flash on a yashica 124G

i have a yashica mat124g, i love this camera, and use it all the

time.

I have an old honeywell flash that has to be plugged in and attatches

at the base of the camera to the tripod mount. I am curious about

recomendations for flash equipment that will be battery opperated and

charge quickly. today i found an old vivitar 285hv to fool with, and

it mounts to the side with a hot shoe attachment and is battery

opperated. it is really heavy though and seems to recycle slowly.

what i want is a flash that will be portable enough, strong enough,

stable enough on the camera, and recycle quickly enough.

I am a little clueless to this, so i apologize for my inexperience.

thank you for any helpful reccomendations.

Katie,

 

I have used the Vivitar units with my 124G as well and chose them because the were inexpensive and simple, durable units. I'm sure you could spend quite a bit more money on a unit that recycles a bit quicker. Have you considered using a battery pack? That should speed things up a bit. Units like the 285 will slow down a bit as the batteries are used.

 

I hope that helps...

Look at Promaster and SunPak flashes. They have lots different units, they are all AUTO/MANUAL flashes most of them with thyristor circuitry, so they can save the unused charge for the next burst and thus speed up the recycle time.

 

Actually any flash that can take PC cord should work. Yashica cannot do TTL flash anyway, so you do not need to worry about shoes and dedication.

 

You should also look for some simple bracket to mount the flash on. Without the bracket, whatever flash you will mount on the on-camera show will unbalance the camera. I use a very simple bracket with Mamiya C330s, unfortunatelly that will not fit the Yashica, because of the antitwist prongs. But I am sure there must be suitable bracket available.

 

And once you get the bracket, you can get SunPak 120J flash with parabolic reflector, which looks as old-time as any TLR does (but it's a modern flash with GN=150 and AUTO capability).

using rechargeable Nimh batteries willy make the recyle time MUCH faster.

Actually the anti-twist prongs on Mamiya brackets can be filed down enough so they will fit! For many years I used a Mamiya 645 grip/bracket that way on my Hasselblad 500CM and even the trigger release lined up correctly. There are any number of brackets new and used that will fit. I like the Jones bracket because it can be angled forward to clear your head with a twin lens reflex while still holding the flash directly over the lens to eliminate side shadows. The plastic foot on Vivitar 285 and 283 flashes tends to break easily but a couple of companies make metal replacements. Unfortunately they sell for almost as much as a used Vivitar 283.

You might also big metz flash guns. They have a bracket that screws into the tripod socket too...They have good circuitry and recycle pretty quickly in my experience.

I have used Yashica cameras for many years and prefer the 124 models even to Rolleis. The lens will produce a pro quality medium format image, in my opinion. The twin lens units are just not as versatile as SLR medium format cameras with interchangable lenses and such, and quick film change is not easy, but they are great image producers once you learn to use them. I'm buying another Yashica 124 (not G) from a friend in a few days. Such a good buy. I like to scan the B/W negs or have CD's made.

 

I use a Vivitar 285 flash. The side shoe mount is not too strong for a big flash. Do get a side flash bracket or the Jones Bracket as Al suggested.

 

Have fun.

Al, thanks for the tip on the jones bracket. I had not heard of this one and it looks just like what I need for my C220.

Katie

 

By all means, get a bracket for the Vivitar. I use Lithium batteries in my Viv 285. They re-charge almost immediately, and last much longer than alkalines.

 

Russ

thank you all for your tips!

i really appreciate the input.