Vivitar 285HV

[mrbojangles13]

hey guys just got a Vivitar 285HV and am looking for a decent optical way to making it wireless. just wondering what some of the better ones out there were

[vincent_su]

check out alienbees cybersyncs. I've upgraded to these and ditched my ebay triggers.
Have fun.

[Rudi]

hey guys just got a Vivitar 285HV and am looking for a decent optical way to making it wireless. just wondering what some of the better ones out there were

This: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/263022-REG/Wein_W940001D_PN_Peanut_Slave_.html

or this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/63118-REG/Wein_W940001_PN_Peanut_Slave.html

... depending on whether you want it to ignore a preflash or not. :)

[dpds68]

I am using a Wein PN Peanut Slave on my Hv and it works well I have have had no problems at all .

But if you are going to bee shooting where there are other photographers it wont be piratical as everyone's flash is going to trigger yours.

David

[mrbojangles13]

so this guy http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/263022-REG/Wein_W940001D_PN_Peanut_Slave_.html wont be triggered by other flashes?
and al i need is this? just plug it in the flash and im good? i dont need a transmitter of some sort?

[dpds68]

^^^ Yes it will all Optical triggers will be set off by ANY Flash .

[mrbojangles13]

oh ok. so i dont need a transmitter of some sort?

[dpds68]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/263022-REG/Wein_W940001D_PN_Peanut_Slave_.html

If it's this optical trigger you want to use you will need another Flash to trigger the Off Camera one .

There is a wonky work around with the On board flash but I would suggest another External flash on Cam .

[tagvestibule]

For my 285HV, I use this optical slave:
http://flashzebra.com/opticalslaves/0050.shtml
with this cable:
http://flashzebra.com/short_pc_sync/0051.shtml

As for an optical trigger, I got one on Ebay for ~$20

[mrbojangles13]

ok lets say i dont want to use more than one flash. would something like this
http://www.mpex.com/browse.cfm/4,11447.html
work?

[dpds68]

Yes that will do exactly what you want .

[mrbojangles13]

is it a decent one? or pretty junky?

[mrbojangles13]

silly question that i found the answer too duh lol

[vincent_su]

The optical slave will need another flash to trigger it and you have to point the optical device to the light source.
The radio trigger, IMHO, cyber sync is the cheaper solution and reliable.

[dpds68]

I have had my own Fire without the slave pointing at the source flash .

[dpds68]

I did not want to start another Topic just for this quick silly question . Is M on the 285Hv Full Power it gors from the colored Auto Settings them "M" then 1/2 etc ?

[tkoutdoor]

I did not want to start another Topic just for this quick silly question . Is M on the 285Hv Full Power it gors from the colored Auto Settings them "M" then 1/2 etc ?

M is 1/1. It's full power.

[abdul10000]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/263022-REG/Wein_W940001D_PN_Peanut_Slave_.html

If it's this optical trigger you want to use you will need another Flash to trigger the Off Camera one .

There is a wonky work around with the On board flash but I would suggest another External flash on Cam .


Great information. Can this optical trigger (none digital version) be triggered by an off camera flash?

Example: I connect my first Vivitar off camera using a PC sync cord. I connect an optical peanut to my second Vivitar. Can I get my second Vivitar to fire wireless using the first Vivitar that's wired to the camera?


Thanks!

[dpds68]

Yes that will work , I use my Canon 430EX to trigger my Vivitar 285Hv with the Peanut that I have linked to above and that works my thing is that I have to put the 430 in Manual to avoid the pre flash . you wont have that problem goint Vivitar to Vivitar.


David

[abdul10000]

Yes that will work , I use my Canon 430EX to trigger my Vivitar 285Hv with the Peanut that I have linked to above and that works my thing is that I have to put the 430 in Manual to avoid the pre flash . you wont have that problem goint Vivitar to Vivitar.


David


Thanks. Regarding using on board flash to trigger the peanut slave, how is that done? Sorry for burdening you, but I searched the forum and could not find an answer.

[tkoutdoor]

Great information. Can this optical trigger (none digital version) be triggered by an off camera flash?

Example: I connect my first Vivitar off camera using a PC sync cord. I connect an optical peanut to my second Vivitar. Can I get my second Vivitar to fire wireless using the first Vivitar that's wired to the camera?


Thanks!

