Vivitar 285HV [Archive] - The-Digital-Picture.com Community

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Joel Bookhammer

04-27-2009, 06:27 PM

I noticed in another thread Sean Setters posted that he uses Vivitar 285HV flashes. Sean and or anyone else what is the reliablity of these, they are inexpensive compared to canon flashes and im looking at getting another flash or two. Would these be a good option?

thanks

joel

mattsartin

04-27-2009, 06:51 PM

don't know about the vivitars, but i use a promaster 7500edf and it works wonderfully, about $200-250

http://www.promaster.com/products/products.asp?CatID=150&CatSM=&SubCatID=3&CatName=E lectronic%20Flash&SubCatName=Digital%20TTL%20&sm=s m2_1503&dir=&page=PROD&product=7500EDF

clemmb

04-27-2009, 11:01 PM

Sean Setters

04-27-2009, 11:08 PM

Joel, that's a question with a not-so-straight-forward answer. I currently own 3 Vivitar 285HV flashes. I purchased two of them used, and one I purchased new. The flash I purchased new died after a few months, and I sent it back to the company and received a replacement. My replacement has been working fine ever since. However, the Vivitar brand was sold to another company after I got my replacement flash, so you can't necessarily count on warranty of a newly purchased 285HV.

Not long ago, there were some really serious quality control issues with the Vivitar flashes. For a very long time the 285 (and later, 285HV) were workhorses that just kept going and going. There are hundreds of photographers that swore by them. Then they moved the manufacturing facility to China, and the quality suffered. Before the actual sale of the Vivitar brand, I think they were addressing some QC issues in the manufacturing process, but I'm not sure how far they got. The company that purchased the Vivitar brand no longer makes the 285HV. Instead, they are manufactured under the Cactus brand as the Cactus KF36.

The shortest answer I can give you is this--if you want a Vivitar 285HV, you might be best served surfing ebay. Usually, a functional 285HV on ebay has already proven that it can take the abuse of regular use, so it's probably a safe gamble to buy it. Because Vivitar no longer owns the 285HV, I don't know how safe it would be to purchase one of the remaining stock from B&H/Adorama/etc because I don't know how or if the warranties would be honored. If you buy the Cactus branded one, at least you have a company to complain to if something went wrong. You might want to talk to Adorama/B&H and see if they'll take back a malfunctioning unit. Also look at the original Vivitar 285. From the way I understand it, the only real difference between HV and the original 285 is that the older Vivitar 285 will probably fry your camera if you put it in the hotshoe. However, if you only use it for off-camera lighting (like I do), that drawback won't be an issue. The older 285s are usually easier to find on ebay...I just bought one last week for less than $30 with shipping.

The one flash I would urge you to avoid for off-camera use is the 430EZ. It goes to sleep after 90 seconds of being idle, and doesn't come back on until you press the test button or turn the device off/on. That can be very frustrating....

Steve Eisenberg

04-27-2009, 11:10 PM

Don't know about Vivitar, but I have a Metz 48 AF-1 on the way from Amazon ($205 with rebate until 4/30). E-TTL, and powerful.

Ehcalum

04-28-2009, 09:46 AM

I would also suggest the $5.00 metal foot with PC plug. Ive snapped my plastic foot once and the sync cord for the Vivitars is propieriety.

Colin

04-29-2009, 04:30 PM

I got the lighting setup that Sean recommended, and I have to say, for the money, I'm really pleased at what can do, though I'm just starting to play with it, but it works, so it seems, quite well.

The build quality of the Vivitar and cactus triggers don't look like they'll be too tolerant of much abuse, but for the price, I can be careful.

Stephen Probert

04-29-2009, 05:09 PM

Colin

04-29-2009, 05:28 PM

You know, I think that's a good direction. We often get embroiled it lens lust or pixel peeping or ISO noise performance, and lose sight of what we can do with tools, as opposed to fretting over which particular device is just a little bit better than the other.

Even in hardware comparisons, I like that this forum often addresses "Better for what?" and makes useful suggestions.

