[Ontarian50]

The guidance from the peanut gallery seems to point pretty strongly to getting a new flash. It doesn't seem like a very powerful one would be required to still provide noticeable improvement.

An FA 50 1.4 or one of the 50 or 55mm f1.2 k-mount lenses out there might be nice as well. I like the 50 1.8 wide open but you can't argue against more light gathering from the lens.

There's almost nothing you can do with a modern TTL flash that you can't do with a Vivitar 283 - except TTL, of course. But that on-flash sensor worked fabulously for a whole generation of pro photographers. While Nikon, Pentax, and Canon made high-end flashes for the likes of the F3, LX, and F-1 - you almost never saw them in use. A row of news photographers at a press conference in 1985 would see pretty much a solid wall of Vivitar 283's in use. Only a few years ago, the local press photographers were cursing the erratic exposures they were getting from their high-priced Canon digital E-TTL flashes, and were going back to their 283's.

The only real shortcoming of the Vivitar 283 was that in manual mode, it only offered a full-power blast. But Vivitar made a replacement dial for the front (the original one unplugs) that offered several lower power increments - I think they called it the "Vari-Power" accessory, or something like that. If you can scare up one of those, it might come in handy.

[awscreo]

Most club photographers I've seen used a flash off camera controlled by a sync cord, and they used slow shutter speed to get show energy that clubs want to represent, and freeze motion with a flash, usually with a diffuser disk attache to soften shadows a bit, and held above heads pointed downwards.

Something like this I guess. But not sure if holding the flash that way helps with fog, I'd imagine it's pretty tough working around that.

Google Image Result for http://lensmagazine.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/004-FotoFilip-TocaCielo-BlackLight-60311.jpg

[mcgregni]

The caution I feel needs to be voiced is about the means to control flash and ambient exposure balancing .... With an auto-thyrister flash it is not possible to take control of the flash output independently of the ambient brightness. This is sort of the core of the problem that the OP will have to solve in order to get the nice looking creative, but technically well balanced images he wants

[Wheatfield]

Hello!
I found myself shooting often in some of the WORST conditions you can imagine: private parties, with people moving and dancing, with the only lights changing constantly, coming from lasers machines, color changers and fire projectors.
It's a hard job but I am pretty happy with the results (and free drinks I get) with bright prime lenses and the built in flash of my KP; at least until they start the smoke machine.
Yes, they also have that. And that's why I am here, it's ****ing me up.
Since they start it, I have to remove the fog in post prodiction and do miracles to keep a bit of color fidelity , but I just can't get the picture if I need to use the flash.
The fog lights up instead of your subject and you get nothing out of your picture. It annoys me, there are many wonderful shoots in the fog I want to get.
Anyone knows a way around this?
I'd like to avoid the flash but I have to, and when I have to, the fog doesn't allow me to do my thing. Any ideas?

The smoke is part of the scene. Learn to love with it and use it creatively.

[Kangaxx]

After taking a few manual test shots bouncing light with the Vivitar 283, I understood how I love the dramatic effect of light coming from the side and the importance of lighting. So I buyed a flash that allows also horizontal orientation for my own purpose.
And since I was buying one I got one with wireless capabilities thinking about these parties: I plan on making a designated portrait point at some point with flash coming from the side. This way I will avoid the effect of fog getting hit by light head first and I won't have portraits asked at random during the night in the darkest and smokiest place ever.
I hope this will help but I belive I will still have to remove the fog in LR and struggle with color fidelity, but at least I should be able to use proper apertures and exposure times without pumping ISO. To whom may interest, I'm waiting for a YongNuo YN585EX.
I'd like to thank everybody for the great help and patience you had with a newbie in photograpy, I learned a bit from every post and now that I realise how much I missed I'm really curious about how will my shoots improve at the next birthday party.

[mcgregni]

I'm glad you got some useful help here, and I know we will all look forward to seeing the results when you start to use the new flash and shooting techniques!