Hey guys, I'm soon going to be needing 2-3 flash units to sit on stands at wedding receptions and be fired by pocketwizards. I'm going to be shooting them in manual 99% of the time so I would prefer to avoid spending $600/piece on a flash unit that I'm going to lose nearly all the features of. Plus there's always the chance that a stand is going to get knocked over or stolen.

I started looking around in online stores, eBay, etc. and the choices are somewhat overwhelming so I figured I would ask here first if anyone has a recommendation for a decent power, low/moderate cost flash unit.

I'm looking for something with a manual output mode, and decent power. A quick recycle would be a plus but not a must-have.

Thanks

Google Strobist. Nikon and Vivitars seem to be favorites. There's lots of hacks out there. For instance, there's ways to use lead acid motorcycle batteries to power Vivitars. If they are on a stand, you might as well use a battery pack. The weight can add stability.

The Vivitar 285HV goes for ~$90. I have bought a couple of the old versions on ebay for ~$20. The older versions have a high voltage trigger, so beware. I don't know if PW can take the high voltage.

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The vivitar 283 is also a seriously solid flash if you aren't bothered about the zoom. I bought mine second hand about 12 years ago and its still going well. Only problem with these is that they need an optional module (VP1 I think its called) to control manual power and these go for quite a bit of money (luckily I bought a VP1 all those years ago). I have however seen 283s with the VP1 module going cheap or you can do a hack and use variable resistors. The 283 is a little less effected by the strobist price rise than the 285
One other thing, check real second hand stores. With the strobist movement sometimes ebay is more expensive than real stores.

Promaster makes some nice flashes that have lots of cool features...the one I used to own actually had two light sources...the main one and a low powered fill flash...worked wonderfully.

Get some SB-28 or 26's. They can be had for about $100 from KEH, and have a bit more oomph than the Vivitars.

Or you could just spring for a set of quadras

Cool, thanks guys. The vivitars and old sb's were at the top of the list, just wanted to see if there was some obscure unit out there that was preferred.

Marvin, I've seen those promasters on eBay but had never heard comments on use..... it worked well for you? the dual flash aspect of them intrigued me.

Haha, since I've started using this forum I have a hard time making a photography based decision without consulting it first!

pollux114 wrote: Cool, thanks guys. The vivitars and old sb's were at the top of the list...

I second the motion for the 285HV.

I got my first one in 1975, when it was the shoe-mount that everyone wanted. The one I have now is a newer one that I've had for 15 years or so. I never use it as an on-camera flash since the sync voltage on some pre-2007 models can fry the circuits of digital cameras, but that's what my 580EX is for. (If you want to use one on-camera, you can check the sync voltage with a voltmeter, and if it's above 6 volts you can run it through a Wein Safe Sync adaptor.)

I use the 285 strictly for off-camera use. I have the extension cord for the automatic sensor module, and a hot-shoe adapter with optical slave trigger. Over the years I've lost the hard-plastic filter set that I had (several colored filters and a wide-angle diffuser), and unfortunately I haven't seen any for sale in stores or on e-Bay.

For less than $100 it's a hard flash to beat. It has a guide number of 140 feet @ 100 ISO in the tele position, it has four automatic ranges for various f stops, and it has four manual power levels (full, 1/2, 1/4, and 1/16).

It has a neat "circular slide rule" distance calculator built in that adjusts for the different zoom settings when you extend or retract the head, so you don't have to do any guide-number-versus-distance algebra in your head. (Contrary to what some have written, the dial doesn't actually change the power of the flash; it's just a calculator. All power/sensor adjustments are done by rotating the sensor ring on the front of the flash.)

Here's a link to a review: http://www.popphoto.com/Reviews/Accessories/Vivitar-285HV-Review

I highly recommend this flash, and I'm going to buy a couple more for myself.

I find the SB26's far more verstaile. Much smaller package, more power, 1/3rd controls, greater power band, built in diffuser, built in optical slave, built in pc-sync, option to power via battery pack. To me, any single feature I just listed makes it better than the 285s. You can get them for close to the same price, its a no brainer for me.

Unless you like larger, less versatile flash that requires adapters and dongles to fire off-camera. Oh ya, the SB26 also has a built in distance scale . . .

I'm not dogging the SB26, they are great flashes, I have one. The Nikons are just far nicer forthe $$ IMO. If you include the cost of a custom sync method for the Vivitar, it could come out being more thanthe SB26s.

Canon EZ models? (but get the 540 not the 430 as that switches off after 90 seconds - and you cannot override this)

FWIW I'm a long time user of Vivitars (263, 283 and 285HV) but I've read accounts of recent vintage models not living up the the "built like a tank" reputation the Vivitars have gained.

About 4 years ago Vivitar discontinued the 285HV which was I believe was first assembled in Japan, then Korea, then China. It was brought back to market a few years ago, but is now apparently made with less robust components. Al Jacobs, of Black Box external battery pack fame, has more background on his site.

So like wine the older vintages may be better than the new ones. The country of origin is molded into the bottom of the flash near the base of the hot shoe connection.

The 285HV is now available again as the Yongnuo Flash SPEEDLITE YN460 - but again the reliability has been questioned. - Google it to see. But it is cheap!

http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157613840658452/

Edit - Oh no it isn't! see below.

paulhodson wrote: The 285HV is now available again as the Yongnuo Flash SPEEDLITE YN460...



That bears absolutely no resemblance to the 285HV.

BrianO wrote:
paulhodson wrote: The 285HV is now available again as the Yongnuo Flash SPEEDLITE YN460...



That bears absolutely no resemblance to the 285HV.



How true - sorry - slip of the mind!

I of course meant the Cactus KF36 Full Manual Adjustable Flash at $90

http://www.gadgetinfinity.com/product.php?productid=17195&cat=256&page=1

See Strobist thread here

http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157614501512048/

Sorry for any confusion!