I do what you've just described using a 550EX connected to a PC cord, which triggers my Vivitar 285HV with a basic sofia optical trigger. It's reliable when I run the 550EX in Manual exposure mode as that disables the ETTL flash (this may work in other modes as well like Av mode), but I found it to be unreliable when running the PC corded 550EX as a trigger in ETTL mode. At least I think that's what it was. I've only had the gear to do this for 2 days so I haven't had a lot of time for diagnosis. I just know that when running in M mode everything fired pretty reliably and I couldn't get the same results in ETTL. I might have had other issues with the slave seeing the flash or something too that could have resolved it as I was fiddling with turning the slave to different directions just in case.

Thanks. Regarding using on board flash to trigger the peanut slave, how is that done? Sorry for burdening you, but I searched the forum and could not find an answer.

The simple answer as to hooking up the equipment is you'd have an optical trigger attached to a flash and you'd use your pop-up flash while taking the pic. Because it's a light pulse the optical trigger should recognize it in theory. But that's just the theory and in practice I've found it to have problems. I haven't been able to get my on-board flash to be able to activate my optical slave properly yet. The on-board flash always uses a pre-flash and that appears to be the issue. What happens with mine is that the pre-flash will prematurely trigger the off-camera flash (in this case the 550EX in M mode with an optical trigger) one time and then it won't trip the 550EX again unless I turn it off an on or unplug the optical slave and replug it back in. So far most of the optical triggers that I've found that are supposed to work with digital pre-flash specifically have a disclaimer about the on-board camera pre-flash. That suggests to me that it makes allowance for an ETTL hotshoe mounted flash, just not the on-board flash.

Incidentally, by the time you've paid the extra price for the high end digital pre-flash slaves you've paid about the same as for a wireless receiver like the Cybersync or the up and coming Radiopopper studio version (non-ETTL). Either of which would do the job reliably according to the reports I've seen. That includes outdoors, which the optical triggers aren't good at. That doesn't account for the radio "controller" portion, but for me it would be enough to tip the scale towards a "reliable" entry level radio trigger, instead of getting the digital pre-flash capable optical slaves. I expect to get the Radiopopper studio version (controller and receiver pair) for $129 when it's released (approx. early to mid March) to trigger one of the flashes and have optical slaves do the rest of the flashes. This should work fine inside so long as it's only me firing a camera flash (keep in mind anyone's flash will trigger them). I'll then add receivers little by little so I'll have two ways of doing everything in case one system fails. I'd then have a complete radio trigger and a PC cord/optical trigger system. Right now I have everything for the PC cord/optical trigger system.

[dpds68]

If you are using the pop up flash to trigger the optical Remote flash . you can use the * button to set off the flash then wait till it recharges while still holding the * button release the shutter .

I have tried it but the * button is so sensitive I thought that I will blow up my Vivatar so I ALWAYS use my Canon 430EX on cam to trigger the Vivitar off camera.

[abdul10000]

I expect to get the Radiopopper studio version for $129 when it's released (approx. early to mid March) to trigger one of the flashes and have optical slaves do the rest of the flashes.


Using the radiopopper to fire off the main flash sounds like a practical idea. You should give us an update once you have that setup working.

I have tried it but the * button is so sensitive I thought that I will blow up my Vivatar so I ALWAYS use my Canon 430EX on cam to trigger the Vivitar off camera.


Why would it blow up? isn't the * button holding the same exposure settings to be used with multiple shots without metering? Or am I missing something?

[dpds68]

It's so sensitive it fired the flash 5-6 times if you are not careful .

[tkoutdoor]

Using the radiopopper to fire off the main flash sounds like a practical idea. You should give us an update once you have that setup working.

I'm expecting it to work just fine as this is how some of the other guys systems work, except they just substitute their favorite wireless trigger in place of the Radiopopper that I've mentioned. I've seen several threads here where guys have talked about that. I'll post up here if I remember when I get the stuff and have tried it out.

[abdul10000]

Today I was at a studio where a photographer was using a flash to fire his two optical slave equipped multiblitz monolights. There were two interesting things about his setup:

a) the flash he was using on top of the camera to fire the two monolights was blocked (he had a white piece of paper taped on the flash front lens)
b) the two optical slaves were not facing the flash, to the contrary they were facing the same direction as the flash, so I don't see how they were picking up the flash light.

Given those two facts, how were his optical slaves able to pick up the signal from the camera-top flash and fire the monolights? Could those optical slaves be super efficient, and how could his flash be sending out any light signal when its front lens is blocked? Take note that his monolights are some really old multiblitz units.