Still, this off camera lighting thing is a whole new world for me, and I think I really like it! If you can vastly expand your capabilities with minimal hardware expense, that seems a whole lot more sensible than worrying about faults in lenses that a my poor old 5D can barely resolve, what with it's mere 12MP spread across a whole full frame sensor [:)]

Sean Setters

04-29-2009, 11:22 PM

I like this discussion about cheap off-camera lighting. Can someone suggest a cheap option for flash control? Do you have to go with the 580 EX /EX II or the ST-E2 transmitter, or is there something cheaper? I have the 430 EX II, but it can't act as a master. I am interested in getting some cheap off-camera flashes, but I need to control them. Thanks.
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You say you have to control your flashes. I control all my flashes, either by walking over to them and changing the settings or by having my girlfriend (assistant) do it. Otherwise, I set them up at the power I believe I'll need the first time. Most of the time I'm right on the first guess. That just comes through trial and error, though. Don't be afraid of manually adjusting the power of your flashes. It can seem a little intimidating at first. If you can learn that discipline, then you can get by with much cheaper flashes. Also, you won't be locked in to a specific brand. To me, the difference between fiddling with the buttons on a master flash on-camera (or ST-E2) that I don't even want to fire but only control other units seems a little pointless (and overly expensive) to me. If I win Powerball this evening, then my views may change. But as long as I'm plopping down my hard-earned money on flashes, I can not only live with manual control, I can thrive on it. ;-)

Colin

04-30-2009, 02:39 AM

Oneof my first pictures that aren't just of the inside of my houseusingthe vivitar offcamera flash with the cactus trigger (yeah, just used one). This guy was on my kitchen counter on his back, so I helped him onto a paper plate, and made him feel like a star.

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n87/boujiluge/2009-04-29_GreenBugPaperPlate800x80.jpg

Who said you had to have a macro flash to flash macro?

HelenOster

04-30-2009, 08:17 AM

Our 14-day returns policy would apply.

<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"]Sincerely<o:p></o:p>

<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"]Helen <span class="goog-spellcheck-word"]Oster
<span class="goog-spellcheck-word"]Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador<o:p></o:p>

<st1:personname w:st="on"]<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"]helen.oster@adoramacamera.com</st1:personname><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"]<o:p></o:p>

<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"]www.adorama.com<o:p></o:p>

cian3307

04-30-2009, 09:05 AM

Colin, I like it! What size is that bug in real life?

Sean Setters

04-30-2009, 09:46 AM

He's 237 feet from antennae to the tip of his hind legs. He just got done eating part of Tokyo when that picture was taken....

Or maybe 1 1/2" - 2" I'm guessing... :-) How about it Colin?

Chuck Lee

04-30-2009, 11:29 AM

Stephen,

Here's what I did..........

8 months ago I discovered www.strobist.com ("http://www.strobist.com). Even though I had used off-camera flash 2 or 3 times with good results, this guy Dave Hobby @ strobist opened up a whole new world for me.Some of the simplest things can be so easy and inexpensive to do. I now own 4 Vivitar 285HVs from Adoroma (post real Vivitar I guess, though the box says Vivitar) I have used these with Cactus triggers and they are wonderful!! I also have tried one mounted to the camera and used it's thyristor metering. Freaking unreal how perfect and consistent the exposures were. Very powerful but slow recycling when full power. I just ordered 6V lead acid batteries that will power these puppies for an upcoming shoot. < 2 sec recycle at full power. If I can get away with 1/2 power they'll do < .5 sec. I'll make the battery chords myself, but they can be purchased for a rather steep price from some online dealers. I'll let you know if they melt!!

Just recently, Dave showed use some new manual flashes that just came on the market. I wish I'd known about these 6-8 months ago. http://strobist.blogspot.com/2009/03/manual-flashes-two-debuts-and-adoption.html ("http://strobist.blogspot.com/2009/03/manual-flashes-two-debuts-and-adoption.html)

I'mvery happy with the Vivitar's. I also have had no problem with the Cactus triggers.Shot a wedding just recently. During formals I used a Honel 8" snoot on the 285 for hair light. The main was umbrella'ed at 1/2 power. The snooted 285 was at 1/16th. It was also 30-40 ft away and never once miss-fired. Took shots of one to fifteen people at a time and it all worked well. Near the end I had to put new batteries in the main do to the recycling times going over 4 sec. Another plus for the 285's is the battery cartridge. I just took one loaded cartridge out of the backup unit and put that in the main. Easy-Peezy/Lemon Squeezy.

