Friends, does anyone know what the upper limit is on the voltage that an A-series body (in this case, an AE1-Program) will tolerate from a strobe through the hot shoe?

I presently own two shoe-mountable strobes, both Vivitars, a 283 and a 2500. The 283 puts about 285 volts onto the shoe, which is way too much for an electronic camera, but fine for my old F-1. The 2500 puts about 12 volts onto the shoe. Is that too much? Do I need a 199 or other newer strobe for this camera?

Thanks!

-- Michael Bechtold (wmichaelb@aol.com), March 17, 2001

Answers

If you're worried about it, Wein makes a device called the "Safe Sync," which will cut the trigger voltage to 6 volts. I use one to connect my studio strobes to my Nikon Coolpix 990.

-- David Goldfarb (dgoldfarb@barnard.edu), March 17, 2001.

6 volts is the normal advice for maximum voltage. I would not use a flash that puts 12 volts across the contacts on any A or T series camera without some protection.

-- Terry Carraway (TCarraway@compuserve.com), March 18, 2001.

I have been using my Vivitar 283 flash since the 70's on my Canon A-1, AE-1, and AV-1 with out any problems for all these years. I just recently heard about the voltage and measured mine at around 270 volts! All my camers are working fine.

-- Gary Labate (Garylabate@yahoo.com), March 26, 2001.