What to do with an old Vivitat 285HV?

Apart from putting it on the hotshoe, which could probably fry my 7D?

Looking in my old, film camera bag, next to a T70 and FD kit lens, I found my forgotten 285HV.

What to do with it?

What I love about my body/580 EX ii setup is that I have easy off camera flash, thanks to the 7D built it flash working as a remote trigger. No pocket wizards to buy...

By itself, I doubt the vintage flash can work as a slave, unlike a 580 or 420...

Methinks I should follow Strobist Lighting 101 and use a cable, running my lights in full manual…

Maybe add an optical slave ?.

But wouldn't the optical slave trigger the 285 when it sees my 7D pre-flash, the one that triggers the 580 Speedlight?

So what I thought was a feature of the 7D is now a bug...

There are slaves that can ignore pre-flash.

Corbeau wrote in post #15627060
But wouldn't the optical slave trigger the 285 when it sees my 7D pre-flash, the one that triggers the 580 Speedlight?

So what I thought was a feature of the 7D is now a bug...

Corbeau wrote in post #15626686
Apart from putting it on the hotshoe, which could probably fry my 7D?

Looking in my old, film camera bag, next to a T70 and FD kit lens, I found my forgotten 285HV.

As I understand it, the 285/283 could possibly fry the camera, but the 285HV was specifically designed to have a sync voltage that's safe on the digital bodies. Doubt you'd want to with a 580EX II in the bag, though. On-camera, you kinda want swivel.

You could combine it off-camera with the 580EX ii if you got radio triggers. And if you got the YN-622c ($90 per pair), you wouldn't be giving up the light-based function you're getting with the Canon proprietary system with the 580EX ii (e.g., ettl, hss, 2nd-curtain, remote power setting, etc.) and you wouldn't have to worry about preflash and line-of-sight as with optical triggers. More expensive, true. But not nearly as expensive as PocketWizards.

once ya start learning that built in systems are not the best and go to some kinda triggers you might be able to use that setup ?

even a set of something like phottix triggers in manual are nice to have and most folks will end up using manual once they learn more about lighting so I might say hang onto it for a bit

I use my old Vivitar 283 as a back light/hair light. I put it directly behind the model with my old optical slave trigger attached. With my OCF to the side of my T3i, I place the optical slave trigger so that it can see the OCF but not the pre-flash from the camera. What can I say, IT WORKS for me. Just one idea for your 285.

Larry Q

I have 2 Vivitar 283's that I have on yongnuo wireless receivers that I use all the time..wish I had 2 285's for the power level settings but love my 283's on wireless.

It's a fabulous manual flash. Like others have said you can use it as an off-camera flash in a variety of settings. While I have a number of 580 and 430 Canon flashes, sometimes I need an additional light and that's where my old trusty 285 (the original model of more than 25 years ago)and almost as ole Vivitar 4600 comes in. I trigger them on manual with pocket wizard Plus II wireless triggers. Unlike cameras of that vintage, the flashes continue to provide perfect light. The 4600 had a great slave module that allows it to work as an optical slave as well.

I use a Vivitar 285HV (old one) off-camera with a Canon 7D and 580ex's or monolights. To trigger the Vivitar 285HV, I use a Morris DS-1 digital slave about $30. The DS-1 is designed to work with the pre-flash from digital cameras. Different camera manufacturers and different models use varying pre-flash rates, so DS-1 slave has three settings to choose depending on your brand. I can confirm it works with the built-in flash on the 7D or a 580ex mounted on-camera, or with an ST-E2 optical transmitter to fire 580ex's wirelessly. However, I had to contact Morris because the documentation is poor and gives no clue which of the three settings works with the 7D. Hint: it's a matter of trial and error, so write it down once you figure it out. Note that the newest version of the DS-1 has a short cord with mini 3.5mm plug attached to use with monolights. It's a nice additional feature although it just dangles there if you don't need it, and again, the documentation doesn't even mention it.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …es&sts=ma&Top+N​av-Search=

Thanks CAPhotog, that's exactly the kind of info I was looking for...

Corbeau wrote in post #15626686
Apart from putting it on the hotshoe, which could probably fry my 7D?

Consider using the Wein Safe-Sync voltage regulator.

DC Fan wrote in post #15640340
Consider using the Wein Safe-Sync voltage regulator.

I use one of those with my 283's and Novatron strobes just because they are pretty old and I'm not sure of the voltage frying my 50D.