Can anyone help me with this?

marceija · May 1, 2005

Here's a link to a picture of my Vivitar 730 AFC flash I bought used.
Could someone please tell me how to use it? I'm just starting photography so I don't know much. How do I set this flash right?

http://community.webshots.com/user/mytwopumpkins

Thanks,
Eija

ksmattfish · May 1, 2005

The 28, 35, 50, and 85 refer to focal length. Adjust it until your focal length and ISO match up. The 2.8 (hmm seems to be missing in the pic), 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, etc... along the side are f/stops. Figure out your flash to subject distance, and use the f/stop that matches up the best.

For instance, in the pic it's set for ISO 400 with an 85mm lens (or zoom set to 85mm or greater). If my subject was 12 feet away I'd go with f/16. If my subject was over 30 feet away I'd use f/5.6 or wider.

Does the display change when you switch from HI to LO? If not the display probably represents HI.

Do you know the guide number of the flash? You can find it somewhere on the web.

Guide # divided by flash to subject distance equals f/#

If you have a GN 100 flash, and your subject is 10 feet away, the aperture would be f/10 (go to f/8 or the click in between f/8 and f/11).