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Flash, flash triggers etc for Panasonic G5


msubees

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I now have a Panasonic G5 converted to full spectrum (so does Igor!) and I am thinking adding flashes...

 

A couple questions:

 

1. Will Vivitar 285HV work with G5? I assume not directly on the hotshoe. I do not think G5 has a cable socket for flash synch.

 

2. Will two 285HV be enough to get handhold speed at F8 with a El-Nikkor 80 mm?

 

3. Which remote trigger will work with G5+285HV? CowboyStudio NPT-04 4 Channel Wireless Hot Shoe says it will work with 285HV. but not sure if it talks to G5 or not.

 

the gear list will never end, huh?

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Zach,

 

You may want to look at a Canon SPEEDLITE 199A. I have two of them and they seem to work fine. They are usually priced low and are very simple to modify for UV.

 

I found the mod posted by tbyork2010 on the former NikonGear site now rebadged as FotoZones in the UV/IR Zone, Invisible Spectrum Technology sub forum.

 

See: http://www.fotozones.com/live/index.php/topic/43737-speedlite-199a-for-uv/?hl=%2Bspeedlite+%2B199

 

I checked the trigger voltage and found it safe to use on my G3's and G5.

 

Also the very inexpensive, but somewhat flimsy, Seagull SYK-5 optical slave works on these Speedlite 199As

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Nope. No end. Gear lists grow forever. But at least they are countably infinite.
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Hey Zach

 

1. Why not directly on the hot shoe? No need to sync it--just dial it to maximum power (if using for UV)

2. Not with a D70 and an acceptable iso (at least not yet for me)

3. If you get two viv's, get a vivitar Sl-2 flash slave unit cheap from ebay.

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John,

 

Thank you so much! indeed the 199A is even cheaper than 285HV. Even better, that it can work directly on the shotshoe of G5! I will definitely start bidding one on ebay. I sold my old Topcor macro lens for $130 last night!

 

Damon, sorry I am "defecting" to Canon. :lol:

 

but you will need remote slaves, if you are using 3 at the same time? how does the other 2 "know" when to fire?

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I now have a Panasonic G5 converted to full spectrum (so does Igor!) and I am thinking adding flashes...

 

Will Vivitar 285HV work with G5? I assume not directly on the hotshoe.

 

Yes, the Vivitar 285HV will work on the G5. But I wouldn't recommend attaching it directly to the camera's hotshoe (unless you want to risk frying the camera).

 

I have four Vivitar 285HVs. They may not have all of the expensive control panel / LCD read-outs like today's dedicated flash guns, but in terms of output / intensity as far as light goes, they blow many of the more "modern" flashes away.

 

So, for safety (in case the trigger voltage is too high for some digital camera hotshoes, as is the case for many units remaining from the film era which have trigger voltages into the 100's) ... I use the Wein Safe-Sync in between the 285HV and the Panasonic hotshoe.

 

In fact, I own three Wein Safe-Sync units. The other two are used for implementing high-voltage film-era flash guns on my Pentax K-5 and Nikon D7000 DSLRs.

 

Another nice feature with the Wein Safe-Sync is that it has a dedicated PC sync node built into it, as well! Thus, you can go either route! (Or, you can actually fire two Vivitar 285HVs at the same time! Because the flash connected to the hot shoe and a flash being triggered by the PC female connection will both fire simultaneously from the same signal! And if you buy a PC sync splitter cable, you can probably fire THREE Vivitar 285HVs from the same unit! Two from the PC-sync feed split unto two outputs, and one mounted on top of the hot shoe pass-through! I haven't tried this myself, yet - but I have seen someone else set it up that way, successfully, with no issues. I just bought a PC sync splitter cable a few months ago, so I can eventually do some test runs myself with three Vivitar 285HVs being triggered simultaneously by this Wein Safe-Sync device. I do know, for a fact, that the Wein Safe-Sync adapter will safely fire two high-voltage flash guns at the same time: One mounted to its hotshoe, and another one connected through its PC-sync node.)

 

Here's an example of what this nifty gadget looks like (below). (Some of the pros that I know, who shoot weddings, modeling / glamour shots, professional sports photography, etc., swear by this unit. DO NOT accept cheap and generic knock-offs! Unless you don't mind taking chances with roasting your camera's circuitry ... because these more robust, higher trigger-volage film-era flash guns were never designed for sensitive digital camera electroncs in mind.)

