Vivitar 285HV instruction

[mrbojangles13]

hey guys just ordered my firs tflash, vivitar 285 from ebay. is there any where i can get an instruction maunel? also what does DIN mean on these guys?

[dpds68]

Here is the Manual

http://www.cameramanuals.org/flashes_meters/vivitar_285hv.pdf

[runninmann]

Check here: http://www.butkus.org/chinon/vivitar_flashes/vivitar_flash_units.htm
and here: http://www.minoxlab.com/Don_Krehbiel/mpl/dkasa.htm

[DisrupTer911]

if you're using these off camera, the only instruction you need to know is the power dial is on the front LOL

the side dial threw me for a loop the first couple times I used mine.

[mrbojangles13]

thanks for the link guys. what do you mean the side dial threw you for a lop?

[Marloon]

the side dial is a "calculator" hella confusing, i still dont know how to use it.

[mrbojangles13]

so you just use the dial on the front and change the setting(colors)?

[andrepaul]

if you're using these off camera, the only instruction you need to know is the power dial is on the front LOL

the side dial threw me for a loop the first couple times I used mine.
haha yeah i had the same issue. and was wondering how the power wasn't varying while using the side dial. after fiddling a few times i figured it out.

[dpds68]

I use my own in Manual only so I just use M.1/2,1/4 etc

[Tom Diego]

It's probably the same or similar to the Vivitar 283. The way I used it for my 283 flash and Minolta SR-T 202 35mm film camera 35 years ago was to first point the bottom arrow to the speed of your film according to it's ASA number (IIRC, DIN was the European film speed measurement). Then you determine the distance to your subject, look for that distance on the upper scale, set the front sensor the the corresponding color and set your aperture to the corresponding f-number. Speed was synced to 1/60th. For example, Tri-X B&W film has an ASA of 400. Set the arrow to 400 and for a subject distance of 10 feet, the aperture was f/22 with the sensor set to purple, or 15 ft. f/16 blue, 20 ft. f/11, 30 ft. f/8 red, 40 ft. f/5.6 yellow. Seemed pretty simple at the time!

[E-K]

also what does DIN mean on these guys?

DIN stands for Deutsches Institut für Normung. It's a standards organisation like ASA and ISO.

The ISO standard covered both the ASA standard (ISO arithmetic) and DIN standard (ISO logarithmic).

Some people leave off the logarithmic part when specifying the ISO for a given film.

Digital has it's own ISO standard(s) and I don't know if the logarithmic part is still used.

e-k

[DonJuanMair]

I use my own in Manual only so I just use M.1/2,1/4 etc

So if that's the only options, how do I shoot full power?

[dpds68]

M is Full power .

[alabama1980]

The dial on the side IS confusing, but once you learn how to use it, it becomes a handy tool. You turn the two "thumbnail handles" to move the black arrow to the power you're using, then rotate entire wheel so that the white arrow lines up with the ISO setting on your camera, and the f/stops align with the distance needed for a particular aperture, or reversely you can loot at the distance and get an idea of what aperture you should be at for that distance. It gets you in the ballpark of a good exposure the first time. Keep in mind that you get a loss with modifiers, so you would have to account for that if say using an umbrella.

[DonJuanMair]

M is Full power .

awesome thanks!