[tkoutdoor]

Today I was at a studio where a photographer was using a flash to fire his two optical slave equipped multiblitz monolights. There were two interesting things about his setup:

a) the flash he was using on top of the camera to fire the two monolights was blocked (he had a white piece of paper taped on the flash front lens)
b) the two optical slaves were not facing the flash, to the contrary they were facing the same direction as the flash, so I don't see how they were picking up the flash light.

Given those two facts, how were his optical slaves able to pick up the signal from the camera-top flash and fire the monolights? Could those optical slaves be super efficient, and how could his flash be sending out any light signal when its front lens is blocked? Take note that his monolights are some really old multiblitz units.
It's my guess that you're presuming that light isn't coming out of the covered flash when it probably is. I'm guessing light is still coming out, it's just being toned down. To test this for yourself, just put a piece of the thickest white paper you can find in front of your own flash and look right at it as you fire the flash. The flash will still blind you. The white paper is probably for some other reason than turning the light off. It could be just for lessening the light source to not be as large of a factor in the overall light equation (since with the gear he has available he may be forced to use hotshoe mounted flash - without a radio trigger or PC cord). The optical triggers when inside a building should still be able to pick up bounce flash off of the walls, especially if they are of the really sensitive variety used for longer distances. That's my guess what's going on. I'm not suggesting his method is optimal. It just may be his own way of dealing with the issues he sees.

[abdul10000]

It's my guess that you're presuming that light isn't coming out of the covered flash when it probably is. I'm guessing light is still coming out, it's just being toned down. To test this for yourself, just put a piece of the thickest white paper you can find in front of your own flash and look right at it as you fire the flash. The flash will still blind you. The white paper is probably for some other reason than turning the light off. It could be just for lessening the light source to not be as large of a factor in the overall light equation (since with the gear he has available he may be forced to use hotshoe mounted flash - without a radio trigger or PC cord). The optical triggers when inside a building should still be able to pick up bounce flash off of the walls, especially if they are of the really sensitive variety used for longer distances. That's my guess what's going on. I'm not suggesting his method is optimal. It just may be his own way of dealing with the issues he sees.


Makes sense, its probably not optimal, but practical. Do you think the Wein Peanut optical slave will be sensitive enough to work in the same setup indoors?

Thanks

[matonanjin]

Makes sense, its probably not optimal, but practical. Do you think the Wein Peanut optical slave will be sensitive enough to work in the same setup indoors?

Thanks

It will work better indoors. I used Viv 285's and peanut slaves w/ two umbrellas to photograph win pictures at horse shows. It will perfectly. For a long time I used a pc sync cable to a hot shoe adapter to the one strobe. Then I use optical slave to fire the second.

[tkoutdoor]

Makes sense, its probably not optimal, but practical. Do you think the Wein Peanut optical slave will be sensitive enough to work in the same setup indoors?

ThanksWell the slave should do fine indoors I would guess, though the slaves I own are Sofia, not Wein. The paper he puts in front of the flash is his personal choice. If you found it was hurting the potential for the slaves to function properly it could be removed. I'm wondering if there is a chance that he has spaced the paper off of the front of the lens a little bit so the light shoots out the sides enough to get the attention of the slaves. Could be something he discovered on his own. There are optical slaves that are sensitive to greater distances. I assume that means that they're more sensitive overall as well. If so, one could err in that direction and get the slaves that are rated for longer distances.

[tkoutdoor]

It will work better indoors. I used Viv 285's and peanut slaves w/ two umbrellas to photograph win pictures at horse shows. It will perfectly. For a long time I used a pc sync cable to a hot shoe adapter to the one strobe. Then I use optical slave to fire the second.Have you ever had horses react to the flash? I've taken pictures around horses and I was always a little concerned that I might spook a horse. So far not, but I'm curious nonetheless. I'd hate to cause a problem with a horse in a populated building.

[matonanjin]

Have you ever had horses react to the flash?


Never. But this is for the win pictures. This is when the owner and rider come up and get photographs with their trophies in front of my backdrop.

Some shows will not allow flash for the events. Show management is afraid of it spooking horses. But that is different.

[andrea31419]

check out alienbees cybersyncs. I've upgraded to these and ditched my ebay triggers.
Have fun.

These will trigger Vivitars?

I need a new solution as well, for my Vivitar and 420...my cheapie triggers are crap! ;)

[mrbojangles13]

yes they will

[abdul10000]

..... There are optical slaves that are sensitive to greater distances. I assume that means that they're more sensitive overall as well. If so, one could err in that direction and get the slaves that are rated for longer distances.


That's a fair analogy. My guess is that his multiblitz supplied (maybe?) optical slaves are of the higher range variety. That would explain why they pick up a faint flash.