Vivitar 285

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Vivitar 285

Postby Kevin Bruff » Apr 27, 2008 6:31 am

im getting ready to order a wireless strobe and was wondering if the Vivitar 285 comes ready to use ( providing you put batteries in it). If i order the vivitar 285 will i be able to just start using it or will i have to buy something else to get it to fire (like a firefly) I have a canon powershot A570 i.s.


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Re: Vivitar 285

Postby wendy » Apr 27, 2008 2:10 pm

you can fire the 285 manually, but if you want to sync it using the flash on your camera you will need to buy a firefly. I believe the firefly 3 is the one that works the pre-flash that most digital cameras have. Check wtih the guy that sells the fireflies.
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Re: Vivitar 285

Postby Kevin Bruff » Apr 27, 2008 7:55 pm

thankfully i dont have that stupid pre-flash on my camera. thanks, i wasnt sure if it had the flash sensor on it or not.
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Re: Vivitar 285

Postby NZcaver » Apr 27, 2008 11:43 pm

I agree that "stupid" pre-flash is annoying for us cavers, but it does serve a useful purpose setting the white balance to theoretically help the average Joe user take better snapshots. Anyway, it would seem that most of the newer Canon digital cameras have a hidden method for turning off the pre-flash.

When you select the manual mode setting on both my Canons (the A540 and my new S3 IS) the camera automatically goes to single flash, enabling the use of regular slave units for cave photography etc. Plus you have the option to set that single flash to 1/3, 2/3, or full power.

Wendy, I think you have a Canon too - right? It should be the same for you.

Sorry :oops: I know this is a little off-topic for the Vivitar 285. I prefer trusty Sunpak 383's myself. :big grin:
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Re: Vivitar 285

Postby Kevin Bruff » Apr 28, 2008 3:59 am

yea i like being able to adjust the flash intensity on my camera, and i LOVE the stitch option. ive been a big fan of canon since my skydiving days when i did freefall photography and used a canon eos rebel 2000. i also did video too using a jvc mini cam and those are junk.

does the sunpack 383 have a flash sensor on it or do you need a firefly to sync the flash with the camera?

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Re: Vivitar 285

Postby gulley.jason » Apr 28, 2008 7:55 am

You're going to have to buy a firefly. I highly recommend not buying a Vivitar. The new flashes are substandard in quality to the old ones and many of them are not being fired by the Fireflys (I just discovered this in the middle of an expedition to the arctic. I then subsequently discovered that I had left my trip head in the states. Suffice it to say, trying to count to three and have everyone fire their flashes at exactly the same time is no fun). Anyway, the guy who makes them is no longer recommending Vivitars for use with a Firefly. The Sunpacks are still pretty good units.

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Re: Vivitar 285

Postby NZcaver » Apr 28, 2008 10:10 am

Kevin Bruff wrote:does the sunpack 383 have a flash sensor on it or do you need a firefly to sync the flash with the camera?

No, you still need the slave trigger with the Sunpak 383. They still retail for about $100, but look on eBay and you should find new or near-new ones at about half that price. I did.

I use the Dave Gibson kitset slave myself (he's the guy who designed the Firefly). The kits (which I bought already made-up by a caver in the US) were less than half the price of a Firefly, with about half as many problems. :wink: You have to add the cable you need, and my flashes use the small 2.5mm mono connector. As I understand, many of the issues with the Firefly units revolve around the wire and hot shoe connector once they are subjected to some wear and tear.

Hey - also check out this previous topic on the 285. I suppose we could merge both these topics together, but I'm short of time right now...
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Re: Vivitar 285

Postby Scott Parvin » Apr 30, 2008 5:10 pm

gulley.jason wrote: The new flashes are substandard in quality to the old ones and many of them are not being fired by the Fireflys (I just discovered this in the middle of an expedition to the arctic.


I ran into that same problem. I bought a Vivitar a few years ago and it worked fine with my Firefly II, but when I purchased a second unit a couple of years later it refused to fire using the Firefly. I returned it, and the replacement refused to fire as well. I subsequently purchased a Sunpak, and it works great. Best of luck!!
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Re: Vivitar 285

Postby Kevin Bruff » Apr 30, 2008 5:17 pm

after a bit of reading and listening to others, i am going to go with the sunpack. thanks for the reply's

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