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Generic Flash question

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Schmee

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At the moment I can't afford a new speedlight and am making do with the built-in flash. However, my old Canon T70 bag has a (non-Canon) generic external flash unit in it.

Can I use that on the hot-shoe of the D70, or like lenses do flashes need to be compatible with particular manufacturers? I'm assuming I'll need to use it in full manual mode but it works fine and has a set of filters (diffuser, red, green). I'm a bit nervous just in case I place it on the shoe and hear and 'phut' noise from the camera!
 
You need to determine whether the trigger voltage is safe to use on the D70. There's a pretty extensive list here:
http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html

According to the D70 manual, the maximum trigger voltage is 250 Volts. As long as the trigger voltage isn't too high you should be ok, although you may have to cover some of the pins on the flash so that only the center pin makes contact.
Schmee said:
At the moment I can't afford a new speedlight and am making do with
the built-in flash. However, my old Canon T70 bag has a
(non-Canon) generic external flash unit in it.

Can I use that on the hot-shoe of the D70, or like lenses do
flashes need to be compatible with particular manufacturers? I'm
assuming I'll need to use it in full manual mode but it works fine
and has a set of filters (diffuser, red, green). I'm a bit nervous
just in case I place it on the shoe and hear and 'phut' noise from
the camera!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for that. I don't really mind if the flash gun fails but I'd be upset about the D70! According to the man at Jessops I just spoke to it should work on a purely manual basis. I'll dig it out tonight and do some tests.
Thomas Comerford said:
According to the D70 manual, the maximum trigger voltage is 250
Volts. As long as the trigger voltage isn't too high you should be
ok, although you may have to cover some of the pins on the flash so
that only the center pin makes contact.
Schmee said:
At the moment I can't afford a new speedlight and am making do with
the built-in flash. However, my old Canon T70 bag has a
(non-Canon) generic external flash unit in it.

Can I use that on the hot-shoe of the D70, or like lenses do
flashes need to be compatible with particular manufacturers? I'm
assuming I'll need to use it in full manual mode but it works fine
and has a set of filters (diffuser, red, green). I'm a bit nervous
just in case I place it on the shoe and hear and 'phut' noise from
the camera!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Do make sure the voltage on your external flash doesn't exceed Nikon's recommendations. Damage to the camera electronics may not show up until after some usage. I have a fairly new Sunpak Auto 433D that I bought for my Canon film SLR and wouldn't dream of using it on the D70 unless/until I am certain the trigger voltage is well below the maximum.

Cassandra
Schmee said:
Thomas Comerford said:
According to the D70 manual, the maximum trigger voltage is 250
Volts. As long as the trigger voltage isn't too high you should be
ok, although you may have to cover some of the pins on the flash so
that only the center pin makes contact.
Schmee said:
At the moment I can't afford a new speedlight and am making do with
the built-in flash. However, my old Canon T70 bag has a
(non-Canon) generic external flash unit in it.

Can I use that on the hot-shoe of the D70, or like lenses do
flashes need to be compatible with particular manufacturers? I'm
assuming I'll need to use it in full manual mode but it works fine
and has a set of filters (diffuser, red, green). I'm a bit nervous
just in case I place it on the shoe and hear and 'phut' noise from
the camera!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/cassandra/nikon_d70
 
Thanks for that.

I looked at the flash last night - its a Cobra D400. This is a dedicated flash and has a 'Canon Slow Sync' On/Off switch. Not sure what the exact voltage is but http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html indicates that most of the Cobras are in the sub-1ov range.

Given that it is a dedicated Canon flash, with three pins I think I won't take the risk just now and save for a SB600/800.

The 433D you mention is measured at between 4-8v on that site. What should be done about the additional (Dedicated) pins on the flash shoe?
Cassandra said:
Cassandra
Schmee said:
Thomas Comerford said:
According to the D70 manual, the maximum trigger voltage is 250
Volts. As long as the trigger voltage isn't too high you should be
ok, although you may have to cover some of the pins on the flash so
that only the center pin makes contact.
Schmee said:
At the moment I can't afford a new speedlight and am making do with
the built-in flash. However, my old Canon T70 bag has a
(non-Canon) generic external flash unit in it.

Can I use that on the hot-shoe of the D70, or like lenses do
flashes need to be compatible with particular manufacturers? I'm
assuming I'll need to use it in full manual mode but it works fine
and has a set of filters (diffuser, red, green). I'm a bit nervous
just in case I place it on the shoe and hear and 'phut' noise from
the camera!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/cassandra/nikon_d70
Click to expand...
 
Schmee said:
Thanks for that.

I looked at the flash last night - its a Cobra D400. This is a
dedicated flash and has a 'Canon Slow Sync' On/Off switch. Not
sure what the exact voltage is but
http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html indicates that most
of the Cobras are in the sub-1ov range.

Given that it is a dedicated Canon flash, with three pins I think I
won't take the risk just now and save for a SB600/800.
Click to expand...
If you have a volt meter you can measure the voltage yourself. You also have the option of buying a Wein safe-sync hot-shoe adapter, which will protect your camera from high trigger voltages, or an optical slave trigger which would allow you to use the D70's built-in flash to trigger the external flash off-camera.
Schmee said:
The 433D you mention is measured at between 4-8v on that site.
What should be done about the additional (Dedicated) pins on the
flash shoe?
Click to expand...
If the flash doesn't fire, they need to be covered so that only the center pin makes contact.
Schmee said:
Cassandra said:
Cassandra
Schmee said:
Thomas Comerford said:
According to the D70 manual, the maximum trigger voltage is 250
Volts. As long as the trigger voltage isn't too high you should be
ok, although you may have to cover some of the pins on the flash so
that only the center pin makes contact.
Schmee said:
At the moment I can't afford a new speedlight and am making do with
the built-in flash. However, my old Canon T70 bag has a
(non-Canon) generic external flash unit in it.

Can I use that on the hot-shoe of the D70, or like lenses do
flashes need to be compatible with particular manufacturers? I'm
assuming I'll need to use it in full manual mode but it works fine
and has a set of filters (diffuser, red, green). I'm a bit nervous
just in case I place it on the shoe and hear and 'phut' noise from
the camera!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/cassandra/nikon_d70
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Schmee said:
Thomas Comerford said:
If you have a volt meter you can measure the voltage yourself.
Click to expand...
I do have a volt meter. But where do I place the probes across?
I'm guessing one on the pin and the other on the base plate?
Click to expand...
There should be two little recessed contacts on each side of the base of the flash that make contact with the hotshoe rail as the flash slides on. The flash is fired by creating a circuit between those recessed contacts, and the center pin on the base of the flash, so you just need to measure the voltage between those.

More information on it here:
http://www.botzilla.com/photo/g1strobe.html
 
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