[altopiet]

I recently got my 1st "modern" flash, a Sigma EF-610 DG SUPER, and figured out how to use it off camera with my K-30. I also have two old flash units with center pin only, that I don't want to use on the K-30, as the trigger voltage is between 195 and 230V.
Can anyone guide me to a cheap off camera cordless trigger for the old flash units, that can be triggered by the Sigma while mounted on the camera?

[elliott]

I have a couple of SYK-3 optical triggers, they are sold under many names including Cowboystudio, I have used them with a couple high voltage flashes without a problem. I've seen reports from other people saying that they have no problems with 200V+ flashes either. The manufacturer or sellers will not give an official statement on their voltage handling capabilities though, other than saying 12V is considered safe and they might not trigger reliably if the flash is below 6V. There is always the possibility you will kill one though, so it would be good to keep spares.

Your Sigma is going to have to be in full manual mode, these triggers will not sync properly if you have the TTL pre-flash. The SYK-5s have a delay setting for pre-flash, but I don't know how well they do with high voltage flashes. It is preferred to be in manual mode anyway, mixing TTL and manual flashes can be unpredictable.

This is where I got mine from:
Seagull Infrared Flash Remote Trigger for Digital Camera SYK-3 - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

[altopiet]

Thanks elliot, much appreciated! At that price I'll get a few...

Just one other question, will I be able to trigger them without the Sigma, using the pop flash of the K-30, as I'm now doing with the Sigma in slave mode?

[elliott]

I don't believe so, since the K-30s flash will be in P-TTL mode all the time unless you have a manual aperture lens mounted, so it will do the pre-flash all the time. If you do have a manual aperture lens mounted the flash would fire at full power, which would probably not be ideal. You could pick up a very small manual flash with a safe voltage to be used as a trigger.

The other option is to use radio triggers instead of optical, but the ones capable of high voltage are more expensive. The Cactus V4 and V5 are rated up to 300V by the manufacturer.

[altopiet]

Thanks again for the info, I've got another old manual flash which triggers at about 4.5V, which should do the trick.