Using External Flash with D7

[Pabletto]

V122 opened up the door for a vast array of flash choices.
What bothers me is that Minolta is trying to make money out of
their mistake by bundling this firmware with their PCT-100.

Jeff

Well, Jeff, unfortunately for us, this is buisiness for them. According to them they do give you two options. Either buy the MINOLTA flashes ot buy the PCT-100 + firmware and use any flash you like with limitations.

--Pablettowww.pbase.com/pabletto(samples taken with the MINOLTA DiMAGE 7)Last update 26 February 2002 (MORE food photos)

 

[2Jakes]

I want to assemble a very inexpensive studio set-up using cheap flashes (less than $100 each). I'd like to hook up two or three off-camera flashes to fire simultaneously without using a slave system (too expensive).

Is there a way to do this? Would the connections be done in parallel or in series? Which flash adapter would be needed?

I don't mind setting the flashes manually.

I'd appreciate any help, and would be willing to share pictures and details of the finished set-up with people in these forums, as many of us are interested in both studio set-ups and saving some cash.

Rob

 

[Tony37642]

Rob,

Wein's Peanut slave triggers are cheap and works well. Or you can get a three way pc connector/splitter and use long sync cords to each flash unit. B&H or Porters Camera have these items and you can order on line.
Tony

I want to assemble a very inexpensive studio set-up using cheap
flashes (less than $100 each). I'd like to hook up two or three
off-camera flashes to fire simultaneously without using a slave
system (too expensive).

Is there a way to do this? Would the connections be done in
parallel or in series? Which flash adapter would be needed?

I don't mind setting the flashes manually.

I'd appreciate any help, and would be willing to share pictures and
details of the finished set-up with people in these forums, as many
of us are interested in both studio set-ups and saving some cash.

Rob

 

[Craig Moseley]

How do you use a 5600 HSD with external flash? The cable connections are different. Do you need a special cable which allows you to connect to standard flash equipment?

Several choices now available to trigger your external flash with
the D7/D5.
1) PCT-100 with 122 firmware upgrade( PC cable to studio flash)
2) FS-1100 hot shoe with 122 firmware upgrade (use hotshoe flash as
stand alone or to trigger studio flash or use pc connector adapter)
3) Use Minolta 3600/5600HS(D), DigiSlave, Sunpak 355AF or PZ500AF
as stand alone or to trigger studio flash.

The post below was copied from

http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/message?forumid=151930&messageid=1015970642 and contains high voltage caution at the end. (Trigger voltage may damage your camera!)

The Flash hot shoe is the Minolta FS-1100
March 12 2002 at 4:04 PM Tony Wu (Login TonyWu)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and the firmware upgrade comes with the Minolta PCT-100 on a CD
(but have been shared by various people on the web).
Long histry in these two items. The FS-1100 is a hot shoe adapter
that goes on the D7 and top is a ISO standard hotshoe. Initial
reports that the FS-1100 did not work at all to trigger a hotshoe
flash. But with the 121 version firmware upgrade it would trigger a
flash but the viewfinder became dim when you set the camera for
manual exposure to get proper exposure with the external flash.
Now with the latest 122 version firmware, the viewfinger can be
switched to remain bright even in manual exposure mode. See my
post on using a Vivitar 3500 with the FS-1100
http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/message?forumid=151930&messageid=1015726457 .

If you plan to use the FS-1100 with your hotshoe or studio flash
you best read about dangers of high trigger voltages thread
starting with this post

http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/message?forumid=151930&messageid=1015800572 Make sure you visit: http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html If your external flash has high trigger voltage, you might want to consider using the Wein Safe Sync module in between your external flash connection and the FS-1100. http://www02.bhphotovideo.com/default.sph/FrameWork.class?FNC=ProductActivator__Aproductlist_html___68605___WESSQ___REG___CatID=3625___SID=EC794F39760

More on flash and studio flash in Bryan's FAQ site (about 1/4 way
down) at
http://webpages.charter.net/bbiggers/DCExperiments/html/d7_faq.html

Good Luck and ask more questions as they come to you.

Tony

 

[2Jakes]

Thanks, Tony. That's exactly the information I'm looking for. If I were to go the pc/splitter way, which hotshoe adapter should I use on the Minolta Dimage 7i?

Rob

I want to assemble a very inexpensive studio set-up using cheap
flashes (less than $100 each). I'd like to hook up two or three
off-camera flashes to fire simultaneously without using a slave
system (too expensive).

Is there a way to do this? Would the connections be done in
parallel or in series? Which flash adapter would be needed?

I don't mind setting the flashes manually.

I'd appreciate any help, and would be willing to share pictures and
details of the finished set-up with people in these forums, as many
of us are interested in both studio set-ups and saving some cash.

Rob