Using Older Flash: Need some advice from UHH members. I have a Vivitar 273 Flash from my film days, and I have been told that you cannot use them on digital cameras because of the...

jcsnell Loc: SW Ohio

Need some advice from UHH members. I have a Vivitar 273 Flash from my film days, and I have been told that you cannot use them on digital cameras because of the higher voltage. I have heard about some kind of adapter that reduces the voltage so you can use it on a digital camera. Does anyone have any information or thoughts on this? Should I just buy a new flash? I hate to just "throw away" all of my old film stuff, but I want to be sure I can use it without damage Thanks...John

jsmangis Loc: Peoria, IL

I have a similar unit and I have an optical trigger that I use in it. I now use wilt as a slave and trigger it with the pop up flash on my D610.

wmurnahan Loc: Bloomington IN

First do a search for a site that will tell you the voltage of your strobe, some old ones are OK, my old Sunpak potato masher was not, I bought an adapter that slides on the hot shoe. It was a couple of years ago so I don't have the web sites on hand, but all I did was google it.

JPL

jcsnell wrote:

Need some advice from UHH members. I have a Vivitar 273 Flash from my film days, and I have been told that you cannot use them on digital cameras because of the higher voltage. I have heard about some kind of adapter that reduces the voltage so you can use it on a digital camera. Does anyone have any information or thoughts on this? Should I just buy a new flash? I hate to just "throw away" all of my old film stuff, but I want to be sure I can use it without damage Thanks...John

Yes, get a new flash for your camera. And you can use this as slave flash with radio trigger or optical trigger. No need to throw it away.

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

I have a similar issue. I have both Honeywell and Graphic Stroboflash IV units. I could have the batteries replaced on the Honeywell units (they use sub-C cells), while the Graphics units would need to be converted from using Everyready 489 dry cells to rechargeable batteries at a cost of $150 each. In either case, could they be made to work with my D800?

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

bpulv wrote:

I have a similar issue. I have both Honeywell and Graphic Stroboflash IV units. I could have the batteries replaced on the Honeywell units (they use sub-C cells), while the Graphics units would need to be converted from using Everyready 489 dry cells to rechargeable batteries at a cost of $150 each. In either case, could they be made to work with my D800?

Those were good flashes "back in the day" (I've used models of both) but for less than $150 a pop, you could buy a decent 3rd party speedlight that intergrates with your Nikon D800.
The Flashpoint R2 costs $110, will work TTL or manual, has a built in radio receiver and with a relatively inexpensive transmitter, control several speedlights remotely.
For $179 you can get the Lithium Ion powered version HERE.
I have the same Godox branded model of the R2 and it's made very well.

I still have my Braun RL-515 that used a drycell 510 volt battery.
Love it back when I worked for a newspaper in the '70's but I'll never use it again.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

jcsnell wrote:

Need some advice from UHH members. I have a Vivitar 273 Flash from my film days, and I have been told that you cannot use them on digital cameras because of the higher voltage. I have heard about some kind of adapter that reduces the voltage so you can use it on a digital camera. Does anyone have any information or thoughts on this? Should I just buy a new flash? I hate to just "throw away" all of my old film stuff, but I want to be sure I can use it without damage Thanks...John

Please edit the title of your Topic to specify Vivitar 273 flash. Thanks.

Leitz Loc: Solms

jcsnell wrote:

Need some advice from UHH members. I have a Vivitar 273 Flash from my film days, and I have been told that you cannot use them on digital cameras because of the higher voltage. I have heard about some kind of adapter that reduces the voltage so you can use it on a digital camera. Does anyone have any information or thoughts on this? Should I just buy a new flash? I hate to just "throw away" all of my old film stuff, but I want to be sure I can use it without damage Thanks...John

The 273 trigger voltage is 290V. Beware!
http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html

BebuLamar

Check the sync voltage and if it's too high don't use it. You can use the Wein safesync but it doesn't make sense to buy an adapter to use a flash that is worth less than the adapter itself.

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

GoofyNewfie wrote:

Those were good flashes "back in the day"... (show quote)

My current flash is a Nikon SB-700 which does not use radio energy as the trigger. Would the Flashpoint R2 work as a slave with the SB-700 or would I need to invest in a Pocket Wizard or a similar trigger? Also, can the Flashpoint power output be controlled from my D800 or SB-700?

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

bpulv wrote:

My current flash is a Nikon SB-700 which does not use radio energy as the trigger. Would the Flashpoint R2 work as a slave with the SB-700 or would I need to invest in a Pocket Wizard or a similar trigger? Also, can the Flashpoint power output be controlled from my D800 or SB-700?

A Cactus transmitter/receiver is safe at those voltages, but I doubt if it is cost-effective to use one just to buffer between an old flash and a new camera - however, personally I've found the old "auto" flashes to work better for me than the next "ttl" ones do, so I understand the temptation.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

jcsnell wrote:

Need some advice from UHH members. I have a Vivitar 273 Flash from my film days, and I have been told that you cannot use them on digital cameras because of the higher voltage. I have heard about some kind of adapter that reduces the voltage so you can use it on a digital camera. Does anyone have any information or thoughts on this? Should I just buy a new flash? I hate to just "throw away" all of my old film stuff, but I want to be sure I can use it without damage Thanks...John

Your flash has a trigger voltage of 290 volts, enough to fry most digital cameras, if physically attached by shoe or wire, but harmless if attached to an RF or IR remote device.

StanRP Loc: Ontario Canada

rjaywallace wrote:

Please edit the title of your Topic to specify Vivitar 273 flash. Thanks.

Why? To me, a model # means nothing while "Older Flash" tells me that it is probably a high voltage trigger"

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

StanRP wrote:

Why? To me, a model # means nothing while "Older Flash" tells me that it is probably a high voltage trigger"

Well, it can mean the difference between a trigger voltage of 4.5 volts and 336 volts. That can mean the difference between a beautiful photograph and a fried camera!

StanRP Loc: Ontario Canada

BHC wrote:

Well, it can mean the difference between a trigger voltage of 4.5 volts and 336 volts. That can mean the difference between a beautiful photograph and a fried camera!

It can indeed, however I was referring to the 'Title'. "Using Older Flash" tells me that it can have a trigger between ~ 4 and 400 V while a model number does not. ( Unless I am familiar with that model of course).