newsguygeorge Loc: Victoria, Texas

I hate to see old equipment go to waste. I have a very old, but in good shape, Vivitar r285 flash designed to attach to a camera’s hot shoe, but with the connection a cord for the X flash. Anyone have suggestions how to use if on a Nikon D5300, assuming I could find a cord?

Thanks. Love the Hedgehog.

twowindsbear

You don't want to use the camera's hot shoe? Get a hot shoe to PC adapter, and a PC cord. Amazon has them. Good luck

rwilson1942 Loc: Houston, TX

Be careful, some of the older flashes have trigger voltages that are too high for today's cameras.
You could end up damaging your camera. Do some research before you use it.

newsguygeorge Loc: Victoria, Texas

Thanks for two valuable piece of information. I think after researching based on these two posts, I am going to hold off on any action. I think I'll be better off with a modern flash designed to work with the D5300.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Don't sell it short.
You can use is as a slave with an inexpensive optical trigger.

BebuLamar

It would damage your camera so give it to me so I can use it directly on my DSLR.

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

Take a look at these for your Nikon. Good quality and very capable speed lights for a good price.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=yongnuo+yn-568ex&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ps

bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.

If you buy a remote trigger for your camera, you wont be putting the light in th e hot shoe, put it on a tripod etc and you dont have to worry about the camera. $100.00 buys a good yongnu YN568ex. with TTL and up to 1/8000 to stop most action. works gtreat on my 5200 and my d810 excellent light great value , not quite as much power as a Nikon light but $400 cheaper.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Wein SafeSync Adapter HSHSB. It protects your shutter from the high voltage flash and allows use of a sync cord OR hot footed flash.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

If yours is an original 285, it might have really high trigger voltage. Vivitar claimed it was 350V (DC) which has potential to damage most modern DSLRs.

However, a lot of folks tested 285s and found they actually had much lower... roughly 12V to 33V.... which wouldn't be a problem for most recent DSLRs.

Later model 285HV, if that's what you've got, has lower voltage... between 6V and 15V commonly. That should be no problem for most DSLRs.

Some older DSLRs were only rated for between 6V and 24V... I don't know about Nikon specifically, because I've been shooting with Canon for 15+ years. Canon EOS-3 film cameras and DSLRs from around 2000-2004 were only able to handle 6V.... that caused some problems so Canon improved shielding a lot and their most recent DSLRs are typically safe to 250V. I imaginge Nikon are the same, but you should check with Nikon and ask what the D5300 is able to handle just to be safe, though it's likely 250V too.

If you have a voltmeter, it's possible to check the voltage of your particular flash. Instructions on how to measure it are here: http://www.jeffgeerling.com/articles/photography/measure-voltage-vivitar-flash and here: http://dpanswers.com/content/genrc_flash_measuretv.php

If you want to be certain, you can use a product such as a Wein SafeSync, in between the camera and the flash. Or, use some wireless of triggering off-camera. That would be the safest of all.

Incidentally, if you try a SafeSync and it won't work with your flash... that usually means the trigger voltage is quite low... less than 6V.

The Vivitar 285 is a good, reliable flash. I used a lot of them over the years. These days you can buy them pretty cheap and set up a bunch, using one that's triggered by your camera and the others set up with optical slave triggers that will fire them when they "see" the first flash go off. Of course they aren't TTL metered and controlled, the way a dedicated modern flash for your camera would be. But 285 is quite usable and simple. There also were a number of accessories made specifically for it. If you need an instruction manual, it's available to download here: http://www.butkus.org/chinon/vivitar_flashes/vivitar_flash_units.htm

I later switched to Sunpak flashes, because they had some primitive forms of dedication for the cameras I was using at the time. Nothing fancy ar anywhere close to what's possible today, but it was handy to have notification that the flash was ready in the viewfinder and a few other features that the Sunpak could do.

Leitz Loc: Solms

Nikon cameras will safely handle flash voltages up to 250 volts DC. You can do an online search for how to check the trigger voltage of your 285.