 Posted 5/8/2008 6:16:35 PM
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| I have a very old flash Minolta Auto 220 X manual flash. I have tried it in my Nikon D80 and it seems to work fine, but the last time I used it in daylight, the display on the camera switched continously from one value to another, like if it couldn't decide exactly where to stop; still, the flash fired and the picture was taken fine. My worry is if I can damage my camera by using this flash in it which is at least 15 yrs. old (but in perfect condition). Thanks for your advice. Jorge
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Posted 5/8/2008 7:31:12 PM
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Jorge... Don't do it!!!!
OH now that I have everyone's attention. It can be quite dangerous to use a old flash on a digital camera. I have 11 Vivitar 283s of them 6 have a trigger voltage under 9 volts the other 5 have a trigger voltage over 270 volts. I have 2 Sunpak flashes that have a trigger voltage of 211 volts. Unless you know what the trigger voltage is I'd suggest that you trigger them only by wireless, optical trigger or infrared trigger. for reference the canon camera are designed for a 6v trigger voltage and Nikon is in the 50 v range. Neither would I use with a 270 volt flash. Many cameras have been damaged this way. Not the first time they are used but maybe the 50th time. Unless you know the trigger voltage fits your cameras don't risk it.
To find out the trigger voltage all you have to do is is put a Multimeter across the positive terminal (the little ball at the bottom) and the ground (the contacts that are in the slot that attaches to the hot shoe) you will see some voltage there, that is the trigger voltage. There is a listing of trigger voltages HERE but I wouldn't trust them unless you have checked for you self.
Jorge given that the listed trigger voltage for your flash is 6.9v then you should be in good shape (ok a Canon is 6v but in this case I know that they can deal with 7 volts.).
While I've never see the Minolta flash it makes me wonder if you aren't getting some sort of short across the TTL pins when the flash is mounted. A strip of electrical tape will solve that problem. The only pin on the camera you want showing is the center pin and the part of the hot shoe that it grips. Setting the camera to manual flash will help as well.
For those of you that do have a high voltage flash the problem can be solved with a optoisolator, a resistor, and a SCR if you don't mind doing a bit of surgery. I have converted 3 thus far and have 2 to go but what I'm doing includes a dial down function as well as a trigger delay for a project I am shooting.
Many of you might want studio lights but if you want to get your feet wet off camera flashes are an inexpensive alternative that will get your feet wet as well as serve as "Location" lights
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Posted 5/8/2008 7:36:57 PM
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BTW, I have schematics for the trigger isolator if anyone needs them.
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Posted 5/9/2008 10:03:43 AM
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| Thank you very much Chris, I appreciate your response; by the way, I just found an article stating that this Minolta flash is not suggested for cameras with dedicated flash features, although it fits many non-dedicated flash featured cameras with standard shoe connectors; it says that it has a safe shooting voltage of 1,9v; does this mean that I have a good chance that nothing happened to my camera???? In any case, how can I check if something was damaged in the camera??? It seems to work fine and I just tried it with a friend's Nikon flash and everything seemed to run smoothly. Thanks again, Jorge
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Posted 5/9/2008 11:43:16 AM
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If it is currently working consistently with a low voltage trigger flash then it is unlikely damaged.
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Posted 5/9/2008 1:53:59 PM
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| Ok thanks, I promise never to do such a thing again without reading the manual first (LOL); it's in my nature, I guess... Anyway, thanks a lot and my best regards, Jorge
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