Vivitar Flash...

[BuS_RiDeR]

Now I am a flash photography noob... But while I was rummaging through some old boxes I came across a flash unit I bought years ago for my canon Elan II. An old Vivitar 728AFC (hardly used). Here is a pic of it...

From what I could dig up online, this will work with my 50D... Can anyone verify that for me please?

Also... can this be used as off camera flash? I'm assuming so... however I am totally new to flash photography.

 

[Big Mike]

The first thing to be concerned about, is the trigger voltage. Too high and it could fry your camera's flash circuit. The 35mm film EOS cameras had a safe rating of 6 volts, although up to 24 volts was required by ISO standards...so up to 24 was probably safe too.

Since about 5 or so years ago, the digital bodies have been rated at 200 or 250 volts, so the vast majority of flashes should be safe to use.

According to THIS SITE, that flash is around 8 volts, so you should be good to go.

As for how it will work with your camera, I'm not sure. But the Elan II had the same flash contacts that your camera has, so you should get similar results.

And yes, any flash can be used as an off-camera flash, you just need a way to trigger it. Also, if the flash doesn't have a manual mode and/or power adjustment, then it will probably fire at full power when not attached to the camera. You can still work with that, it just takes away one variable in your flash exposure equation.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

The first thing to be concerned about, is the trigger voltage. Too high and it could fry your camera's flash circuit. The 35mm film EOS cameras had a safe rating of 6 volts, although up to 24 volts was required by ISO standards...so up to 24 was probably safe too.

Since about 5 or so years ago, the digital bodies have been rated at 200 or 250 volts, so the vast majority of flashes should be safe to use.

According to THIS SITE, that flash is around 8 volts, so you should be good to go.

As for how it will work with your camera, I'm not sure. But the Elan II had the same flash contacts that your camera has, so you should get similar results.

And yes, any flash can be used as an off-camera flash, you just need a way to trigger it. Also, if the flash doesn't have a manual mode and/or power adjustment, then it will probably fire at full power when not attached to the camera. You can still work with that, it just takes away one variable in your flash exposure equation.

Thanks Big Mike. I think I'll buy an adapter and put it on one of my umbrella stands.

I did take a few snaps with it on my 50D... everything was WAY over-exposed.. I guess I need to learn how to use it now.

 

[Dao]

If the flash is made for film camera, it may not work with the TTL on the digital camera. Can you change the flash power on the Vivitar 728AFC manually? If yes, should be able to use it on your camera or off camera (with trigger) and adjust the flash power manually. I have a old Canon 420EZ flash that works well in that aspect. (as well as the Vivitar 285Hv)

 

[Dao]

I googled and saw the back of the flash. It doesn't seem to support manual mode (flash power)

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

I googled and saw the back of the flash. It doesn't seem to support manual mode (flash power)

The top of the unit... The piece with the actual flash on it... can be extended (4 settings) to what appears to be 4 different focal lengths.... The settings are 28, 35,50, and 85.

Could this be the power setting?

 

[Dao]

That should be the focal length. (like the flash head zoom in and out)

Normally it should be something like 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 ......

 

[Ron Evers]

The 28, 35,50, and 85 focuses the flash to the FOV for the lens (or zoom position) you are using. If using a 50mm lens set the flash to 50mm.

 

[Big Mike]

Keep in mind that those zoom settings were designed for use on a 35mm film camera, so you could take into account the crop factor of 1.6. So if you're using a 50mm lens, you could probably use the 85mm zoom setting.

The benefit of doing that, in theory, is that you can save flash power because it's not covering an area wider than the lens can see. But if you can't control the flash's power, it's going to fire at full power anyway :er:

However, the zoom setting is useful when using it off camera, you can control the spread of light and get more distance out of it when zoomed to a tighter beam.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

Thanks for your input folks.

Unfortunately a new flash unit is not in my budget right now. So I'll have to do a bit of experimenting to see if I can make use of the older Vivitar.