Choosing a flash to use as a trigger on a digital camera

<p>I have a Nikon P5100. I'm trying to choose an on-camera flash to use as a strobe trigger.<br /><br />My criteria are:</p>

<ul>

<li>Small and light enough to mount on the hot shoe without making the camera unwieldy or putting too much strain on the shoe.</li>

<li>Trigger voltage low enough not to damage the camera's electronics.</li>

<li>Head tilts so I can point it at the ceiling to avoid hot spots on reflective subjects.</li>

<li>Reasonably cheap.</li>

</ul>

<p>Modern technology seems to be conspiring to make the choice difficult. If I shop for an older unit I risk damaging my camera with excessive trigger voltage. I understand that some older flashes, even tiny on-camera ones, use more than 100 volts.<br /><br />If I shop for a recent unit the trigger voltage should be safe, but the rock-bottom basic ones generally don't tilt, and most of the others are dedicated. Dedicated flashes for a dinky camera like the P5100 seem to be pretty rare; the only ones I know of are the Nikon SB600 and SB800, which are both pretty expensive (more expensive than the camera!). I just need is something that goes pop when I click the shutter, but will a dedicated flash meant for another camera do even that? I've been searching the Web, and I can't find a yes or a no.<br /><br />Add the fact that it's hard to find the dimensions of an older flash, and almost impossible to find its weight, and this becomes a first class headache.<br /><br />Can anyone help me figure this out? If you don't have a neatly packaged answer, that's fine; any bit of relevant information could be useful.</p>

<p>I might be wrong but as a 1st step I would look up the trigger voltage your Nikon can cope with and AFAIK it is pretty high, compared to Leica or Pentax. - The Nikons I am recalling were made for something beyond 110V. <strong><em>If</em></strong>that is the case almost anything should work. - I'd simply buy an old flash made to take either 1 or 2 AA cells and call it a day. To bounce a flash without tilt head I'd use either cardboard stock or a bit of tin can / offset plate bungeed to it.<br>

After spotting a rather small flash - something with Autothyristor and GN20m would be ideal, I'd search the Internet for it's trigger Voltage.<br>

Over here with my more sensitive cameras I use elderly SCA flashes to be on the safe side. - Anything Metz 30something Cullmann Osram etc can't be wrong as long as it was shipped with an SCA foot. - Same about for example Yashica Contax or Pentax Minolta (MD not Dynax) flashes with TTL support for film cameras. I'd just stick away from Metz 30s with powerzoom reflectors. - My last one is racking back and forth all the time until the batteries are drained or removed. <br>

A cheap Voltmeter is less than $10. if you are brick and mortar / yard sale shopping, carry one and 4 Eneloops.</p>

<p>I've got a little Nikon SB30 which I use for this purpose, a most useful piece of kit. It has a panel which pops up to only allow infra red through, which triggers the external flashes without affecting the image.</p>

<p>http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/sb30.htm</p>

<p>Also a larger SB22, which has a tilting head. These older flashes will not do TTL with DSLR's and so can be had cheaply, but they have manual and non TTL auto settings. They are designed to work with electronic cameras and do have safe trigger voltages.</p>

<p>Thank you; both answers are extremely useful.</p>

<p>I asked about this because my old trigger flash (a Sunpak 1600a) died, and while I was looking for a replacement I stumbled across a claim that it uses over 200V. That almost gave me a coronary. I later found another, more authoritative report of 46.6V, but even that seemed alarmingly high. On Jochen's suggestion I downloaded my P5100 user manual (never had one before) and learned that my dinky little camera can handle up to 250V. Problem solved.</p>

<p>I never considered buying an old Nikon flash because I don't have old Nikon literature, so I didn't know what models to look for. I'll follow up John's suggestions, which promise a superior flash at a reasonable price.</p>

<p>The Nikon SB-400 is the best choice, has a till table reflector, small, low and powerful. I haw 3 of them I like them so much, I haw in every camera bag one or just slip to my pocket to be ready if I needed. I don't like the pop-up flashes.</p>

<p>Bend a piece of cardstock into a U.<br>

Tape the ends of the U to the side of the flash.<br>

The light from the flash will then shoot to the side, and no worries about it affecting the image.<br>

You can also turn down the intensity with a layer or 2 of white cloth or ND gel over the lens of the flash.</p>

<p>Thanks for confirming the high trigger Voltage. Just one more minor warning on the side: Be a bit careful when attaching throttling light modifiers to flashes. There is a lot of energy in need to get discharged... - One of my hotshoe flashes' lens turned brown after I attached an improvised cardboard snoot. The built in flash of a Coolpix 990 apparently didn't like getting redirected by aluminium one thumb width away either; the lens did burst but the flash is still working.</p>

Surely a cheap radio trigger kit would be the ideal

answer? No voltage issue, and no need to blank off

an unwanted flash of light. A lot less expensive

than another flashgun too.

<p>I'm looking at a picture of your camera and it has a built in flash. So if you want to use a flash to trigger an off-camera flash with an optical trigger, you can use the built in flash.<br /><br />But I agree with Rodeo that using an on camera flash as the trigger is not the best way to go. You can pick up a radio trigger for less than the cost of a flash unit. <br /><br />Using a flash as the trigger isn't necessary and it causes some problems. The on camera flash will contribute to the exposure, potentially washingout out the light from the off camera flash, defeating the purpose of using an off camera flash. You can use the on camer flash as fill if you dial it down, but on camera is still not the best position. You can dial is down to where it does not contribute to the exposure and only puts out enough light to trigger the off camera flash, but then you'd might as well just use a radio trigger.<br /><br />David Hobby of Stobist fame has been recommending Phottix radio triggers lately as a very good value. there are other brands for less that many people are happy with. Even a pair of basic Pocket Wizards can cost less than a flash.<br /><br />And you can always just use a long sync cord, though you may need an adaptor if your camera doesn't have a PC contact.</p>

<p>You could just buy a Wein IR transmitter. They're the smallest and last the longest. You can DIY your own but they end up being more expensive unless you already have IR gel filter. There are other IR transmitters but they do tend to be quite large. Prolinca make such a transmitter.</p>

 

<p>I'm flattered that my question generated this much interest.</p>

<p>For me, the solution was another Sunpak 1600A. I said that I wanted something "reasonably cheap." Actually, money is pretty tight right now, so I chose the cheapest solution that does the job. This cost me about $15, shipping included.</p>

<p>I eyed the Wein transmitter covetously, even before it was suggested here. In the end, though, I couldn't justify spending $70 to do a job that I can do for $15.</p>

<p>Craig -- I need to respond to you specifically. I too assumed that I could use the on-camera flash if I blocked it from direct line-of-sight to the subject. I was wrong. When the on-camera flash is activated the camera's little brain does something that produces severely underexposed pictures, even on manual with the lens wide open and 500 watt-seconds of studio lights a few feet away from the subject. I haven't figured out just what it does, but the results are useless. Only an external flash can be used this way, at least on my camera.</p>