Which Flash Unit For A1 and AV1

[terry tibble]

Hi.

My 15 year old daughter is in love with her AV1, although I bought her a nice EOS, she prefers her AV1.

In the next month I shall be getting her a A1, and see how she progresses with that.

She would like to make photography a part of her career. I guess she is working her way through the different

camera technologies, which I have to say is a good thing.

 

The question is:

I would like to get her a decent flash gun, I've seen a reasonably priced 199A, also a 166A.

I will probably go for the 199A.

Will it be compatible with the AV1?

Is it the best choice?

Will auto settings just not work on the AV1?

Are the manual settings easy to understand?

 

She's off to Italy next month and will probably take some shots at night, inside and out.

Lenses she uses are: Canon 50mm 1.8, Canon 70-210mm ?

 

Any advice would be most appreciated.

 

Rhodes

[terry tibble]

I've just noticed the same store which is selling the Speedlite 199A, has a Vivitar 4600 + zoom head, so, yet another

option.

Yes, I could just ask the guy's at the store, but advice from people that definitely have used one might give a better insight.

Thanks Again

Rhodes

[peter_jerina]

I'm using an 199A on my A-1. I must say it's a very descent and powerfull flash. Its guide number is 30 (iso 100; meters). I don't know about other cameras, but it works very nice with A-1.<br>

<p><a href="http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/canon/fdresources/SLRs/a1/html/index6.htm">Check this link</a></p>

<p>I also think she would need a wide angle lens for her trip to italy, something like 28mm f/2.8.</p>

<p>Best regards!!</p>

[terry tibble]

Hi Peter,

I just spoke to the store and they have sold the 199A but have a 166A. They recommended looking out for a Vivitar 283,

which they rate highly.

If I can't find a flash unit in time, I may take your advice and get her a wide angle lens to experiment with. She has a small

digi camera that she can use for any night time snaps.

I sometimes use a 17-35mm 2.8 on a EOS 1N, and that is great fun.

Thanks for your advice.

Rhodes

[bsharpe411]

My suggestion, assuming your daughter doesn't want to lug around a lot of gear, is the Canon 011-A. This unit

certainly has limitations (ISO 100 or 400) with a range up to 11 ft @100 or 22ft @400, but it's about the size of a

pack of cigarettes and uses 2 AA batteries. It fully synchronizes with the A-1 in setting shutter and aperature and

the only control is the on/off switch.

 

The 199-A might still be a good idea when she needs more power and/or expects to use the flash a lot, but the 011-

A is something you can toss in a shirt pocket, knowing you'll always have something for the unexpected.

 

From Canon... Speedlite 011A Guide Number: 14 (ASA 100) or 23 (ASA 400).

Recycling Time: 0.5-9 sec. with alkaline batteries and 0.5-6 sec. with Ni-Cd batteries.

Number of Flashes: 150-1500 with alkaline batteries and 70-700 with Ni-Cd batteries.<div></div>

[awahlster]

I love the two O11's I have and when we went to Europe that was the flash my wife used with her AE-1P BUT if you want a full tilt capable flash for the A Series Canons I strongly recomend you try to find a Sunpack 433D (making sure it is the version dedicated for use with canon FD) They are not expensive common on eBay and have excellent automation with the FD bodies as well as more manual control then any other flash I know of.

 

You can also find diffusers fliters and a bounce head for them When I bought my first one I sold the 199A as it just wasn't as powerful or as fast on the recycle.

 

I would warn you against the 273 283 Vivitars as some of them have way to high of trigger voltage for a camera with electronics and can fry your camera. NOT ALL DO but buy not shopping for one you avoid the hassle of trying to figure out if it's a new version or not.

[jeremy2]

If you want a Canon flash for the A-1, then I would go for the extremes of the range - either the 011A as

suggested above, since it is so small, or go for a 199A or 299T as they are the most powerful non-hammerhead

flashes and have more functions, giving you greater flexibility. In my opinion the 166A is too much of an

in-between, neither powerful enough to be truly useful or compact enough to fit easily in a normal pocket.

 

However, when using an AV-1, all a dedicated flash will do is set the correct shutter speed, so for this camera

almost any flash with an auto function will be fine, you just have to remember to set the shutter speed as well

as the aperture. Once again there is a trade-off between size and power, you can't get a lot of light out of a

small flash, but a big one is likely to get left behind when travelling.

 

Finally, the Vivitar 283 is a good flash, so good that it was in production for something like 20 years, but some

people claim that the high trigger voltage of the oldest versions can fry a camera's electronics.

[terry tibble]

Hi. Thanks for all the info.

 

I have now found two Vivitar 283's priced at 19 and 30 pound UK, and also a Speedlite 011A at only 9 pounds UK. All

three are local to me.

I think the 011A is the one she would like, mainly for the styling and compact nature. So I thinking I will get her that for

her trip to Italy and maybe a 283 for when she gets back, but I'm slightly worried about what people have said about the

Vivitar frying the electronics. If that happened my name would be .......

The advice you all have given has been great, and made me think, and then choose.

 

Thank you all, and all the best.

 

Rhodes

[ben_hutcherson]

My favorite Canon-made flash is the 299T.

 

I also have a 199A, but the 299T tops it in every respect.

 

Basically, the 199A just offers some basic bounce functions. By contrast, the 299T has a full bounce/swivel(90 degrees one way, 180 degrees the other) zooming head. Also, the 299T reads out directly in apertures, and can set all apertures regardless of the ISO, rather than having to mess with the calculator dial.

 

I also recently picked up a Metz 36CT3. As mine is set up now, it's just a plain, undedicated flash, however there is available for it a Canon module which will give it the same basic functionality at the other flashes like the 199A.

[Member69643]

I own both an A-1 and an AV-1 and own many EOS cameras. I use the EOS professionally, so I bought a top-of-the-

line Metz 54 MZ - 4i with the dedicated EOS module. This thing not only has bounce, swivel, and many many great

manual controls, it has TWO flash tubes. One is the regular head and the other is a small fixed mini-bulb so you can

both bounce AND have a bit of frontal fill light. Bounce alone often gives unpleasant results.

 

Here's the fun part:

 

The EOS module works with the FD cameras, setting the flash sync speed! Yep. One flash for all. As no pre-T90 FD

camera has TTL flash, this works great.

 

If you want the best flash on Earth, try it. But be warned, they are NOT cheap. Expect to pay $400 new, but they can

rarely be found on eBay too.<div></div>