Open Flash photography

Hi all!

I'm looking to do some open flash photography and need any advice on a cheap flash to use. I have a Digital Rebel XT but the flash doesnt need to be Canon as I dont plan on attaching it to the camera. I just need something basic that I can hold in my hand and fire off manually when I need to.
Any suggestions on what and where to buy? Will any regular old flash with a manual test button work?

This is a great forum. I'm glad I found it!

Thanks,
Chris

If all you want to do is pop some light with no sync consideration I would think any flash with a test button would work. If you promise not to laugh, we still use an old K-Mart unit we bought about 15 years ago. It was cheap then, probably still cheap today.

You might check this out:

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=79438

Thanks Titus213,
Thats exactly what I want to do. I'm just double checking with folks to get some feedback about it.
Appreciate the insight.

Chris

I'm still using 30 year old Vivitar 283s & they're cheap on ebay. You'll need a Wein Safe sync to use them on the cam, or a flash that only connects with under 6 volts.

Any flash will work for what you want. I have lots of flashes that I use for cave photography. Much of the cave photography that I do is the same technique that you want to try. I also use flashbulbs. I have somewhere around 30 gross of bulbs of different sizes, types, and colors.