Vivitar 285 c/w Canon Flashguns

[anthonyi]

I own a 580EX II and a 430EX...recently I've been using them in manual with the 580on camera and the 430 firing through an umbrella. I find it very convenient to be able to dial the 430's power up and down from the 580.

If I were to add a third, cheapish flash (such as the Vivitar 285) would I be able use it with an optical slave or does the 580EX communicate with the 430 via pre-flashes that would make this impossible?

Are there cost efficient alternatives to the Vivitar that I should consider...a bounce/swivel flashhead would be very useful along with a decent range of manual power adjustment?

If the optical slave will work, what sort of unit should I look at? (I'm in the UK)

I'd like to avoid the expense of another Canon flashgun if possible, although I suppose if one of the older EZ guns would be suitable I could look for one of those...

Thanks...A

[dpds68]

I have a Wein Peanut on my Vivitar 285Hv that my 430Ex triggers with no problem .

[anthonyi]

Thanks...but I'm not sure if the 580 uses a pre-flash to communicate settings changes to the 430...if it does, won't that trigger the optical slave early on the Vivitar if I use it like that?

[mpeters]

Wein also makes a digital peanut that ignores the preflash.

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

[dpds68]

Isn't the communication between the 580 and 430 IR and not pre flash ?

[anthonyi]

I'm not sure on the IR vs pre-flash...I had thought it was pre-flash but I'll got see if I can find out for certain.

...and every time I try to find a Wein peanut in the UK, I strike out.

[dpds68]

Check these out also not sure about getting them in the UK .

http://www.flashzebra.com/opticalslaves/index.shtml

[anthonyi]

Thanks...it does say "One very important requirement: the triggering flash must not emit a pre-flash " which brings me back to my original question about whether the 580 master communicates to my 430 slave by pre-flash in manual mode when I use the 580 master to adjust the 430's power level...

[anthonyi]

Just found this on Canon's site - looks like I'm out of luck :(

"A Speedlite master flash unit communicates with the slave units using visible light "