Thursday, August 16, 2007

Measuring The Voltage On A Vivitar 285 Flash

A friend of mine is selling his older Vivitar 285 Flash, 'Good Condition', slightly used, dropped only a few times, I swear ! He only wants $50.00 Dollars ( US ) to part with it forever, so I may have to help him out and add it to my camera bag. The 285 is a highly regarded portable flash, considered a dependable workhorse that has earned its place in photo equipment history. Cheap, tough and easy to use, with accuracy from its non E-TTL sensor that still outperforms some of those fancy newer $400.00 units. And all that for a fitty! That got me thinking about my Canon and the voltage sync compatibility problems with some of the newer Digital Cameras.

I believe it's safe to use the 285 HV unit on any Canon Digital Camera, but the older 285 ( Non HV ) may fry your DSLR. Checking the voltage sync will be the safest and easiest way to guarantee that I don't cook any of my camera's electronics. Head on over to the Kenrick Parish website for a tutorial on testing your flashes voltage sync.

Thanks to Jeff Geerling, a Photo Enthusiast ( quite talented! ) and Seminary Student at the Archdiocese of Saint Louis Missouri for the wonderful tutorial and photos.

2 comments:
PIX INTERNATIONAL said...

Hi-I've heard it will fry your camera. I have 3 Vivitar 285HVs(and also the Canon 580EX II's) with the Canon 40D's and use it with the ebay pocket wizards.Never on camera with the Vivitars though.

Linda Matlow
www.pixintl.com

Edwin Morgan said...

I believe you are absolutely correct.
I don't think it's worth frying a camera to test it out!

Ed