Vivitar 285 varipower functions explained ?

I have the manual for the flash, but don't quite understand the

functions of varipower

When using the flash the normal way, there are the colour coded

zones, telling you in what range the flash can be used, but in

varipower there is no range indicated, how to find the useable range

in varipower?

 

thank you

Poul B-H

Each position, color, signifys a maximum power limit. The Vivitar 283 / 285 will go from 0-limit, automatically finding a spot between 0-limit. The higher the limit, the more choices the Vivitar has. But the higher to limit, the faster your batteries will drain. The unit is a 100ws unit..at one color down, it is a 50ws unit, then 25ws, then 12ws. Timber Borcherding timberborcherding

First off, if it's not clear, Varipower is manual mode. Ignoring varipower for a moment, you figure your manual exposure range by reading aperture / distance pairs off the dial.

 

(forgive any inaccuracies here, I'm going from memory, and 283 memory to boot.)

 

So, ISO 100, you might have a manual range of f/11 @ 10 feet. (note that in manual, it's a 'fixed' range, not like '2 to 10 feet for f/11'.) f/11 @ 10 feet would be full power manual. If you set the varipower to -1 stop (or '1/2'), now you would have f/8 @ 10 feet. -2 stop ('1/4') would be f/5.6 @ 10 feet.