300D and Nissin Flashgun

[wpez72]

Hi guys, I'm new here and would be grateful for a little advice if it's ok.

I have just bought a Canon 300D (I'm British) and I was wondering if it's safe to use my old Nissin 360TW Flash (Ancient I know!) with my camera.

I've read that the strobe voltage is about 10.5v and it doesnt seem to damage the camera but what about in the long run?

Thanks in advance :)

[Belmondo]

Welcome to the forum.

As a general rule, third party flashes can only be used in manual mode. It will not work with the E-TTL metering in your camera.

Someone else will have to comment on the voltage issue.

[Jesper]

Here is something about the trigger voltage (http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/index2.html#trigger).

Canon EOS cameras are made for 6 volt. Using a flash with a higher voltage may damage the camera. It can destroy the camera immediately or slowly. I wouldn't use that funky Nissin flash if I were you.

" Note that the damage to the camera can be subtle and cumulative - simply hooking up the flash and seeing if it works is no guarantee that the high voltage isn’t slowly damaging your camera’s flash circuit - arcing and pitting connectors and breaking down internal components. (of course, Canon is probably being a bit conservative with its 6 volt limit, so you might not be taking a huge risk if the voltage of your flash unit is a tiny bit over) Note also that the power supply used by the flash is irrelevant - it has no bearing on the trigger voltage. Many Canon Speedlite flash units, for example, can use high voltage battery packs but they still have low trigger voltages. And portable battery-powered flash units may require 6 volts in battery power but nonetheless may step up the trigger voltage considerably."

[wpez72]

Wow, thanks gents for the rapid response, it's as though i dialled 999, hehe..

Well ok, looks like i had better put the Nissin into the junk museum i have in the loft :)

Take care.. :)