Strobe question: I picked up this flash unit at a flea market. I cannot find the manual for it on the internet. What is the small light on the front and the switch with settings "1"...

rps Loc: Muskoka Ontario Canada

I picked up this flash unit at a flea market. I cannot find the manual for it on the internet. What is the small light on the front and the switch with settings "1" and "2" ? It seems to fire with the main flash regardless of any adjustments I make.
Tx

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

rps wrote:

I picked up this flash unit at a flea market. I cannot find the manual for it on the internet. What is the small light on the front and the switch with settings "1" and "2" ? It seems to fire with the main flash regardless of any adjustments I make.
Tx

http://alphacorner.eu/index.php/topca-330ctx-manual

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

rps wrote:

I picked up this flash unit at a flea market. I cannot find the manual for it on the internet. What is the small light on the front and the switch with settings "1" and "2" ? It seems to fire with the main flash regardless of any adjustments I make.
Tx

Be careful. The film era flashes have higher trigger voltages which can damage digital cameras. You may want to explorer a safe converter hot she adaptor that will protect the camera.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

rps wrote:

I picked up this flash unit at a flea market. I cannot find the manual for it on the internet. What is the small light on the front and the switch with settings "1" and "2" ? It seems to fire with the main flash regardless of any adjustments I make.
Tx

According to Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Powerful-Bounce-Swivel-Dedicated-Minolta/dp/B004TLG8W0#productDescription

your flash is made by Topca, and according to:

http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html

Has a trigger voltage of 3.4 volts (3.1 according to Amazon).

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

I believe the small light on the front is for fill when using the main flash in the bounce mode. The 1-2 is a switch to control that. Metz made some flashes with the same feature.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

Mogul wrote:

According to Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Powerful-Bounce-Swivel-Dedicated-Minolta/dp/B004TLG8W0#productDescription

your flash is made by Topca, and according to:

http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html

Has a trigger voltage of 3.4 volts (3.1 according to Amazon).

That appears to be fine for digital.

photobydmb Loc: Nashville, TN

GoofyNewfie has apparently been taking pictures for a long time. He hit the nail on the head. That is exactly what those two items are for. The small strobe on front is a fill flash when using the main flash in bounce mode. Move the switch to the '1' position and only the main flash will (or should) fire. Move it to position '2' and both the main and fill flash will (or should) fire.

rps Loc: Muskoka Ontario Canada

Thanks to all for your responses.

cthahn

rps wrote:

I picked up this flash unit at a flea market. I cannot find the manual for it on the internet. What is the small light on the front and the switch with settings "1" and "2" ? It seems to fire with the main flash regardless of any adjustments I make.
Tx

You need a manual or someone that has one of these units.

cthahn

rps wrote:

I picked up this flash unit at a flea market. I cannot find the manual for it on the internet. What is the small light on the front and the switch with settings "1" and "2" ? It seems to fire with the main flash regardless of any adjustments I make.
Tx

You need a manual or someone that has one of these units. This unit will probably not work with any new camera.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

rps wrote:

Thanks to all for your responses.

rps, that is a handy little feature, because apart from adding fill, it will produce a catchlight, which is often lost when bouncing the light.
Also, if you goggle flash trigger voltage, somewhere there is a list of many of the different flashes and how much trigger voltage they produce. I believe to be safe for DSLR is less than six volts. Somebody may have the link.
Good luck
SE

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

cthahn wrote:

You need a manual or someone that has one of these units. This unit will probably not work with any new camera.

Just another example of how much effort you are willing to expend to be helpful. Actually you are wrong, but that hasn't yet stopped you from giving an opinion.