Vivitar 283 voltages

[rom82]

Hi All,

I have been dabbling around with a camera underground for the last few months and have been mainly using long exposures and light painting. However I now feel the need to move onto slaves and short exposures. I've ordered some of the Yongnuo RF-603 as a trial but am predictably having trouble finding flashes under the maximum trigger voltage of 12V that these can handle.
Does anybody out there know if there is a way to tell which Vivitar 283 models are low voltage and which are high by year, serial number, model etc. basically any way other than using a multimeter as I don't want to order some on Ebay only to find they all have a high voltage!
Other than would anyone recommend a decent flash of low voltage? I don't particularly feel the need for brand loyality and have found some of Miranda cheapos to be quite good

Any help greatly appreciated!

 

[blackholesun]

Are you familiar with this website?
http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html
It claims that if they're made after 1987, then the 283s are more likely to be low voltage.

To be honest, I've not had difficulty finding low firing voltage flashguns on Ebay, and the last I got was a Vivitar 2800D for the princely sum of ?3.99 including postage, which works well.

I look for ones with a thyristor as they save time messing with exposure settings when taking single flash exposures with the flash within a couple of meters of the camera. A large guide number is useful for lighting big chambers.

I'm a big fan of the Metz CL-1 as it is painfully bright at max setting (Guide number: 45m), but auto meters itself well enough to be used at all distances greater than 1m. It is a beast though and is a tiny bit too big to fit in a standard 6L daren drum.

 

[rom82]

Hadn't seen that website, but that helps, thanks! I have been looking at some non 283/285 Vivitars and they are a lot more affordable. Also have my eye on the Metz 45 just waiting to get one cheap as possible as there's no shortage of them going 2nd hand.

As to thyristors: do they still meter when off-camera?

 

[blackholesun]

Thyristor flashes meter regardless of what is attached to the hotshoe, whether there is a camera there, a wireless trigger there, or even nothing at all.

They are built with the assumption that they will be in the same position as the camera. In practice, you don't want to do this as there will be loads of steam on the image. However, as long as the flash is about the same distance from the subject and not pointing in a direction more than twenty degrees (or so) different to the camera then it usually comes out fine.

 

[rom82]

Yeah I've gotten some results I'm very happy with by just holding the (thryristor) flash a little to the side of the camera, makes all the difference! Ta for the info on thyristors, maybe that explains why my one thryristor flash always gives better results than the older ones!

 

[jarvist]

Just to note that the Vivitar 283/285 thyristor can be unplugged to move it off flash. One of my Vivitars came with a ~3m coiled extension for this. This is so you can put the sensor with the camera while moving the flash off camera, I imagine more for a studio situation (I haven't used it underground).

Also, to make a Vivitar 283/285 more compact + more cuboid  you can remove the thyristor unit and put a wire between the two left contacts to set it to full power 'manual' mode.

 

[Rob]

Rather than buying second hand flashes off eBay, it may be worthwhile having a quick look at the Yongnuo flashes. There's some pretty powerful versions on there and they are generally pretty cheap. I've had one for ~4 years and it has lasted well.