is a very nice manual strobe ( I own one of course ), and it triggers well off camera with a Pocket Wizard type radio trigger. In the link I posted there are a good set of exposure settings to get you started with the 285HV. A flash meter is a handy tool to use with manual flash. Not really needed, but handy just the same.

MarkW · May 1, 2008

I've been using Vivitar 285Hv's for years and I love them. It's really easy to use the calculator dial but you do need to practice til you get it down.

Here's how to manually calculate the flash on the Vivitar 285HV.

1. Start by setting your setting your ISO. For this example we're at ISO 100 marked by the outer dial by the white arrow.

2. Next set your power level that you want to start with. Above we're at 1/4 power marked by the black arrow.

3. Next you have a choice. Either you'll know what f stop you want to shoot at and you need to get the distance to set the flash or you know the distance and need to know the f/stop. Let's say we know our desired f/stop and want to know the distance to set the flash. Our goal is to shoot @ f/5.6 so we need to know how far away to set the flash looking at the f stops on the dial, f/5.6 lines up between 7 and 10ft. So if you set your flash 8.5ft from the subject you should get pretty close to the proper exposure without any chimping!

So what if you're using a modifier like a shoot through umbrella. Do the same as above but realize that you're going to probably lose about 1/2 to 1 stop of light. So if you want to keep the f/stop @ 5.6 then you will need to move the flash closer, probably between 5 1/2 feet to 6 feet to compensate for a 1 stop lose of light.

So basically it comes down to this, you must know atleast three parts to get the 4th part. Example: You know the distance, ISO, f/stop but you need the power or you know the power, distanace, ISO but need the f/stop. The calculator will make it easy to determine the last piece of the puzzle.

So there you have it easy calculation without chimping. A meter does make things a whole lot faster but after some practice it doesn't take long to use a calculator either.

I've used the color auto modes only few times but always ended up with funcky exposure. I strictly use this flash in manual mode.

rsparts · May 1, 2008

MarkW wrote:

I've been using Vivitar 285Hv's for years and I love them. It's really easy to use the calculator dial but you do need to practice til you get it down.

Here's how to manually calculate the flash on the Vivitar 285HV.

1. Start by setting your setting your ISO. For this example we're at ISO 100 marked by the outer dial by the white arrow.

2. Next set your power level that you want to start with. Above we're at 1/4 power marked by the black arrow.

3. Next you have a choice. Either you'll know what f stop you want to shoot at and you need to get the distance to set the flash or you know the distance and need to know the f/stop. Let's say we know our desired f/stop and want to know the distance to set the flash. Our goal is to shoot @ f/5.6 so we need to know how far away to set the flash looking at the f stops on the dial, f/5.6 lines up between 7 and 10ft. So if you set your flash 8.5ft from the subject you should get pretty close to the proper exposure without any chimping!

So what if you're using a modifier like a shoot through umbrella. Do the same as above but realize that you're going to probably lose about 1/2 to 1 stop of light. So if you want to keep the f/stop @ 5.6 then you will need to move the flash closer, probably between 5 1/2 feet to 6 feet to compensate for a 1 stop lose of light.

So basically it comes down to this, you must know atleast three parts to get the 4th part. Example: You know the distance, ISO, f/stop but you need the power or you know the power, distanace, ISO but need the f/stop. The calculator will make it easy to determine the last piece of the puzzle.

So there you have it easy calculation without chimping. A meter does make things a whole lot faster but after some practice it doesn't take long to use a calculator either.

I've used the color auto modes only few times but always ended up with funcky exposure. I strictly use this flash in manual mode.

you are amazing. thanks so much:D

pathfinder · May 1, 2008

Great explanation Mark.

I thought the calculator dial was to show ranges of distances at a particular aperture and ISO when in the Auto mode. But I guess it can be used in either mode. Thanks for clearing that up.

The manual flash output settings can be altered by rotating the disc on the front of the flash just above the shoe mount.

rsparts · May 1, 2008

Alright great so now I have a better understanding of how to use this flash on camera but I'm looking forward to learning to use it off camera too. I bought a 43" white umbrella and an umbrella mount bracket - now all I need is a stand.

MarkW · May 1, 2008

rsparts wrote:

Alright great so now I have a better understanding of how to use this flash on camera but I'm looking forward to learning to use it off camera too. I bought a 43" white umbrella and an umbrella mount bracket - now all I need is a stand.

It took me a few reads through the manual before I understood what they were talking about. After I got the basics the only thing that had me confused was using it in bounce mode. As it turned out that was just as easy. Ex. If you shoot some one 15ft away and you bounce at a 45 degree angle off the ceiling. The distance to the ceiling is let's say 10 ft. Remember you have to add the distance to the ceiling and back to the subject. So you flash distance to the subject is 20ft and not 15 ft!

You'll be surprised what you can do with this one flash an umbrella. Have fun and keep us posted on your results.

rsparts · May 1, 2008

MarkW wrote:

It took me a few reads through the manual before I understood what they were talking about. After I got the basics the only thing that had me confused was using it in bounce mode. As it turned out that was just as easy. Ex. If you shoot some one 15ft away and you bounce at a 45 degree angle off the ceiling. The distance to the ceiling is let's say 10 ft. Remember you have to add the distance to the ceiling and back to the subject. So you flash distance to the subject is 20ft and not 15 ft!

You'll be surprised what you can do with this one flash an umbrella. Have fun and keep us posted on your results.

wouldnt that be 25 feet and not 20? If the subject is 15 feet away and the ceiling height is 10 feet, wouldn't that equal 25? maybe i read that wrong.

I also just noticed you're in Newport News, I'm in Richmond

MarkW · May 1, 2008

rsparts wrote:

wouldnt that be 25 feet and not 20? If the subject is 15 feet away and the ceiling height is 10 feet, wouldn't that equal 25? maybe i read that wrong.

I also just noticed you're in Newport News, I'm in Richmond

Nope it should be 20ft. The subject would be 15ft straight ahead of you. The flash is angled upwards at half the distance to the subject. Ideally you would aim the bounce halfway between the flash and the subject...7 1/2ft, so when it bounces it will evenly illuminate the subject. The distance from the flash to the ceiling is 10ft. So if it takes ten ft to reach the ceiling it must take another 10ft to bounce back from the ceiling to the subject. Hence 20ft distance.

Here's a really crude drawing.

Cool that you're in Richmond! We may have to meetup sometime!

rsparts · May 2, 2008

MarkW wrote:

Nope it should be 20ft. The subject would be 15ft straight ahead of you. The flash is angled upwards at half the distance to the subject. Ideally you would aim the bounce halfway between the flash and the subject...7 1/2ft, so when it bounces it will evenly illuminate the subject. The distance from the flash to the ceiling is 10ft. So if it takes ten ft to reach the ceiling it must take another 10ft to bounce back from the ceiling to the subject. Hence 20ft distance.

Here's a really crude drawing.

Cool that you're in Richmond! We may have to meetup sometime!

ah I see now. Thanks for illustrating that.

Yeah we should get together. We'll go shooting.

Vivitar 285HV help

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