Standard Flash on Digital Hotshoe?

[paul_batalla]

I have a friend who gave me his hotshoe flash unit from an old nikon

SLR standard NOT digital camera. Can i use that flash on my Olympus

C-5050's hotshoe. Also can i use any other manufacturers flash aside

from Olympus's FL-40 in the olympus c-5050 hotshoe and will i lose

any features if i do? Thanks alot.

[GerrySiegel]

The Olympus manual on included CD-ROM has specifics on using other than Oly flashes.Yes. You can do so with some cautions on voltage and polarity and number of contacts on the other flash. I have successfully used a Metz single pin contact model and a Vivitar 2500 single contact automatic not dedicated flash. Todd Frederick reports he used his Vivitar 285 HV. I know not what your Nikon standard has on its bottom foot. Sorry Paul,you will not get through the lens exposure control nor some of the special features whatever they may be-likely a matched zoom head- of the ca. $300.00 FL 40 or $450.00 FL 50. If you have the cash you will be happy with an Olympus flash, but with cables and brackets they are not inexpensive. (Olympus Co.CFO will be happier too.) I have been pleased enough starting out with my low trigger voltage auto flashes in Manual Shooting Mode on the C5050. Don't forget I urged you to consult pp 88-89 of the camera's on screen manual " Using commercial flashes etc.." on the CD-ROM. A good read!

[david_haynes]

To be safe, you might also want to check the flash trigger voltage

and the camera's maximum safe trigger voltage. On my Canons

it's said to be 6 volts and many of my older shoe-mount flashes

exceed this. For this reason, I bought the Wein "Safe Sync"

hotshoe adapter that reduced the trigger voltage to a safe level.

[steve_hovland]

You can use a piece of white paper to test for proper exposure (or a grey scale if you want to spend the money). The maximum value for RGB white is 256 in Photoshop. You may want to set the system to put the white at about 250 to provide a little safety factor against blowing out highlights.

[todd frederick]

As Gerry mentioned, I have been trying to use non-Olympus off-camera flashes on my C-5050. I am finding all sorts of problems with exposure using my Nikon SB flashes on the C-5050.

 

The only flash that seems to work (for me) is the Vivitar 285 (but mine is NOT the HV) and the vivitar 283 (Made in China 6 volt unit...not older Made in Japan 200 volt unit!!!!!). Also, these tend to overexpose, so run tests and adjust flash output.

 

Photograph inside (not outdoors) use ONLY Manual mode for the camera, on-camera flash mode "off," and set the ISO manually, and match it to the flash...just like a 1960's manual camera!, and outdoors, it can be used in the camera "A" mode, with the same appropriate ISO adjustments and such.

 

I have a hot-shoe adapter with a PC outlet that allows me to attach the Vivitar PC cord to the central terminal on the C-5050 with no problem.

 

Try it.

 

Eventually I will buy an Fl-40 with the shoe cord since I love TTL balanced fill flash...but it can be done with very simple flash units that allow auto-flash exposure with 6 volt flash output.

[todd frederick]

PS...I find that the off-camera (non-Olympus) flash tends to be too harsh even if the exposure is correct. I would suggest using a flash softening device such as a Sto-Fen flash adapter, Lumiquest soft box, or even an white cloth over the flash head. For some reason, digital images seem to be much more sharp than film images...especially with flash. The nice thing about digital is that we can play with this, not waste film, and we get immediate feedback! I love it!

[oliver_s.]

Todd has answered about all your questions, Paul. Just wrt which flash units are probably safe, Kevin Bjorke maintains a long list of sync voltages <a href="http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html">here</a>.<p>I'm one of the dinosaurs who learned to set exposure via the guide number when using a flash unit, and I can attest that it works at least as well as TTL metering once you've determined the <i>real</i> GNs of your flash indoors and outdoors.

[todd frederick]

According to the link Oliver gave this is one comment regarding the Vivitar 285:

 

"Alan Latafat Correa checked with Vivitar and they clarified:

The 285HV has a voltage of 12V. The 285 has a voltage of 350V. Hope this helps you."

 

I used my standard 285 on my Oly C5050 with no damage to the camera. I will need to measure the voltage. My volt meter is dead!

 

I think it is best to check the voltage first with a volt meter: positive terminal on the center button and negative terminal inside the hot shoe groove.

 

I have two 283 units...an older one made in Japan with an output voltage to over 200 volts, and a made in china unit with a voltage just a bit over 6 volts.

 

The Wein hot shoe voltage regulator is a good safety accessory.

[GerrySiegel]

Of interest from a manufacturer's site:

"How to test the trigger sync voltage of your flash:

It's easy to test any electronic flash for trigger circuit voltage level using a standard voltmeter. Digital voltmeters are relatively inexpensive and easy to find at stores like Radio Shack. The plus (+) lead is attached to the positive contact in the PC sync cord, while the minus (-) lead is attached to the ground contact of the PC contact on the sync cord. With hot shoe flash units, the plus lead should be placed on the + contact in the middle of the hot shoe , while the minus lead should be grounded on the hot shoe's ground terminal, usually located on the side above the lock nut. Usually the voltmeter or multimeter has several different settings for DC voltage depending on the range you're trying to measure. With an unknown strobe, it's best to start in the high range just in case.

Beware of Killer Strobes:

Did you know that some Vivitar 283 and Vivitar 285 's have voltages of 300 Volts and above !

To find out more information, and what everyone is saying about sync Voltage

go to: http://www.paramountcords.com/vpinfo.htm"

There is more on the above website. Paramount makes very fine cords for off camera flash and some voltage regulators.