Vivitar 283 on a D3100?
- Thread starter Covanant
- Start date
I just bought a nifty new car, and someone gave me an old Model T tire. Can I use it?
I wouldn't, times have changed.
At best, it will be manual flash only. Which some people like, but TTL automation is available today. Your new camera is capable of very much, which would surely be fun to use, and take advantage of.At least measure the sync voltage on it first. Nikon DSLR are rated to 250 volts, but some old 283 are reported higher than that. Modern flashes are more like 6 volts. There were many flashes labeled as Vivitar 283. More recent ones were safe (but still old technology). The only way to know is to measure it first.
With the flash not connected to anything, head aimed away from your eyes, but NOT face down on anything the flash heat can scorch... The act of measuring it can cause it to flash, which is fine, and is what flashes do, but be prepared for it. Some friend or family probably has a volt meter.
Turn the flash on, and measure the DC voltage on the foot center pin, to the metal foot, or if plastic, to the side electrical contacts to metal shoe.
Under 10 volts is great. Under 50 volts wont hurt the Nikon. We don't even care about a precise value, but anything even approaching a couple hundred volts, trash it. Some were.
See maybe Beginners Guide to Select a Hot Shoe Flash - and Compare Power Rating of Flashes with Guide Numbers
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I bought a Vivitar 283 for an Elvis concert- lit up the stage, the flash that Elvis Saw. It dumps the entire capacitor through the camera- and produces quite a spark when touching off the PC contact. It also produces quite a jolt if your finger is over the open PC contact of a camera also equipped with a hot shoe, which is why PC caps are provided on cameras.
I picked up a late version at a thrift store for $5- it did away with the provisions to use a high-voltage external battery, weighs much less, and uses lower sync voltage. The built in meter provides 4-range auto operation, you select the auto-range, set the corresponding F-Stop on the lens based on ISO, the flash controls how much light is put out. It's accurate, even if not TTL.
I picked up a late version at a thrift store for $5- it did away with the provisions to use a high-voltage external battery, weighs much less, and uses lower sync voltage. The built in meter provides 4-range auto operation, you select the auto-range, set the corresponding F-Stop on the lens based on ISO, the flash controls how much light is put out. It's accurate, even if not TTL.
I would not use it on camera, but, you can get an optical flash slave trigger and use your on camera flash, on its lowest power, to trigger the 283 off camera for even better photos than using on camera flash. Optical triggers are cheap. I have four of them I can sell ya one cheap if you want one.
I have investigated this and the voltage on the Vivitar 283 can damage your camera and I would NOT use it. They made two models of his that look identical except that one of them says 283H on the flash and it Can be used with a digital camera due to the lower voltage. When in doubt DO NOT USE IT. You can purchase a flash much cheaper than you can a new camera. As far as getting rid of it I wouldn't do that either because if you get some radio triggers later on so you can use your flashes remotely and not have them attached to your camera, you will be able to use them at that time.
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