Anyway, Stephen I'll let you work up the pricing but I tell ya there's no less expensive way to get amazing studio quality photos than this.

Chuck

Chuck Lee

04-30-2009, 11:37 AM

P.S.

I forgot to add that I do not mount the Viv285s directly on the cactus triggers. I purchsed sync corded hot shoe brackets. The 285's get mounted to the light stands via these hot shoe brackets. I plug the sync cord into the cactus reciever then using velco strap, I lash the reciever to the flash body. All this busy wired velcro strap stuff along with the 285's massive bezel make a quite impressive looking portable light rig. I got some "very cool" (s) at my last shoot.

Stephen Probert

04-30-2009, 11:39 AM

You say you have to control your flashes.

Sorry, I guess I didn't mean control...I meant trigger. It sounds like the least expensive way is Cactus triggers....I will look into them. I don't mind working in manual flash mode and I am eager to learn, I just need to figure out what gear to get.

Thanks for your dedication to the strobist topic, Sean. You are a real proponent of this skill on this forum and it is very much appreciated by those of us with little experience.

Stephen Probert

04-30-2009, 11:40 AM

Sean Setters

04-30-2009, 02:51 PM

Thanks, Chuck. I looked into Strobist a little while ago when Sean first (I believe) posted a link in an earlier thread, and I have read a few posts there. I will look into the link for the manual flashes. Thanks.
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When I first advised Colin on getting the Cactus V4s a while ago, they had just come out and the preliminary reports were good. However, now that they've been out a while, the quality control of the V4s doesn't seem as good as I had hoped. I think Colin got a good set, though. You might be better served buying CTR-301 ("http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=CTR-301&_sacat=See-All-Categories) (or CTR-301P) triggers. There are some issues with them not allowing you to use all the battery power in your flashes (stop triggering after your flash battery power goes below 1/2 or so, I think), but they can be modified fairly easily to allow for full battery usage. See this link ("http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157612529839420/) for modification instructions.

That's the cheap route. Buy them and start learning. Once you've got it down, then you might have to go to a slightly more reliable (with decent range) option in Cybersync ("http://www.alienbees.com/cybersync.html) triggers. They are fantastic, and not nearly as pricey as PocketWizards.

Colin

04-30-2009, 03:33 PM

Sean Setters

04-30-2009, 03:45 PM

Head to rump, he would have fit on a dime, though I'm sure he would have liked to include the length of his feelers, at which point I'd say a nickel.

I ended up with some used Cactus V2's, because that's what I could find, and I was impatient. they seem to work fine. The only time I've seen the flash not fire was when I forgot to turn the receiver on. Sometimes I'm quite the brainiac /emoticons/emotion-1.gif
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Wow, I was severely off on my estimation of his size....We have creaturs that look very similar here in TN that show up when it starts getting warmer, and they're positively huge compared to your guy, then.

I had a set of V2s receivers that worked quite well for a good while, but then they started getting a bit flakey on me...so I upgraded. They saw an enormous amountof use before becomingsomewhat unreliable, though, so it's a great (and relatively inexpensive) way to get your feet wet in off-camera lighting.

Chuck Lee

04-30-2009, 09:55 PM

Sean Setters

04-30-2009, 11:12 PM

Once you've got it down, then you might have to go to a slightly more reliable (with decent range) option in Cybersync ("http://www.alienbees.com/cybersync.html) triggers. They are fantastic, and not nearly as pricey as PocketWizards.

Sean,

I'm waiting for the "Cyber Commander" tocontrol my B800's before I invest. So farthe Cactus V2s setup is working nicely. I bought a new set of CRV3s just in case, but still, after 200-300 pops I haven'tneeded to swap out the OEM ones yet. I keep reading these forum posts about the QC issues with the Cactus (e-bay) triggers. All these negative vibes make me feel like I'm sitting on a time bomb or something, like these triggers are going to blow up in the middle of a shoot or something. Up until the cactus triggers I was using cheap optical slave triggers, firing off everything from an old Vivitar 266D mounted to the hot shoe of my camera. Talk about irritating!! This wireless trigger deal is a breeze compared to that!!

