adapter to use Vivitar 283 etc. on Maxxum 5

Which Minolta adapter (or is there one?) do you need to use a

standard hot-shoe flash (e.g., Vivitar 283 or Sunpak 383) on a

Minolta Maxxum 5? I've read the descriptions from Minolta's web site,

but it was not totally clear to me. Alternatively, can you recommend

an adapter to go from the Maxxum 5's special Minolta hot shoe to a PC

cord? Thanks!

The Minolta FS-1100 will adapt the Minolta hotshoe to the standard ISO mount.

Joey, thanks. My concern was/is that info from the Minolta web site says that the FS-1100 has "a standard i/xi/si foot on the bottom". Does the Maxxum 5 have an i/xi/si type flash connection? Thanks.

Yes it does.

Thanks Steven. I suspected as much, I but would have hated to find out it didn't work after shelling out $100 for the adapter and flash. (I'm leaning toward the Sunpak 383 due to its swivel capability for bounce in the portrait orientation on the Maxxum 5, plus the ability to use it with my Yashica TLR.)

I'm not sure that the Maxxum 5 will be able to control that flash even with the adapter. The Maxxum 5 uses digital pulses to communicate with the flash. You should probably ask the question on the yahoo Minolta list at.

 

groups.yahoo.com/group/minolta

 

There are a few thousand members, many of whom have all sorts of combinations of equipment. They are usually very helpful.

 

Tom

I did eventually get an answer from Minolta, which was that you CANNOT use a standard flash on a Maxxum 5. Here is the full response, for the archives:

 

Dear Customer,

In response to the question that you have submitted...

Question is : I cannot seem to get any definite information on whether the FS-1100 will allow me to use my Sunpak 383 Super flash on my Maxxum 5. I`ve read the FAQ`s here and asked on photo.net and the Yahoo Minolta group. Assuming that the flash`s trigger voltage is low enough so that it does not damage the camera`s electronics (which I understand means about 6V to 8V), will this work? (And if not, why not? Is there an alternative part? If I can`t use a standard flash on the Maxxum 5`s hot shoe, that is a terrible design.) Thanks. Dave

 

Answer is : Absolutely NOT. The camera through the flash shoe "talks" to the flash in computer serial data language. The shutter has not switch as in past cameras. Therefore the camera will not even know or be able to trigger the flash. There is NO way to wire connect any non-Minolta AF flash to the Maxxum 5. If you have a studio flash do this: Using the built-in flash of ST/HT/XT/5/4 Compact AF cameras to fire Studio Flashes which have Photo Slaves. 1. Set the camera ISO to 1500. (This will make the output of the built-in flash VERY LOW) 2. Set the camera to Manual mode and use a handheld exposure meter to determine flash brightness, etc. of your studio flash units. Then enter the exposure settings into your camera as you normally do. The shutter speed should not be any faster than the camera's flash sync. (1/60, 1/90 or 1/125 sec.) and aperture according to the meter's recommendation. 3. Lift up or press the flash function button to pop-up the camera's built in flash. 4. Take the picture. The built-in flash will fire a reduced power burst (If ISO 100 film is used, the brightness of the built-in flash will be about -3 stops under normal) which will be powerful enough to be seen by the Photo Slaves but not be part of the exposure.

i read this yesterday....looking for something else, so I thought I'd try the procedure above. Works great..........except one curious thing. If I have the AE lock button optioned to act as the focus lock instead, the flashes go off........no pic taken, no film advance, which is good......but it of course makes me wait for the 283 to recharge. Just means I have to make sure I'm not optioned for that.....but, I wonder why it does that? Anybody else experience this?

Thomas, you've got me intrigued, and I hope you don't mind a few questions.

 

First, are you using the FS-1100 and a Vivitar 283 on a Maxxum 5? If not, what equipment, exactly, are you using?

 

Second, have you gotten back yet any pictures that clearly show that the flash was working properly? I ask because Minolta's response (quoted above) made me wonder whether the camera might send electrical pulses other than 'fire' that might make the flash fire slightly before the shutter released. In other words, the flash might fire, but it might not x-sync.

 

Finally, with a flash like the Vivitar, I figure I'd generally not use auto exposure anyway. Generally I'd set the camera manually to a relatively fast shutter speed that was still not above the x-sync speed, e.g., 1/60 s or 1/125 s for the Maxxum 5, and then either (1) set the flash to a manual power setting and use a flash meter to determine the aperture, and then set it manually, or (2) set the flash to one of its auto f-stop settings, and set the camera manually to that aperture. Were you trying to balance the flash with ambient light, or what? Just curios.

Dave....

was not using the fs-1100. used a Maxxum 5, built in flash up, vivitar 283 on a telescoping flash bracket attach to cam, a cheap off the shelf slave sensor to sense the built in flash light and trigger the 283 (ie no sync cords), and a diffusor set up on the head of the 283. 283 was on auto and actual film speed, the cam was on manual ISO 4 stops above actual film speed, 1/60 and f-stop to what the 283 auto flash said to use for the correct film speed. Put subject...not a person, but a white lamp shade, a black speaker cabinet, and something relatively close to middle gray (3 seperate pics)...in the "middle third" of the auto flash range.

 

no picts yet

 

yeah, normally I would also use the 283 on manual also and do the flash meter routine........but, this time, I was really just more interested in seeing if the built in flash actually could trigger the slave sensor, being so close on the same plane and so much above the built in flash........was amazed that actually worked ;o)

 

almost done with the roll, so maybe in a week i should have the results....

Thomas, yeah, I'm sure that would work. I have used the built-in flash to trigger a Sunpak 383 connected to a Wein Peanut optical slave. I used ISO 400 film and set the camera to 3200, metered the Sunpak with a flash meter, and set the camera manually.

 

Based on your response, it must be a pre-flash that triggered the Vivitar prematurely. Cover the built-in flash and I bet it doesn't happen. In other words, the problem is optical, not electrical.

 

Unfortunately, I think I will just buy a dedicated Minolta flash one day. If just seems silly to have to do so.