Vivitar 2800 Flash

[JMalina]

I found this Vivitar 2800 flash in my garage, probably part of my dad's 90s photo stuff, and I want to make it into a slave flash for my Canon 450d.

I'm not sure what the voltage on it is. I checked the strobe trigger voltages page and it says its a no no. I was a total newb and I had already tried the flash on my camera before having read that page. Nothing happened and my camera is fine. Still scary though.

Is there some way I can rig this as a slave flash even if the voltage is too high? I haven't tested it yet, and I don't have a multimeter. With the Canon off camera cable would I need some sort of adapter?

 

[nickoly]

I'm not sure what the voltage on it is.

Vivitars can vary in their long production life

I checked the strobe trigger
voltages page and it says its a no no. I was a total newb and I had
already tried the flash on my camera before having read that page.
Nothing happened and my camera is fine. Still scary though.

Not all cameras suffer from this nasty little conspiricy. If your Canon is a DSLR, I would have thought it was unlikely to be a problem. Check on the Canon forum or with the manufacturer. It may even be noted in the manual.

Is there some way I can rig this as a slave flash even if the voltage
is too high?

The voltage is not way too high for use as a slave. Indeed I have had experience where the trigger voltage was too low to be used with a cheapo slave eye. The camera is a bigger problem than the flash and there is another thread nearby on this matter. You need to check if the on-board flash can be set for a single flash, no pre-flash. I understand this is aproblem, even with Canon DSLRs. If it can, you can use single flash, the little cubic cheapo dumb slave will be fine. If not, it is possible to get another intelligent optical slave that can be set to ignore the pre-flash. They cost about $25. Another option is to use a radio link. The cost is about the same. I don't understand why Canon has difficulties with these but there is a version especially made for Canon so, if you go that way, make sure you get one of those.

I haven't tested it yet, and I don't have a multimeter.

Your local TV repair depot can do it in thirty seconds. Give him a beer for it.

With the Canon off camera cable would I need some sort of adapter?

The Canon off camera cable is probably expensive and there should be a cheaper alternative, one being an optical slave setup.