Vivitar 730AFC compatible with EOS Digital Rebel?

I've just purchased an EOS Digital Rebel XT for light-duty pubications work at my job. We previously used an EOS Rebel SLR, for which we had a Vivitar 730AFC (Canon compatible model) that worked great for indoor bounce flash.

I've tried the Vivitar on our new Digital Rebel using Program mode, and while the flash triggers, the camera always chooses a very slow (half second or longer) shutter speed, resulting in very blurry pictures. It is as if the camera is trying to shoot with available light and doesn't factor in the flash at all.

Does this mean that flash unit and the camera aren't "talking" and aren't compatible? I see that the Vivitar is E-TTL compatible, but not ETTL-II compatible, if that matters. (If it sounds like I know what I'm talking about, well...I don't. Even after scouring the 'Net for information and reading everything on photonotes.org.)

So, I guess what I'm asking is, should I be doing something different, or should I purchase a SpeedLite (or more recent Speedlite clone, like a Sigma)?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Richard

Hi Richard,

welcome to the forum

I don't know about that special Vivitar model, but a flash has to be compatible with the Canon EX models (380EX, 420EX, 430EX, 550EX, 580EX) in order to enable automatic use on digital EOS cameras.

Also, you might find it interesting that there is a special custom function (CF03-1) that limits exposure time to 1/200 sec in AV mode whenever you use a flash. This helps me a lot.

Best regards,
Andy