Any info on a Vivitar 283 - Armatar 200

I’m thinking this thing is best relegated to the status of a curiosity. But I wonder if there are any practical uses today for something like this. I don’t really know how it works but it seems complete - I logged the charger in to the battery pack and noticed no life which isn’t surprising. This was set up for a 500cm I just bought and had a beast of a flash arm!

The mod was performed by Armato photo in Queens, NY- I suspect it dates from the 70’s or 80’s . Anyone have experience with these things?

I used three of them extensively in the 1980's and 90's for wedding photography. My first was the Armatar LR100, and I sent it back to them to be converted to the LR200, then I bought two more LR200's. Even though they look a bid unwieldy, they are great flashes. Armatar built three models - LR100, LR200, and LR300. As you stated, the unit you have is the LR200 model, and it can only be used with AC or external battery sources because the battery compartment contains an added capacitor to boost the light output to 200 w/s. I used three Turbo batteries. I also tried a Lumedyne power pack and it worked fine. The existing Thyristor circuitry could still be used, and you can also use the remote sensor. My go-to brackets were a modified Vivitar PG-2 and a couple of Stroboframes. The light output was excellent, and I used them frequently as multiple lights on light stands. They could also be used as bare bulb flashes. I still see the LR100 on eBay occasionally for about $50, as well as replacement bulbs.

I also used a couple of Turbo flashes later on, but I always had the Armatars in the box for back-up. You probably already know that the Sunpak 120J was pretty much a pure knock-off of the Armatar.

The most powerful off-the shelf on-bracket electronic flashes had a power of 150Wsec (NOT w/sec). Thus the benefit of this modfication is negligable powerwise. What may be benefitial is its rather small size compared to hammer-head style competitors. Also benefitial for some may be the bowl-shape reflector.

Interesting information thanks! I have Sunpack barebulb flash that o used to use with a Speed graphic and Fuji 3000. It seems a bit more manageable!

i guess I’ll try to find a old camera to display it with.

GDI said:

View attachment 300381 I’m thinking this thing is best relegated to the status of a curiosity. But I wonder if there are any practical uses today for something like this. I don’t really know how it works but it seems complete - I logged the charger in to the battery pack and noticed no life which isn’t surprising. This was set up for a 500cm I just bought and had a beast of a flash arm!

The mod was performed by Armato photo in Queens, NY- I suspect it dates from the 70’s or 80’s . Anyone have experience with these things?

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I had a few of these but I got away from you from using them because they have relatively high trigger voltage and will eventually harm the flash contacts of your camera.

RalphLambrecht said:

I had a few of these but I got away from you from using them because they have relatively high trigger voltage and will eventually harm the flash contacts of your camera.

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thanks Ralph - I didn’t really think of that

RalphLambrecht said:

I had a few of these but I got away from you from using them because they have relatively high trigger voltage and will eventually harm the flash contacts of your camera.

Click to expand...

As long as you use the flash with a remote fire mechanism, or you have a mechanical contact like a PC plug, with a mechanical shutter like a Hasselblad, Mamiya, or some type of leaf shutter, you won't have any problems. High voltage is only an issue with modern electronic shutter connections through a hot shoe.

I used my Armatars for over twenty years, and never had a problem with a shutter. However, with 35mm like Nikon F5, I always used a radio slave/remote trigger.

RalphLambrecht said:

I had a few of these but I got away from you from using them because they have relatively high trigger voltage and will eventually harm the flash contacts of your camera.

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Not quite.
Any mechanical switch has the issue of sparking at opening, which over time leads to contact failure. Here several aspects of the circuit are involved. One is voltage. And the static sync-voltage already is high at classic electronic flashes, and it even may rise due to induction at the primary side (I am NOT speaking of the ignition voltage).

BUT at sync-switches the idea is that the sync-current runs out before the switch opens, thus there is no, or hardly any, voltage. And thus no opening spark.

Dennis-B said:

As long as you use the flash with a remote fire mechanism, or you have a mechanical contact like a PC plug, with a mechanical shutter like a Hasselblad, Mamiya, or some type of leaf shutter, you won't have any problems. High voltage is only an issue with modern electronic shutter connections through a hot shoe.

I used my Armatars for over twenty years, and never had a problem with a shutter. However, with 35mm like Nikon F5, I always used a radio slave/remote trigger.

Click to expand...

an electronic remote trigger is definitely the safest way to use high-trigger voltage flashes but, even a robust mechanical PC contact will suffer over time.

swap out the battery, check the sync voltage and use it. you'll get noticeably nicer looking light than from any rectangular flash.

Wein makes a module called SyncSafe that works to reduce the sync voltage.

That Varipower module is a nice accessory you could plug into any ordinary 283, if you can’t get this one working