amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Early Vivitar 283 are way too high trigger voltage to connect directly to a modern electronic camera in any way. The only safe way they can be used is with a Wein SafeSync or similar in between the flash and the camera. There have been reports of as high as 600V in the early 283 (Made in Japan).

Later, revised Vivitar 283 marked "Made in China" or "Made in Korea" are very likely quite safe to use any way you wish. They typically have 10V or less trigger voltage, which is quite safe with most cameras made since 2004.

The problem was that from the late 1990s to 2004 some film cameras and most (all?) DSLRs had very low trigger voltage tolerance... Some couldn't handle anything more than 6V!

In 2004 new standards were set that asked all camera makers to increase tolerance to no less than 24V. I don't know about all manufacturers, but Canon and Nikon both outdid themselves by revising their cameras to handle up to 250V trigger voltage. So long as your camera is newer than that, it can easily handle most flashes on the market, new and old.

However, there are some older flash models that have 400V and higher trigger voltage. Best to consult a resource like http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html or, even better, get a meter and test your flash before using it on the camera.

By the way, remote optical triggers are another way that might be safe. You could use your camera's built-in flash (if it has one) to trigger the external flash that's attached to an optical trigger. Check the voltage tolerance of the optical trigger, though. Most handle high voltage without any problem... but who knows!

The same isn't true of radio triggering systems. All the ones I've looked into have the same 250V limitation as modern cameras. Some older ones may not tolerate as much. Do some research before trusting them with an older, high voltage flash.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

You are RIGHT! Always test!

For anyone who is interested, here is a link to the service manual for the Vivitar 285. I have several on file and some specifications and parts have changed at least 4 times for the same model- that I know of.

https://learncamerarepair.com/downloads/pdf/Vivitar-285-parts.pdf

Even if the unit you have is known to have a lower trigger voltage, certain damages that can occur can be such that the unit will still fire with a significant increase in trigger voltage.

FYO- Older model Pocket Wizard radio triggers will tolerate extremely high trigger voltages. My old Photogenic Flash masters haves 2 different pin configurations in the same synch socket. One is for use with their photoelectric cell and harbours a voltage of over 300 DCV. The other operat through the thyratron tube circuit and is extremely low. My old Pocket Wizards work more consistently with the high voltage tap and there are no burnout issues.

Not only is it best to test but is equally important to verify the maximum trigger voltage that your cameras AND triggers will tolerate and operate reliably as well.

There is a lot of confusion out there. True enough, the specifications and limits set forth by all the manufacturers have changed and in many cases possibly improved as to tolerances. Double-check- you don't want to find out about incompatibility the hard way!

Does anyone remember that old spiritual song "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen"? Just spend a couple of decades in an electronic flash/camera repair facility and that will give new meaning to "Murphy's Law"!