[CatJo]

If you want to shoot in manual at other apertures, you need to do the calculations yourself for distance and aperture. Also note that the flash does not consider really ambient light contribution, so if you want to do fill flash, what I recommend is to set the camera at or below sync speed to be about 1/2 to 1 stop under exposure, and with your film speed , aperture and distance, work out a flash setting (full 1/2 1/4 power etc) to give the amount of fill you want

I did check out the manual, there is no way I can see to set that 1/2 power setting. The flash is just going to expect f11 at ASA 400. If I want to shoot at f4, I'll have to start messing with diffusers and gels to reduce flash power, which is not what I want to do.

But I'd suggest a more sophisticated flash. I used to have a Sunpak 544 "potato masher" flash that went down to 1/128th of its full power with a dial on the side. It was great for fill, and it had tons of power.
I think the Vivitar 283 goes down to 1/8, and there are a billion "no-name" flashes out there with that capability, nearly all of which will work fine on a MESuper.
And Mike mentioned the Pentax AF280. It's just a fantastic flash at all levels, but it still wants f8 in its "low auto" setting.

An AF280 and a Super Program will TTL, letting you do all of this much more easily...

Thanks Eric, this makes sense and puts me at ease that I'm not missing something with the flash I have. This Vivitar 202 is really compact, and has a high GN of 60 for its size. I'll look for other similarly-sized flashes which may have a switch to dial down the power and shoot manually. Don't actually need that high a GN, the compact size is more important - any recommendations?

[TwoUptons]

I think the Sunpak 383 is a very good choice for something that works with nearly anything with a hot shoe.
It has several auto settings and a range of manual power settings.
If you really want to be shooting that wide open, I think you may need something that big to get the right setting, which seems counterintuitive...

I like to keep a couple of small auto flashes around for fill, but they all want f8 for ISO 400.
I used to have a very small Sears flash that used f5.6, but I foolishly gave it away.

-Eric

[tibbitts]

That's the short answer, yes.

You can partially block the flash, and with some experimentation, that will work. Diffusers will block and diffuse the light, which may be a win/win...

But I'd suggest a more sophisticated flash. I used to have a Sunpak 544 "potato masher" flash that went down to 1/128th of its full power with a dial on the side. It was great for fill, and it had tons of power.
I think the Vivitar 283 goes down to 1/8, and there are a billion "no-name" flashes out there with that capability, nearly all of which will work fine on a MESuper.
And Mike mentioned the Pentax AF280. It's just a fantastic flash at all levels, but it still wants f8 in its "low auto" setting.

An AF280 and a Super Program will TTL, letting you do all of this much more easily...

-Eric

I believe my Vivitar 283 can only do variable power with an optional add-on Vari-Power module. Otherwise you get whatever you get with its auto-exposure capability.

[TwoUptons]

I believe my Vivitar 283 can only do variable power with an optional add-on Vari-Power module. Otherwise you get whatever you get with its auto-exposure capability.

I must have been thinking of the Vivitar 285... the vari-power things are pretty rare at this point, I think...

The old Pentax AF160 (the one that tapers toward the bottom) will do f5.6 with ISO400 film in its low setting in addition to a high and full manual setting.
It's a good little flash... but any of the older flashes can have corrosion issues in the battery compartments...

-Eric

[tibbitts]

I must have been thinking of the Vivitar 285... the vari-power things are pretty rare at this point, I think...

The old Pentax AF160 (the one that tapers toward the bottom) will do f5.6 with ISO400 film in its low setting in addition to a high and full manual setting.
It's a good little flash... but any of the older flashes can have corrosion issues in the battery compartments...

-Eric

Yes, the 285 had built-in Vari Power. I would also guess the modules for the 283 would be hard to find now. My 251 died (not from corrosion visible) and I haven't used the 283 in years. The 251 had gotten to where it needed the (included, in those days) AC power adapter to get the flash/capacitor/whatever going again, at which point batteries could take over. Flashes don't seem to age well in the longer run, although up to 15 or 20 years seems to be okay.

[stevebrot]

I think the Vivitar 283 goes down to 1/8

Out of the box, there is only one manual power level. One requires the VP-1 Varipower module to manually reduce flash duration (intensity) and with it, one can dial down to 1/32 power (marked on dial) or 1/64 power (unmarked). The VP-1 is readily available and only recently went out of production. The manual is helpful to see how it is used and is available (donation suggested if you find it helpful) at the Butkus site's Vivitar flash page

Vivitar 2800, Vivitar 3300, Vivitar 252, 728, 225, 365 flash unit instruction manual, user manual, PDF manual, free manuals


Steve

[stevebrot]

If you want to shoot in manual at other apertures, you need to do the calculations yourself for distance and aperture.

It's easier than that. Simply select the ASA/ISO film speed on the back of flash dial calculator and read the f-number off the distance scale. No math required.

If you want to do fill using the Auto feature, set the aperture on the camera one stop smaller diameter than indicated by the flash calculator dial (e.g. if indicated f/4.0, set to f/5.6).


Steve

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Last edited by stevebrot; 12-27-2020 at 11:35 PM.

[stevebrot]

If I want to shoot at f4, I'll have to start messing with diffusers and gels to reduce flash power, which is not what I want to do.

Fill flash under daylight conditions with fast film is a troublesome combination if one desires wider apertures, but one that may not require flash or at least not flash in the traditional sense. Often an assistant and a 36" reflector/diffusion disk may do the trick. Alternatively, reflecting the flash off such a disk may allow some latitude with the aperture setting. Of course this all requires some practice.


Steve