[Yael]

So I finally took the plunge and bought a digital SLR. I didnt want to spend a ton of money so I ended up picking up a K100D with lens for pretty cheap locally.

Anyway, I have a bunch of older flashes that I used with my K1000, however someone told me that there could be compatibility issues regarding voltage and using them could cause damage to my camera. So I was hoping someone could tell me which if any of these flashes can be used with the new digital camera...

I have:

-Pentax AF200T
-Vivitar 3500
-Vivitar 550fd

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[jatrax]

Here is a link that might help: Photo Strobe Trigger Voltages

I use an AF200T often so I know that one works. I've no experience with the others but they might be listed in the link above. Generally 12 volts is considered safe and higher than that ????

[Yael]

Thank You.

[p38arover]

Regrettably, that site hasn't been updated in a long time. I sent him a list of my flashes (that aren't in the table) and their trigger voltages but they haven't made their way into the table.

[jatrax]

Regrettably, that site hasn't been updated in a long time.

Too bad, it is a very useful resource. And a lot of work went into compiling that chart at some point. Looks like parts of the site are dated 2004 but there are also fairly current posts so I don't actually understand what "botzilla" is I guess. Just his website or some kind of hosting site?

[atupdate]

I have:

-Pentax AF200T
-Vivitar 3500
-Vivitar 550fd

I've used my Vivitar 3700 on my DS and it worked fine. Your 3500 should be fine, as it is listed with a lower voltage than the 3700 on the trigger voltage website.

Tim

[Yael]

I guess the other logical question is, is there any reason to keep any of those old flashes around when the K100D has built-in flash anyway... Is the built-in flash superior to the older flashes or about the same or?

[SoftwareArtifex]

The built-in flash is just there for convenience in snapshooting. It is inferior in just about every way to an external flash.

[atupdate]

I guess the other logical question is, is there any reason to keep any of those old flashes around when the K100D has built-in flash anyway... Is the built-in flash superior to the older flashes or about the same or?

Your 3500 is significantly better than the built-in flash (more powerful = more light). Here is my suggestion on how to use it.

a. Set your camera to manual mode
b. Set the shutter speed to 1/125 sec.
c. Set the aperture to your desired setting. Somewhere in the f5.6 to f8 range.
d. Set the ISO to about 400.
e. Set the settings on the back of the flash to match your camera settings.

There is a sensor on the front of your flash that will meter the amount of light reflecting off the subject. This will tell the flash when to shut off. If you pictures are dark, you may need to bump your ISO (and reset the flash), as your subject is too far away to get proper exposure. If you pictures are over exposed, you will need to drop your ISO to decrease the amount of light the sensor sees.

Hope this helps.

Tim

[MPrince]

Just buy a digital multimeter and check the trigger voltages of each flash. Then you'll know for sure.