Nikon and an older flash.

[monkeykoder]

I've been reading many places that you need to worry about the voltages on your flash. I also read in the D50 manual "Negative voltages or voltages over 250V" might damage the camera. This 250V seems significantly higher than the 5-12V rating for most cameras I've read about. I guess what I'm asking is how many people have tried it and how many problems has it caused? Would you trust the manual or not?

 

[Mike_E]

Yes, Nikon is more rugged than other makers in this regard.

Do practice caution however! If the flash you are considering is anywhere near 200V then I would still use an Optical or Wireless trigger.

There is no reason to use any other brand than Nikon though unless you want to light an airplane hanger with just one flash. All the recent Sbs will work manually or on auto (if they have that function) with your D50.

The best bet though is to get an Sb 600 or the Sb 800. I don't know where you stand with the cost but the iTTL is worth the price for daytime fill flash!

 

[Garbz]

The problem is how the flash is triggered. This is done by applying a voltage between terminals. The camera shorts these terminals to trigger the flash. If the camera like the EOS400 uses a transistor or basic optocoupler then there's risk of damaging all the electronics in the camera OR damaging the flash trigger.

Some HV MOSFETs or clean contact switches however can easily switch 250V the thing is that they are more expensive. So it depends from one camera to another, but if the manual says 250V with no negative voltages it means at 250V is safe, probably quite a bit more is safe too.

Some old flashes like older vivitar units have insane trigger voltages.

 

[jstuedle]

Some old flashes like older vivitar units have insane trigger voltages.

True! The old version of the very popular Vivitar 283 dumped the full trigger voltage of the flash tube across the hotshoe terminals. Very hard on delicate modern electronics.