Nikon Coolpix 4500 question

[photo_girl]

Is there any way to use a Nikon 4500 with strobes? What type of

connector do I need to buy, if any?

 

Thanks for any help you can give me!

[oskar_ojala]

The camera does have a connector for plugging in an external flash, see <a href="http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikoncp4500/page4.asp">http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikoncp4500/page4.asp</a> under the header "Connections". I would guess that with the Nikon cord for the contact and perhaps some standard adapter for getting a PC sync -connector you could plug in strobes, but I haven't tried it.

[howard_hecht]

You need the Nikon AS-900e (I think that's the model #) hotshoe adapter and then a bracket to hold the flash. I purchased the Rollbar-KISS (www.therollbar.com) and am mostly happy with it -- although, what I wish is that the connection was on the LENS portion of the camera so that the flash followed the swivel of the lens.

 

The AS-900e can be bought for around $30-40 on eBay. For $75ish you can get it from most stores with the Nikon bracket, which is a monster compared to the Rollbar-KISS. Note that there are many flash brackets on the market for the Coolpix 4500 (and 9xx-) series swivel cameras.

 

I'm VERY happy now that my Coolpix is complemented with an external flash. I now have the ability to do bounce so no more harsh shadows and overexposed photos, as well as no more redeye (even when direct, with no bounce).

 

ONE THING OF WHICH TO BE CAREFUL: Different flashes have different trigger voltages, and if you go any more than +/- 6V you will FRY your Coolpix! (I verified this with Nikon.)

 

Someone put together a great resource that lists various flash trigger voltages: http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html

 

ALSO -- Since the Coolpix 4500 only has a 3-wire flash cord adapter, and the AS-900e does NOT support it, you can't activate the autofocus-assist lamp or beam that is built into many flashes. BUT, you can (and I did, successfully!) put a switch into an AS-900e that allows you to manually activate the beam, and IT WORKS GREAT:

http://www.renno.org/photographic/nikon990/nikon.htm

 

Good luck, feel free to contact me with any other questions/etc