| Author: | | Site Supporter Registered: June, 2013 Location: Port Angeles, WA Posts: 505 | | Review Date: September 30, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Sturdy, powerful, manual modes, bounce/zoom head, illuminated exposure scale | | Cons: | No built in optical slave, no 1/8 power (???), no swivel, proprietary sync socket | |
This thing is a solid 8. Burly, beefy, and powerful. I have heard the newer reissued models are junk, though, so make sure you buy the original.
After picking up a 550FD flash at a thrift shop for less than $2, I started working with flash for macro and table-top studio type work. I was frustrated with either non-TTL auto modes, or full power. I had to compromise, and always be stopped down to f/16, or up to f/5.6 on auto. I started looking around, and these came highly recommended.
I bought a pair of them for $40 with free shipping. What a steal! I have been playing around with them, around the house for a family gathering. I left my ISO at 200, and my shutter speed at 180, and used the flash on manual. With the zoom head and bounce, it's pretty easy to calculate aperture. Once I got the feel, I basically left it on normal zoom, 60 degrees, 1/2 power, and my aperture at f/4 or f/5.6 depending on how high the ceilings were. Fantastic shots without relying on Auto modes! The button to illuminate the exposure scale helps a ton when it's dim.
The downsides are the lack of 1/8 power (haven't needed it yet, but I feel I might miss it at some point), the size (as big as my K100d body!), the lack of built in optical slaves (bought a pair of SL-2s for triggering wireless on my tabletop studio), no swivel, and the proprietary sync cord. With a few improvements, these would be pretty close to a 10.
I'm now on the hunt for a good flash bracket so I can bounce in portrait orientation. Hopefully with a swiveling cold-shoe, too! These flashes have been my biggest improvement in indoor shots and product shots, and with a bracket and some off-camera flash gear, I'm hoping to get better at outdoor people shots and off-camera techniques.
One other downside that I just discovered-- Mine will not work with my Rayovac hybrids. I was planning on being able to use rechargables, but not so. I'll probably end up buying the 120 pack of cheap AA's I found on FleaBay for $20. That should last me a while! The AA's are held in a holder that slides out, I am hoping I can find some of these holders so I can replace the batteries as a unit, as opposed to pulling the holder out, pulling batteries, loading batteries, and replacing the holder.
I have not been able to find Vivitar's power supply for these, either.
| | | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: October, 2011 Location: British Columbia Posts: 377 | | Review Date: June 3, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | price, reliability (for my two at least), zoom and bounce functions. | | Cons: | no 1/8 power, minimum output of 1/16 not low enough, the full power 'beep' noise. | |
All in all, not a bad flash for what it is: a full manual flash.
I've owned two models of this unit. First, I bought a newer, Chinese made 285HV off of the local used classifieds for $60 Canadian (which is at parity with the US dollar at the time of purchase). It had a trigger voltage of ~7 Volts. It worked perfectly well both on and off my digital K-x. The four colour coded 'automatic' settings of this guy worked so-so (they would overexpose or underexpose the subject depending on distance), and I found that I almost never used those settings because of that flaw.
After getting more and more into off camera flash photography, I sold the first unit due to it's lack lack of 1/8 power on the front dial. Strange as it may seem, all Vivitar 285HV flashes go from full power (marked as M) to 1/2, 1/4, then skip 1/8 and go straight to 1/16. I used single stop neutral density gels over the flash for a while to knock down the light output of the unit before getting too fed up with the hassle of it all. I sold it for what I paid for it.
The second unit I bought was an older Japanese made unit that I found in a thrift store for $5. It performed identically to the Chinese made one I had before. I checked the trigger voltage with a multimeter (and I would advise you do the same with any 285HV marked 'made in Japan' as the trigger voltages of the older units are said to vary widely) and found that it was 11.8 Volts. Safe enough to use on my K-x without frying the camera, but uncomfortably high for my liking. It too worked well on and off camera. I sold it for $60 Canadian.
As a note, the Chinese made 285HV I owned recycled to full power significantly faster than the Japanese made model; the Chinese one took about 4 seconds with fresh batteries to completely recharge from a full power pop while the Japanese one took about 8 to 9 seconds to do the same.
So, if you want a flash that can consistently dump out a fairly large amount of light, and price is a factor for you, you might want to consider the 285HV. If, however, you want to use lower power settings, or need fine output control (1/8 power vs 1/4 or 1/16) you might want to look elsewhere. As one final note, when the flash is fully charged it will beep to let the photographer know that the flash is ready. However, it will continue to beep once every few seconds or so until you fire the flash. Several of my models noted that the noise was either 'distracting' or 'annoying'. Sadly, this beep feature cannot be disabled.
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: May, 2009 Location: North Carolina Posts: 836 | | Review Date: February 7, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $85.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Built to take a beating, reliable thyristor circuit, good battery life | | Cons: | Slower recycles, older units were built better, head doesn't swivel | |
The venerable 285HV. This flash has been used by photographers for well over 20 years. You can still buy them new, and I ordered mine from Amazon. The Thyristor design is very nice; I don't know how it works but it works very well. It's so easy to change power; instead of dialing in flash compensation you just change colors.
I shoot with Eneloops, and they recycle faster than other choices and last a good long while. I've used this flash on camera and off, and it works equally well in either situation. The only thing to remember is the thyristor has to be able to see the subject to be accurate; if all it sees is the inside of an umbrella you won't get accurate pops. To get around this problem, just turn the thyristor knob to a power setting (M, 1/2, 1/4, or 1/16). There is a tray on the front of the flash that holds an included diffuser plate; it also works well for sliding in gels.
I have some older 285HVs that I bought on eBay; they were built more solidly. The bounce and zoom functions of the flash snapped in place better on the older units, but the newer ones don't feel much worse. They're about $85 new on Amazon, or I'd guess about $50-60 used on eBay.
All in all, I'd highly recommend this flash unit. It's built well, and it gives me all the control I need.
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