Vivitar flash

Does anyone know if I can fire a vivitar 283 flash off my E500 with out hurting it?

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Originally Posted by Tyson L. Sparks

Does anyone know if I can fire a vivitar 283 flash off my E500 with out hurting it?

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From what I have determined , most newer cameras want a flash sync voltage around 6 volts and the Vivitar 283 is up around 300. I have three Vivitar 285 flashes and the 285 is around 220 volts. The newer Vivitar 285HV has a trigger voltage of 6 volts. To be sure I would E-Mail the manufacturer of your camera or look on their website and get a telephone number and call and ask. DO NOT TRY IT untill you find out for sure or you might fry your camera.

I called and my Kodak P880 will take up to 500volts. Be sure and find out FIRST, Jeff

I found the manual on line here

http://www.olympusamerica.com/files/...d%20Manual.pdf

I looked and it doesn't say about the sync voltage but if you look on page 216 it gives you a toll free number and the operation times where you can call and ask, Jeff

My 283 runs on 4 AA batteries, that makes it 6 volt right?

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Originally Posted by Tyson L. Sparks

My 283 runs on 4 AA batteries, that makes it 6 volt right?

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NO NO NO NO NO !!!! My 285 runs on the same four AA batteries but the voltage it sends out to the camera is 220 volts. Look at the address I have below and it will tell you more about your flash, Jeff

http://www.acecam.com/photography/2108.html

You can fire any flash from your camera, if you use it off camera with a slave. You can attach a flash bracket to your camera and mount a slave to the bracket and a flash on top of that. This way, when your camera flash fires, the slave will set off the other flash.

I can't get my shutter speed up above 1/100 with my on board flash up. I need it up higher than that so I can shoot nigh sports. I don't have the money to buy an olympus flash right now.

Check in you camera's manual. The trigger voltage and current either can damage your camera if the flash circuit is not designed for the voltage or the current needed to fire a flash bulb. Flash tubes work by discharging a high voltage capacitor through the flash tube. The trigger is a small value high voltage capacitor discharging through a transformer ( like your automotive spark coil) to start the discharge by ionizing the gas in the flash tube. The voltages in the flash start about 200 volts and goes up to 1K volts in studio units. The old portable professional flashes took two 500 volt batteries.

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Originally Posted by mn shutterbug

You can fire any flash from your camera, if you use it off camera with a slave. You can attach a flash bracket to your camera and mount a slave to the bracket and a flash on top of that. This way, when your camera flash fires, the slave will set off the other flash.

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There are a couple of reasons I didn't mention getting a slave trigger for this flash. 1st depending on how important these shots are to you and if you are the only one shooting using a flash you could have problems. With the older flash you have it takes several seconds to recycle for another shot. If someone else uses a flash before you shoot your flash could accidently be triggered and you would have to wait several seconds before your able to get your shot.

2nd some cameras send out a series of pre-flashes and your own camera could trigger the external flash too early. Some of the newer flashes can be programed for preflashes so the built in flash on your camera won't set the slave flash off but the Vivitar 283 is not one of them.

I think you can experiment with it but to have something you can count on, purchasing a new flash is the better option. Your camera will only sync with a flash up to 1/180 or lower. Hope this helps, Jeff

There is a product called the Wein Safe Sync, which is a small box that goes between the camera and flash for just this purpose. However, they're garbage. Bought one, didn't work. Called the factory and asked for a replacement and it didn't work either. Apparently that's pretty common. If I ever did get one that worked, chances are it wouldn't last long anyway.

Optical slaves can be a bit touchy and will probably never work 100% as you'd hope. They'll also be set off by somebody else's flash. But it is an option...

Absolutely, without a doubt, do not try this until you figure out for sure what sync voltage your camera can handle.