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View Full Version : How's this for a cheap flash?

Ogrt48
26th of November 2004 (Fri), 18:15
Well I just ordered this since it really was the most I could spend on a flash right now. I don't do anything pro, I mainly just take indoor pictures of my doggies and other random things.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004TVSC/102-3816836-4383302?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance
robertwgross
27th of November 2004 (Sat), 00:02
What camera do you intend to use it on?

---Bob Gross---
Ogrt48
27th of November 2004 (Sat), 01:15
Just for the Rebel indoors with my pets, nothing serious or anything I'll be selling.
RichardtheSane
27th of November 2004 (Sat), 01:28
This flash may not fire on the Rebel hotshoe without further additions...

Not sure of exactly what but it is only a TTL compatible flash and the new bodies require ETTL
Ogrt48
27th of November 2004 (Sat), 01:41
Do they actually require ETTL?
Anyways from a search on dpreview ( yes ewww, I know) it seems to work on this camera and many more, it's also under the 6 volts.
Ogrt48
27th of November 2004 (Sat), 01:47
Ah, I just got the PDF of the manual from amazon's site, it says it's compatible with all EOS cameras.
chops
27th of November 2004 (Sat), 05:58
Ah, I just got the PDF of the manual from amazon's site, it says it's compatible with all EOS cameras.

It will work with film, but not digital. Just like Canon's EZ series flashes, they will work on film bodies, but not digital.... At least not correctly. That's why they came out with the EX series.
leonid
27th of November 2004 (Sat), 07:26
I have a simple Vivitar 2800. It has only one contact on the hot shoe. And it works with my Digital Rebel just fine. Of course by "works" I mean it fires the flash, no other goodies like TTL or E-TTL.

Honestly, I am glad it does not have any TTL. I am very frustrated with E-TTL of build-in flash, which performance is unpredictable and totally depends on the colour of the subject, which is right in the centre of the frame. If your pet is white or black, TTL is not for you. After all, you can always adjust your exposure with aperture settings as long as you know, that TTL will not play tricks on you, by changing the exposure when you don't expect it.

The only concern is, would this flash fire focus assist beam? Mine does not.
Jim_T
27th of November 2004 (Sat), 20:29
Do they actually require ETTL?


Yes.. For fully automatic operation, Canon DSLRs require E-TTL to obtain exposure info by using a pre-flash.

The 728AF appears to support only TTL. It will work in full automatic mode with Canon SLRs which can use TTL flashes like the Canon EZ series, but not DSLRs which require EX series flashes.

It does have a thyristor, so you may be able to get good results using the flash manually.

http://www.vivitar.com/Products/PDFs/Flash/728AF.pdf

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