Old flash VITACON 988

zsbreaker · Nov 22, 2011

Recently I find an old flash - VITACON 988.
Because I dont possess any flash for Canon 450D (just starting with my new hobby) this is fine product for now.
I put it on camera and woaaaaoow
It is much better then that flash in my 450D, and powerfull.

The question is now, how to make adjustments on that old flash?
There is on the back side some slides, glides, with scales, but there is nothing that I can understand.

Can I control power factor of it ?

On the Internet I search for a week for some kind of manual or forum thread for this model, but no success.
Maybe here omeone have some info about my new discovery

Regards
Zivko

Derrel · Nov 22, 2011

Found pics of one on eBay. Looks a LOT LIKE the "Crown" brand of flash!!! VITACON 988A flash - EXCELLENT CONDITION!!! | eBay

On back of flash, top slider, set the ASA/DIN to the ISO in use. Use the Canon at say 200 or 400 ISO. The Orange bar indicates the f/stop for use with the Orange slider setting on the FRONT of the flash. Same with the GREEN setting on the front. the WHITE position on the slider on the front is the Manual power setting mode. Set the zoom head to the zoom in use, set the ASA/DIN to the ISO in use, focus the camera, and read the appropriate f/stop from the scale on the back of the flash in manual mode based on the focused distance in meters or feet, based on the lens's focusing scale.

The AUTO f/stops are the ORANGE and GREEN slider modes on the front of the flash. With the Canon camera at ISO 200, the f/stops to set would be roughly f/5.6 and f/11. This would be with the Zoom head set to TELE mode...at NORMAL, Wide, and S-WIDE, the power level will go down. I have an old Crown Auto-Thyristor flash that looks very similar to this flash!

zsbreaker · Nov 22, 2011

i was more interested about power factor of this flash.

can I have MAX and MIN of power with all that slides on the back?

or if I need to make some DIY modification, can anybody tell me how and what to do ?

thanks for your answers!!!!

tirediron · Nov 22, 2011

If you search here, you should be able to find a manual for it. It may take some searching, since, as Derrel indicated, I suspect that this particular flash was marketed under several different names.

zsbreaker · Nov 28, 2011

can anyone help me with info about dismantle my flash:

MLeeK · Nov 28, 2011

Stop putting old flashes on your hotshoe!!! many of them have an electrical feedback that can ruin your camera's hotshoe. I can't find any info on this one off hand quickly, but I wouldn't be using it mounted on camera until you do find out if it is safe.

The old flashes like this are an awesome way to build a great set of lighting off camera. Just pick up a cheap trigger and hotshoe receiver set and you are in business.