Flash protection?

[BruceMcL]

My friendly photo dealer has urged me to use a device which protects my Digital Rebel from possible over voltage in the sync circuit. I have an adaptor which will allow use of my White Lightning system with the Rebel (using a separate Minolta Flash meter for exposure determination).

Do you think such protection is needed? I have never had a problem with my Nikon F4 or 8008 both of which have a lot of electronics inside. Of course my large format cameras have shuuters which are virtually immune to that problem.

Bruce

[w10d]

You might like to have a look at this:

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

[scottbergerphoto]

When discussing this issue is there a difference in using the hot shoe vs. the PC cord ?
Scott

[Motorsports Photo]

If you are using anything other than Canon flash units you could expose your camera to excessive switching voltage.

Measure it yourself and see. There are "clamping" devices ready made or home-made to make sure nothing more than the 5v Canon specs reaches your camera.

-Pete

[scottbergerphoto]

Wein is a producer of such devices. You can also avoid the whole problem by using a wireless system like Pocket Wizard Plus or FreeWire.

[BruceMcL]

Well, since the Rebel has no PC connector I have to use the hot shoe with a PC adaptor. However, even if it had a PC connector I suspect the hot shoe and connector would be tied into the same circuits.

Bruce

[BruceMcL]

That is a very interesting and useful list. From it I learned that I may want to secure some protection from my Paul C. Buff Ultra 1200 units.

But a surprising thing was mention of the Nikon SB 24 as being OK with the Digital Rebel. As far as voltage is concerned that appears to be true. But I wonder if the hot shoe contacts would work. I have the SB24 for use with my Nikon film cameras.

Bruce