Flash Sync Voltage- Vivitar 283

Yeah, I haven't checked recent prices, but would have expected them to be cheap. Wow, don't test the voltage on that one with your tongue!

Wow, don't test the voltage on that one with your tongue!

I'll try not to!

I remember getting a few nasty 'tingles' from my old hammerhead Metz and ancient Bowens 400 studio flashes when I accidently touched the centre pin of their P-C plug. No snowflake airy-fairy health & safety concerns about putting a few hundred volts down a thinly insulated bit of audio co-ax in those days!

I don't remember exactly but I bought my 283 recently and paid less than $5.

You was robbed!

Nah, it's about what it's worth.

Prices have obviously dropped since I last checked. I guess people have finally realised how rubbishy those old things are.

I remember when the Honeywell Strobonar "potato masher" strobes were the ultimate thing to have. By the time I could afford one of the better models, there were too many better alternatives.

The Nikon FM (and probably later) has a switch on the hot shoe to switch it off

if there is nothing in the shoe. Specifically, if you connect a 330V flash to the PC connector,

you don't want 330V on the hot shoe, where your finger could go.

 

You might even get in one hand and out the other at 330V.

 

As far as I remember, the first one to do that, or maybe just the first

with both PC and hot shoe.

You might even get in one hand and out the other at 330V.

That's the reason for the multi-megohm series resistor in ancient trigger circuits. In the case of the Viv283, the current would be limited to about 150 microamps, which is harmless. Tingly, but harmless.... to humans. The circuitry in a digital camera is a different matter.

It occurs to me that the little plastic caps for the hot shoe and flash terminal were not just to keep the dust out.

It occurs to me that the little plastic caps for the hot shoe and flash terminal were not just to keep the dust out.

 

For some cameras, the little plastic caps could also be used to block the viewfinder.

 

For time exposures where there might be too much light in the back, I think some cameras

you are supposed to do that.

I remember when the Honeywell Strobonar "potato masher" strobes were the ultimate thing to have. By the time I could afford one of the better models, there were too many better alternatives.

 

The first pro flash I bought was a new Strobonar 700. It lasted for years, but had to replace the Nicad packs several times. Honeywell sold replacement battery packs as well. I usually bought the sub-c cells at an electronics store and soldered them myself. Over the years I added a 710, 770, 800, and a couple of 880's. I had a couple of Larsen brackets for dual mounts, and they put out quite a bit of light for portraiture. When I sold them in the mid-90's I got around $200 for the lot.

 

In the late 80's I found an Armatron AR100, had it rebuilt into an AR200, and added a Q-Flash and a Lumedyne for weddings. I finally bought the Speedotron Brown Line for portraits, and found out what real output was.