george_zordilla Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Does anyone know if I can safely use the Speedlite 199A (for the AE-1) with my new Canon XSi (450D)? If so what settings do I use on the flash and on the camera? The XSi has set me back quite a bit, and an external flash would definitely break the bank. Can anyone help me? I am affraid to even attach it and void the warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosvanEekelen Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 The trigger voltage is safe but you loose some or all of the communication between the camera and the flash. Of course you still trigger the flash. Set the aperture and the film speed on the flash, use M on the body and select the same aperture and speed that you have set on the flash. You may vary the shutter speed and aperture (and ISO) a bit in order to influence lighting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_zordilla Posted December 4, 2008 Author Share Posted December 4, 2008 I see what you mean. The same settings on the flash and camera may not give the correct exposure especially when I bounced it off the ceiling. But I do like the soft lighting it gives when the picture is exposed correctly (i.e., no shadows). With trial and error, I think it is better than the built in flash for indoor shots. Thanks for the help! It's nice to be able to take old equipment out of the closet and still get some use out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabbiinc Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 http://www.cameramanuals.org/flashes_meters/speedlite_199a.pdf The last page of the manual deals with using the flash on any camera that it wasn't specifically designed for. #1. does not apply to you if you don't have that specific cord. You may want to read through the rest of the manual as well. Make sure that the ISO on the camera and flash (film speed setting) are set to the same value. When bouncing flash you have to assume that you will lose light. Depending on the reflectance of whatever it is that your bouncing off of you may lose a stop of light or more, and you also have to add the extra distance as well. It can be done reliably with some practice. The max X-sync on your camera is 1/200th of a second. For learning I would start there. When you start noticing that your subject is properly exposed but the background makes them look like they are in a dark cave you can start slowing down the shutter speed, but if you go too slow you will get soft images. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luc_moreau Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 <p>The 199A has a built-in sensor so it will work on any camera (settings are manual as described above but the sensor will compensate for closer/lighter subjects by shortening the flash duration automatically). This sensor should also permit automatic exposure when bouncing on the ceiling or nearby walls. You don't want to put the 199a on the "M" position otherwise this sensor is disabled and you have to compensate yourself (setting the aperture on each shot depending on distance etc...)<br> I'm trying to use it on my Pentax DSLR and it works - but for some reason it fires only once on my K-m / K2000 body. I have to power off/power on the 199a in order to get it fire on the next picture... not that practical I admit. I have no idea what causes this problem. I also have a speedlite 420ex that doesn't behave like that but I don't know how to use the sensor (if any) on the 420ex.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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