Older Flash on new dSLR

[robc638]

Some of the gear from my 35mm kit is still in useable condition. I am thinking of the old lenses and flash. According to my manual, older Nikon lenses will fit on the new camera bodies, although some features will not be available. However, the manual does not mention anything about using any other flash types except the Speedlight series.

I have a Vivitar 283 flash and was wondering if there would be any danger by putting it on the hotshoe and firing it from the camera? The 283 is a non-dedicated flash, so I would have to set the camera in manual mode, setting the shutter and aperture manually to match the flash.

The camera I use is a Nikon D60.

Thanks.

 

[chrisburke]

yea, you can use it, but you should use a slave like the Nikon SC-28 because if there is a wattage difference between the flash and the camera, you COULD fry your camera...

 

[Dao]

Do you mean the trigger voltage? And you may want to measure the trigger voltage of the flash with a multimeter and see if it is too high for your camera.

 

[Alleh Lindquist]

Should have no issues at all.

 

[RacePhoto]

And now the real answer. Maybe? :er:

Some older units have high voltage, some Chinese and Korean versions of the same flash, are just fine.

Here's a link that may be helpful, but the answer is still maybe, depending on which place it was made and when.

http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html

For anyone else, the link is not just for Vivitar it's a pretty big list of flash units and their trigger voltages.

Oh yes, the flash will work as a manual flash and I use an old one to defeat the pre-flash on my Canon cameras, when I'm triggering old slaves. New flash, you need new slaves.

 

[Garbz]

Excellent. I lost that list when i accidentally deleted my firefox profile. Thanks RacePhoto

 

[robc638]

I made a mistake, it is a 285HV. I checked the voltage as instructed on the website and it reads 8 Volts. I guess I won't be using this flash with my new D60. I'll save it and use it as a slave triggered with a photo sensor.

 

[DavidSR]

8 volts should still be acceptable for digital. I use my 285HV on my Canon XTi all the time and have had no issues, but if you're in doubt you can use this...

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Wein-SSHSHS-Safe-Sync-Shoe-W990560/dp/B00009UU18/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1224516398&sr=8-1[/ame]

 

[Mike_E]

Nikon cameras are supposed to be good to 250V. Fire away!

 

[Christie Photo]

8 volts should still be acceptable for digital. I use my 285HV on my Canon XTi all the time and have had no issues, but if you're in doubt you can use this...

http://www.amazon.com/Wein-SSHSHS-S...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1224516398&sr=8-1

Good advice. That little gizmo saved me for sure.

-Pete

 

[frXnz kafka]

I made a mistake, it is a 285HV. I checked the voltage as instructed on the website and it reads 8 Volts. I guess I won't be using this flash with my new D60. I'll save it and use it as a slave triggered with a photo sensor.

8v is fine for a modern dSLR. Most now can handle up to 250v.

 

[robc638]

The website said 6V so I assumed 8V was too much.

Can anyone confirm if Nikons can handle high voltages?

Thanks.

 

[Mike_E]

It's in your owners manual.

 

[TBAM]

I just put an old Pentax mount external flash on my brand new olympus and it worked fine. Obviously no TTL or automatic functions, but it works brilliantly.

If the voltages look like they should be within range, then give it a go.

 

[RacePhoto]

Excellent. I lost that list when i accidentally deleted my firefox profile. Thanks RacePhoto

I lose my own links even with the bookmark synchronizer, because I use a couple of laptops and four desktops, only two are synced. Then I have to guess which computer and if it was Firefox or if I was being strange and using IE.

Glad I could be helpful with my "mad skills" for finding links.