What's a good flash for an AE-1

Hello, and thanks for reading this.

 

Last year I bought a Canon AE-1 for my daughter to learn on. She's sort of getting the hang of it but the flash

gets frustrating for her. Is there a flash made for the AE-1 that will be "automatic"? Or will I have to get a

flash that I have to set the aperture on the camera/lens to the flash? In short will a used Canon 199A give more

functionality than a more generic automatic flash?

 

I did try using the search but I usually don't find what I am looking for and this was no exception.

 

Dan

I've had an AE-1 since 1980, and a bunch of A-series cameras.

 

Any of the Canon A flashes (133A, 155A, 177A and 199A) will work nicely with that camera. Other flashes may or may not work, depending on a lot of things. But the Canon A flashes definitely will.

 

The handle mount G series flashes (533G and 577G) will do likewise.

 

The A flashes all mount directly onto the AE-1's hot shoe. They will automatically sync the camera to 1/60th, regardless of where the shutter speed dial is actually set.

 

If you set the flash on an automatic setting and the FD lens on the A setting, the camera will go into full automatic mode. Usually there are two settings--a "green" zone and a "red" zone. I believe the green zone was for near distances and the red zone is for longer distances.

 

You can set the lens and flash each for manual mode if you want to do everything yourself.

 

The 133A is a small 2-AA flash which is good for office parties and other things where you don't need a lot of light. The 155A is a bit larger and takes 4 AAs. The 177 is larger still. The 199A is much larger but adds bounce capability. They're all shoe-mount.

 

The 533G and 577G are handle-mount, and attach to the camera via a bracket. There's a special cord and module that goes to the shoe.

 

A series flashes are still common and fairly inexensive--even the 199A. The handle-mount 533G and 577G are still kind of pricey; I have the 577G and it takes 6 C cells in a separate pack. I don't recommend it unless you really need it.

 

If you buy an A series flash, make sure it works (though I don't think they're prone to fail) and pay particular attention to the foot (the bracket that slips into the hot shoe on the camera). The feet on these are plastic and they're known to break. The 199A, in particular, is known for this (probably because it's pretty big). 199As are very commonly found very, very cheap with broken feet. And you can typically find a lot of replacement parts for the 199A *except* the feet.

Almost any new "dedicated" flash would be set up for the EOS system. Ideally what you'd want is a dedicated flash for the FD system. A used Sunpak 433D or Canon 199A would do the trick and should be available for a very reasonable price. <p>Another option would be a new Vivitar 285. They're relatively easy to use. For ISO 400 film, for example, you'd set the camera to the x-sync shutter speed, set the Vivitar 285's auto setting to yellow, set your aperture to (if memory serves) f/5.6 and fire away. It's not as accurate as TTL, but it's simple enough. BTW, if you find a Sunpak 383, it'd be just as good.

<p>

--<br>

Henry Posner<br>

<b>B&H Photo-Video</b>

If you buy a non Canon flash, you want to make sure the shoe is compatible. Vivitar, Sunpak, and other third-party companies made very good flashes, but they made them for different systems with incompatible shoes. You don't want to put a Minolta-shoe flash on a Canon shoe, or vice-versa. Sometimes the shoes are obviously incompatible, but some are very similar looking.

 

Not saying you shouldn't do it -- just make sure it was meant for your Canon.

I'm betting your daughter also doesn't want to be carrying anything large and/or heavy. THE most basic flash unit for your AE-1 is the Canon 011A speedlite. It's smaller than a pack of cigarettes and has only one switch. From the 'off' position, you have a choice of ISO 100 or 400. It's not going to do well in a large area and/or long distances, but for a quick source of light that's as easy as reaching into your pocket, this is great. I've had mine now for 20 years and I just saw several of them on ebay for under $10.

<a href="http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/canon/fdresources/shared/speedlites/index.htm">A comparison of various Canon flashes</a> for A-series cameras, listed in order of flash power.

I've gotten great results with Vivitar 2600 Auto that's just as old as my AE-1 Program. Using the auto mode is fairly

simple. Slide this thing on the back of it to select your film speed, and it tells you where to put the aperture for auto

exposure. It works fairly well, the only problem being that this particular model isn't made anymore.

 

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Thanks guys. You've answered my question superbly.

 

I am thinking I will go with an A series Canon flash as it does more of the thinking for her as I had hoped. I'll probably keep my eye out for a bigger one.

 

Thanks again.

 

Dan

The 011A is an excellent tag along flash ( have two). The 188A is the best of the medium size flash units. The 199A is the best of the large Canon shoe mounted flashes. And my favorite for max versatility and shear power is the Sunpack 433D with the FD dedicated shoe (I own two and they are my wedding backups very fast recycle times and pretty good at getting rid of heat).

 

The 533G and 577G are huge hammer head flashes with separate large battery packs suited to Studio or location work like a wedding etc. Not the average hobbiest.

Dan,

 

I have an A-188 and sent you an email via PN with details