 

http://www.ebay.com/...=item2c84bc4275

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..... you will need remote slaves, if you are using 3 at the same time? how does the other 2 "know" when to fire?

 

The Seagull SYK-5 can function as an optical slave and also has a PC sync port. Optical slave is triggered by another flash. Both of the 199As I checked had safe trigger voltages and I have used them mounted on the hot shoe with the flash set to manual mode. However, I would always check any recently acquired flash unit tust to be sure the trigger voltage is OK before using it in the hot shoe.

 

The only issue with the SYK-5 is it is flimsy plastic, but I consider it cheap enough to be essentially disposable and ordered extras. I am mulling the notion of making a bracket for the 199A so as not to rely on the SYK-5 to mount the flash.

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Iggy and John,

 

Thanks! I may try the cheaper option first...both might be made in China :)

 

Seagull was the first camera (twin lens) I used when in college...had to borrow it though and we had fun trying to develop our own negatives and prints (directly to photo papers with a regular incandescent bulb, since we had no enlargers).

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Oops, it seems the Seagull will not be able to trigger wirelessly? it only connects the flash to it..I guess if I have a cable, I could then connect a remote flash with wire to be triggered.

 

Iggy, yours has to have a cable too, right? cannot really do it wirelessly...(which would allow much flexibility and closer distance between flower and flash).'

 

edit: re-read the product description...Seagull will fire wirelessly if it "sees" another flash coming its way (so direct sight is needed). bought 2 Canon 199A ($30 for 2) today from KEH. Once it works for the camera in UV mode, I will buy 2 Seagul....

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Zach,

I said, Seagull SYK-5 can function as an optical slave and also has a PC sync port. Optical slave is triggered by another flash.

 

The little pop up flash on the G5 will trigger it and so will a 199A mounted on the hot shoe. An optical slave is essentially wireless, just not radio waves. I cannot discern any delay, light is rather fast, at 299,792,458 meters/sec, you know! :)

 

You can put the SYK-5 just about anywhere anywhere you wish, I often hand hold the SYK-5/199A. It does not have to be facing the other flash, the first flash will reflect off the scene enough to trigger the optical trigger. Check out the photos of Damon's set up, his optical triggers (different brand) are facing the scene http://www.ultravioletphotography.com/content/index.php?/topic/826-damons-gear/ this is the way they all work.

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John,

 

thanks! I would have thought the "eye" of the slave would need to be facing the commanding flash? maybe reflected light is enough? I will test it before I mod the flashes, least that I get my retinas burned by UV. :lol:

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Zach,

The SYK-5 has an adjustable sensitivity so one can still use red-eye reduction without the little pre-flashes triggering the slave.

The instructions are not in English, a translation I Googled left much to be desired.

I ordered several and one was not fully functional, so I recommend you at least get an extra spare.

Like I said, they are inexpensive enough to be considered disposable anyway.

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I received two 199A and tested them last night and today. I managed to remove the front filter so now it has nice UV! inside at night I can shoot 12" away at F8, 1/100. in field today I shot some white clover (totally black!) I needed to fire the flash twice (shutter at 4-6"). One flash seems to be defective, it wont fire again until i push test button half way or turn the on/off switch off and on again. otherwise ready light wont light up and wont fire.

 

If I fire the flash in hand, 4" away from flowers and can use F16 at 1/100 - I get a nice UV shadow this way on one side.

 

I am practicing to close my eyes when the flash goes off. still see a big blob of red light.

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Zach,

 

My 199A's were both a little strange at first, I think it may just be that they weren't used in a long while. I assume you made sure the battery compartment and battery holder are clean. Try taking the battery pack out and back a couple of times and switch the SYK-5's around. Also make sure both front and back switches are set to manual mode.

 

Get some UV protective glasses! :D

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John,

 

I did not know there are also front switches (where?)? I played around with the back switch (3 stops for auto and 1 M, and found M gave the highest flash power).

I tested my glasses and they were quite good in blocking UV. so perhaps it is safe already even if I do not close my eyes. it does not seem to be contact problem since off switch would fix it. but it could be a front switch I missed.

 

both flash would blink in red after one flash (when it is working)...what does the mean? also one does not want to fire if set at 1/100 or higher. but ok at 1/60.

 

need to download a manual for this flash.

 

Zach,

 

My 199A's were both a little strange at first, I think it may just be that they weren't used in a long while. I assume you made sure the battery compartment and battery holder are clean. Try taking the battery pack out and back a couple of times and switch the SYK-5's around. Also make sure both front and back switches are set to manual mode.