Chuck
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Well, you're very right about that--optical slaves can be a pain under alot of circumstances. In some situations they were quite nicely, like in this example:

/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.21.08/_5F00_MG_5F00_4444-small.JPG

I set this up as a proof of concept as my radio triggers are not attached. I just wanted to see if I could use my LumoPro Clip Clamp to add a 3rd flash to the dual-flash rig I already had. With this setup, I wouldn't hesitate to use two optical slaves (like Wein peanuts or else the built-in slave of the DF400MZ) and a radio trigger because of the closeness of the reflected light triggering the slaves. However, if you do alot of shots in broad daylight (or at least have your flashes positioned in sunlight), the farther your optically triggered flash gets from your source the less reliable it becomes (in my tests, at least).

As far as the Cactus V2s receivers go, they're not all that bad. They worked quite well for me for quite some time. I was not gentle with them, and time took its toll. I thought I could count on them, and most of the time I could. With the Cybersyncs, I'm never in doubt. They just work--everytime.

Chuck Lee

05-01-2009, 01:43 AM

Sean,

That's quite a rig. Does it darken the sun? [H]

How are you connecting the cybersyncs to your Vivitars?

Also, if you have battery operated recievers, what battery do they use?

What is the furthest distance (trigger - reciever)that you'veused the cybersyncs during a shoot?

Thanks, Chuck

Sean Setters

05-01-2009, 09:49 AM

1) I haven't actually used the rig out in the wild yet, but that's the eventual plan. I may use it in conjunction with a 2 stop ND filter & a circular polarizing filter to enable a shallow depth of field (while strobing) in broad daylight.

2) I connect the Cybersyncs to a flash adapter ("http://www.flashzebra.com/products/0128/index.shtml) I bought from FlashZebra. I set the flash on the flash adapter (which either screws into my umbrella swivel's stud or else can slide into an existing shoe). A miniphone to miniphone cable connects the adapter to the Cybersyncs (I didn't take the time to use the flash adapters in the setup pic above because I was only settingthe standup to see if the clamp would work to give me a 3rd flash as I suspected it would..I wasn't actually shooting anything that day).

3) The Receivers use AA batteries. That was a one of the aspects that I really liked over the competing (yet-to-be-released) RadioPopper JrX units. The Cybersync receivers can go about 200hrs of awake time on a set of AAs. There is no "OFF" button. Once they are turned on (via the test button), they will stay awake for an hour after your last signal trigger. While some see this as a liability of the units, I see it as an asset--I was always forgetting to turn off my other triggers; now I don't have to worry about it.

The trigger takes a CR2450 if I remember correctly. Those particular batteries aren't hard to find as every drug store/wal-mart carries them.

4) I haven't really tested the range yet. So far they've worked out to about 30-40 feet, but I know they can go much further. Reports put the usable range right at about 300 feet in the open. Some report farther, but that seems to be the magic number.

Sean Setters

05-01-2009, 09:03 PM

I thought I'd post of picture of the way I connect my Cybersyncs to the flashes. A picture is worth 1000 words, you know...

/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.21.08/3463920293_5F00_d43fb59a68_5F00_b-small.jpg

From top to bottom:

Vivitar 285HV ("http://www.mpex.com/browse.cfm/4,4616.html)

Miniphone Flash Adapter from FlashZebra ("http://www.flashzebra.com/products/0128/index.shtml)

Miniphone to Miniphone cord (supplied with Cybersync Receiver)

LumoPro LP634 Umbrella Swivel ("http://www.mpex.com/browse.cfm/4,4722.html)

LumoPro LP606 lightstand ("http://www.mpex.com/browse.cfm/4,4727.html)

Cybersync CSRB ("http://www.alienbees.com/cybersync.html)

Vent Caddy from Walmart (modified with hole for cord)

Chuck Lee

05-02-2009, 12:24 AM

Looks good Sean,

I like the Army pouches. I'm looking for the same kind of thing to put my 6V LA batteries in. They arrived in the mail today, so tomorrow I'll get crack'n on the battery leads to connect them. I'll probably buy inexpensive compact/P&S camera cases from WallyWorld to put them in. Black canvas is very shiek!!

Thanks for the hotshoe link but I think I'll stick with the pre-corded ones from Midwest. They're under 11USD and seem to work very well.We"ll see how they hold up over the year.

Thanks for the images. I'll post a couple when I get my 6V LA battery rig going. For that fact I may make a little video to show off the recycle times.

Chuck