Minolta Cable OC for X-700 vs Maxxum, and Altrex

[leo_djiwatampu]

I've seen lots of OC cables listed on eBay. Some are clearly and

correctly described, some are not.

 

I guess OC-1100 is for Maxxum only. Do they have 4 pins?

 

I've seen a list claiming cable oc for Maxxum but the picture showed

only 3 pins. Shouldn't this be a cable for X700/x500?

 

Questions for Altrex duo-sync cable. First, why is it called duo

sync? Second, will they retain the TTL metering? (Do they use 3 pins

also?)

 

Almost forgot, I've seen also a list claiming cable OC. But on one

end that is usually only a plug, uses a hot shoe instead. I never

realized that OC have 2 versions. I thought for this kind of

configuration you will have to use a cable OC plus an off-camera hot-

shoe.

 

Regards,

 

Leo

[michael_hohner]

The OC-1100 only works on Maxxum bodies with the "new" iISO hot shoe. It has a plug on one end. The picture that you've seen may have been a OC-1100 connected to a OS-1100.

<p>

The cable with the old ISO hot shoe is called OC-1000. Both cables have 4 pins.

[fmueller]

I don't know much about the Maxxum cable other than that there is probably no easy way to make it work with the Minolta manual focus TTL flash metering system, since Maxxum cameras use a proprietry, non-standard hot shoe.

 

The Minolta manual focus TTL flash metering system uses three pins - one to trigger the flash (introduced in late SRT series bodies), one to let the camera know the flash is there and set it to flash sync speed (introduced in XD and XG series), and one for TTL flash metering (only in X-700/600/570/500).

 

The cable OC for the Minolta manual focus TTL flash metering system has a hotshoe on the camera side, and a plug on the flash side, which fits into a special connetion of the 360px flash unit. This cable alone will not work with simpler Minolta flshes and non-Minolta flash units (eg Sunpak 444D, 433D and 422D), because they are lacking the connection. However, there is a special part available (Off Camera Shoe) that has this connection and slides over the hotshoe of the flash. Both, this hot shoe and the cable OC regularly show up on eBay, and usually sell for around $25 each.

 

The Altrex duo sync cable is a conbination of these two; ie it has a hotshoe on both, the camera and the flash side. It tends to be less common, but usually sells for around $20 when available.

 

Why it is called duo-sync is a mystery to me. I believe there is a 2-pin version (for XD and XG series cameras) available as well, but I am not sure whether or not this version is calles duo-sync as well. At any rate, for TTL flash metering, make sure to get the 3-pin version.

 

 

For more details on the Minolta Direct Autoflash Metering System see: http://www.rokkorfiles.com/TTL%20Flash.htm