 Michael Skelton . |
Flash cable I have a Nikon D200 and Vivitar ( 2800 I think ) flash , Does anyone know if there is a compatable flash cable from shoe to flash that is about 3-4 feet long?
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John P. Sandstedt |
I think the Vivitar 2800 was introduced for film SLRs. If so, it might be a dedicated unit - dedicated to a particular camera brand. For on-camera work with my Canon EOS 620 and my EOS 3, I worked with my Canon EZ-420; the 620 used A-TTL, the EOS 3 worked in Program Mode only. That's because Canon switched from A-TTl to E-TTL I can't use my flash with my Canon 30d in any non-manual shooting mode. I would venture that you will need a Nikon dedicated flash, as a minimum. It's possible that you'll need a more current flash - these camera manufacturers have a knack of making us buy new and different accessories.
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Jon Close |
Vivitar 2800 is a non-dedicated auto flash that should work on any camera, so long as you can set the ISO and lens aperture to match. Test it's voltage across the contacts in the hotshoe, though. Some of these older units make over 100v and can fry the electronics of some modern SLRs or DSLRs.
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John P. Sandstedt |
Jon, if a non-dedicated flash should work, wouldn't it be true that one might only be able to use manual settings? Canon told me my EZ-420 would only work in the manual mode with my 30D, but I wonder based on the fact tha tit worked in the Program Mode on the EOS 3, might it work in "P" on the 30D?
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Jon Close |
The non-dedicated auto flashes, like the Vivitar 2800, have a light sensor on the front that automatically controls the flash output. You just need to set the camera's ISO and lens aperture to match the autoprogram on the flash. Except for the new 580EX II, none of the Canon EOS speedlights (E-, EG-, EZ-, and EX-series) have their own light sensor. They all are TTL only, relying on the camera's metering system to control the flash output. E-, EG-, EZ- series are programmed for conventional open shutter off-the-film TTL. The A-TTL version of the EZ-series is basically the same, but uses a preflash (either flash or near-infrared) with a front-mounted sensor to determine the flash-to-subject-distance for automatically setting the aperture in P mode. The digital EOS cameras cannot work this way because the digital sensor and its covering microlenses and lowpass filter do not reflect light uniformly as does film. So the digital cameras are wired for E-TTL (EX- series), which fires a low-power preflash before the shutter opens. This preflash is read by the camera's Evaluative meter to determine the flash output when the shutter opens. Used with a digital camera, the old EZ-series speedlights will not have automatic flash exposure control. They will simply fire at full power, or whatever manual output level is set on the speedlight. This is probably ok in the case of bounce flash with most exposure modes, since the flash would tend to fire at full output anyway due to the long flash-to-subject-distance and light absorbed by the ceiling/walls. But for direct flash with the speedlight firing at full power, the digital camera's auto exposure modes are apt to give an overexposed flash subject. The EZ speedlights can be used for direct flash in Av or M modes, but the user is going to have to manually set the flash output level, ISO, and lens aperture by trial and error (reviewing the image and histogram in the LCD), or by resorting to the guidenumber calculation:
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John P. Sandstedt |
Thanks, Jon
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