Thursday, January 12, 2012

The User's Review: Vivitar Auto 30D Dedicated Shoe Mount Flash


The battery door will not be off the flash body. So the door will not be dropped or lost.


Marked S/C/N/R, compatible with Sear/Canon/Niklon/Ricoh?

2 comments:

  1. It seems to have a shoe voltage of 5.9 volts DC

    That seems safe, so I tried it on my Nikon D3100
    and it worked fine.

    "auto" on these old flashes should not be confused with "TTL"

    Modern flashes use TTL (through the lens metering) and this flash has a "calculator" on the back (so to speak).

    So I set my camera to "M" mode. Aperture controls flash exposure, and shutter speed controls ambient light exposure.

    So I was at a distance of 5 feet from my subject, my ISO was 200. The calculator on the back of the flash, set to "auto 2" mode, told me to set my aperture to 5.6 if the subject is 3-15 feet away.

    So the flash tells me what aperture to set (based on subject distance and ISO), and I can choose the shutter speed. I chose 1/60 as I was hold handing the camera. But I could have chosen up to my camera's max flash sync, 1/200.

    So that's "auto" mode as far I can can tell, it's a calculator on the back.

    There flash also has a manual mode where the flash fires at full power, and there is a similar calculator on the back that tells what aperture to use based on the subject distance and ISO.

    Direct flash is not flattering, use this flash with a "PT-04TM" off camera - and maybe with an umbrella, for a better result.

    How is the power of this flash, on manual mode ?

    Well let's see ...

    OK, it is almost as strong as YN460 flash, about 3/4 of one stop less power.

    So there you go, it's pretty strong for a flash that can be had for $10

    But I don't like "direct flash" - I always "bounce" or take the flash "off camera" by using a transmitter and receiver, like "pocket wizard" or a cheaper one, like "PT-04TM"

    OK, have fun!
    Craig from Maine USA

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