Flash system for Kiev88c

[jaisen_nailen]

I am looking for a good flash to use with a Kiev 88. I use a Sunpack

544 with my C330f and RB67. Any recommendations?

[a._t._seliotis]

I have used the vivitar 285 with the Kiev 88 on wedding shoots with

excellent results.

 

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Good luck.

 

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A. T. Seliotis

[thomas_r._young1]

I have also used the Vivitar 285HV with my Kiev 88C, using the

 

third party metal flash foot with pc to houshold cord and the

 

Stroboframe R4b flash bracket, which works well.

[brad_webb]

Like Mr. Seliotis, I've used a Vivitar 285 with good success on my

Kiev 88, though not for weddings. I find it even has sufficient power

to be used with an umbrella with the optional remote sensor mounted

on the camera (ASA 400 film is my choice here) at f8 or even smaller, if

you're reasonably close to your subject..

When used without the umbrella, I use a flash bracket with the

remote sensor mounted in the hot shoe to avoid the flash being sideways

I use the wide angle adapter when not using the umbrella, as the flash

is not set up for a square negative and the adapter ensures better

vertical coverage. It's versatile enough for a wide variety of shooting

situations.

[keith evans photography]

Three years later and the answer is still the same! I regularly use a vivitar 285 on mine with excellent results. I also find that I can link into a portable studio system (portaflash - UK don't know a US equivalent system) via a jack lead which makes a system as good as any for home portrait work. I use the standard Arsat 80mm plus a 2x converter; this gives a perfect portrait lens/lighting combination at a very reasonable cost.

 

Keith Evans

[paul_mccarthy1]

Is there any way to get around the "red zone" sychronization limitation (shutter speed 1/30 or longer for flash) for Kiev 88? Don't really understand why there would be this limitation as electricity is instantaneous.

[don_feinberg2]

Not an electrical problem!

 

K88 has a focal plane shutter. The shortest (fastest) shutter speed for which the shutter remains "completely open" is 1/30. If you shoot at any higher speed, it will sync, but you will be missing more and more (as the speed gets faster...) of the frame.

 

(The first curtain opens, then the second curtain follows it. At high shutter speeds, the second curtain releases soon after the first, with the effect of an "open slot" passing over the film surface. At speeds of 1/30 or slower, the first curtain opens completely before the second curtain begins its travel. It is just at that moment that the flash is set off...)

 

This is true of all FP shutters. The only thing which varies is the actual speed of the shutter curtains. For 35mm cameras with relatively (physically) light and small shutters, the curtains can be made to move relatively quickly. For larger cameras, such as the 6x6 K88, the curtains move more slowly. (The Pentax 67 also has a 1/30 sync, for comparison.)

[paul_mccarthy1]

any recommendations for a flash with high-speed sync on a Kiev 88 (a non-dedicated type.)

[don_feinberg2]

You still don't believe me? Wow!

 

Any conventional flash will work with the K88. But they will all sync at 1/30 or slower...

[shutters]

Paul,

 

Don gave a very good answer to your previous question. No matter what type of electronic flash you have - from a small Honeywell to a Metz and everything else in between - the camera's focal plane shutter will not sync any faster than 1/30th. I have several focal plane MF cameras and some with leaf shutters. That's just one of the limitations of FP shutters. Yeah - a drag, but it's there none the less.

 

G

[paul_mccarthy1]

I am talking about one of these flash units that put out a string of flashes, like the Nikon Speedlight SB-25, used to exceed the 1/125 of a second or whatever flash sync is applicable to a 35mm camera. Seems to me if you had something that put out five flashes 1/30 of a second apart you could use flash with a 1/125 shutter speed on a Kiev 88. It's hard to tell which of those are dedicated flashes, however.