 

Get some UV protective glasses! :D

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John, I googled and found a scanned copy earlier today. found the switch...when flash is at 90 degrees, it is impossible to notice them!

 

I tried again with both at M and still it wont be ready unless switched off and on again for one (this one actually charges faster! but based on serial number, this one is much colder, with 4 digits, the other one has a 6 digit serial).

 

but at $15 each, I should not complain...i just need to set it off and on again...and no continuous flash like i did with the other one today (it later wont charge fast enough to fire twice in 4-6 sec).

 

do batteries run out pretty fast on these?

 

will need to find a stick that can be planted in soil and then have a gadget to host a Seagul SYK-5, then the flash, so it can be closer to flowers. on camera wont work (not one flash anyway) unless flower is 10-12" (which worked fine at home this morning when I tested).

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Zach,

I don't really know if 199A'a eat batteries more than other flash units. I do recall that you are supposed to use regular non-rechargeable batteries. The voltage on rechargables tends to run a bit lower ~1.2 rather than 1.5V. Perhaps you could swap the battery carriers and see it that makes a difference. One of mine would sometimes not come on every time and in the process of checking the batteries I took the battery carrier out and in without turning it off. This seemed to reset the thing somehow, I assumed the capacitor just was not getting enough juice. It looked clean but I cleaned the contacts and it is fine now. Like you said for the price you can afford a dud anyway, given the age it is not such a surprise. They do kick out a nice bit of UV and are very simple to modify so I like them.

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John,

 

thanks. I was testing the 199A this morning and made a few "discoveries" : 1. unmodified 199A has about 50% of UV with some tint and 2. unmodified Promatic flash gives nice UV (no tint!). 3). the UV blocker is not as good as my glasses for blocking UV. I will open another thread to report these with photos.

 

the "bad" 199A can fire fine with test button (not on camera). so I am hoping it will do so too on Seagull. I bought 2 yesterday.

Zach

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  • 3 weeks later...

John,

 

I got the two SYK-5 today. tried taking 60 photos and none good. most of the time it wont fire unless very close to my flash (less than 1ft?). othertimes it fires but somehow my camera wont see it. i thought it was flashing about the same time as the onboard flash but i saw no UV from the flower bounced back (i used my old method and it works fine if I fire it by hand and set to 1" for shutter).

 

I tried change the dial on the flash to the rightmost position (clockwise), thinking it will be faster in response. but tried 1/2" (slowest speed i can get the the onboard flash popped up), still no UV! a bit strange. maybe the wireless trigged flash somehow is weaker? i cannot believe it is a synchronization issue even at 1/2". the default is 1/60 and no go either....

 

I tried both triggers and both flashes....only 1 good one from 60 also photos, and that was triggered by my hand.....

 

I must be doing something wrong!!

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I am using only S8612 to take visible photos for testing....baffling! I can get a nice image of my bellflower at 1/60, F/22, with onboard flash. but if the external flash fires as a slave on SYK-5, the photo would be black! how could this be? it should be over-exposed (if both flashes happened within 1/60), or properly exposed just as if the external did not fire....but how can it be black?

 

the camera displays the recorded image as 1/60, so it is not like it changed exposure time upon finding another flash there.....

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the only logic i can deduce is that my onboard flash does a pre-flash to assess the light condition, which triggers the SYK...the camera sees that strong flash light and decides to send much less light in its real flash....hence, i have 2 flashes fight each other....and results in less light, even though i saw them with eyes....but the preflash and slave fired before shutter was open....

 

i checked G5's manual and there does not seem to be an option for changing the eTTL flash to manual mode....so wont be able to use SYK?

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Zach,

My SYK have a switch to select between regular flash and red eye reduction.

The red eye side has a sensitivity dial so you can adjust it not to trigger on the pre-flash.

I simply turned off red eye reduction in the camera, but I rarely use the pop-up flash opting usually to mount one of my 199As on the hot shoe.

On my G5 that is on under the main "Rec" menu page 6, Red-Eye Removal set to OFF.

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John,

 

thanks. at 2 am I woke up and realized the only way is to use another 199A on the hotshoe to trigger a 2nd one on SYK...I did not know you can still do it using the camera flash? the 199A is a bit bulky so I prefer to use onboard one. I used the non-red eye switch (lightening sign on left)...I can try using the red eye one. so the "timer dial" on the right side is not really affected by non-red eye mode? poor instructions that came with the SYK!

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