OP, I presume you are aware that your camera is supposed to have a (now banned) mercury oxide button cell. Use of a simiilar size alkaline cell might NOT result in accurate metering...depends highly upon the metering circuit type. If it is what is termed a Wheatstone Bridge, it can tolerate battery voltages not the usual 1.35V mercury cell. Unfortunately, there is now way to simply know what the metering circuit design is.
Other cameras (Olympus OM-1, for example) not only vary with changing battery voltage as the battery ages, but its accuracy is also dependent upon the level of light being measured...so a simply ISO correction adjustment does not work in the OM-1.
One can get Wein air cells from photo stores, which are essentially 1.35V and work well as substitute for mercury oxide, but whose lifetime shortens immediately once it has been activated by removing the airtight seal.
The advantage of getting the Canolite D is that the camera senses that flash via hotshoe contact, and the camera will automatically select f/stop on the lens based upon subject distance, and the camera automatic flash control circuit is engaged. Using a generic Auto mode flash would not necessarily cause the camera to change to using its automatic flash control circuit, and the f/stop is automatically selected based upon focus distance would not occur. In essence, your camera uses automatic built-in Guide Number arithmetic to decide what aperture to use at what distance...the flash output is fixed in intensity.
A Canon-specific hotfoot unit might trigger the camera correctly to go into the use of its flash control circuit (I cannot say with any certainty)
If not using Canolite D, you would need to first decide what f/stop to use (and the flash unit you use might or might not allow a choice of f/stops, and your viewfinder would not warn you that you are outside the allowable range of distances for proper flash exposure....the ability or inability to be within correct exposure control range would be entirely determined by the flash's own range of control, using the photosensor to determine when to 'turn off' the light output, and you would not be warned about being in/out of control range in the viewfinder. Pages 17-19 describe the use of non-Canolite flash unit, so get the user manual from the web if you do not have it (that is how I got the manual to read up about your camera).
So if you follow pages 17-19, any Auto mode photosensor flash would work fine. Some allow only one aperture for a given ISO setting. Others give you a selection of 2 (or more, depending on flash) apertures to use...use a smaller aperture (f/16) for close things, and a larger aperture (f/4) for farther subjects, as a general guideline. Look on the GN dial to see how many different apertures are permitted for operation of that flash.
Other cameras (Olympus OM-1, for example) not only vary with changing battery voltage as the battery ages, but its accuracy is also dependent upon the level of light being measured...so a simply ISO correction adjustment does not work in the OM-1.
One can get Wein air cells from photo stores, which are essentially 1.35V and work well as substitute for mercury oxide, but whose lifetime shortens immediately once it has been activated by removing the airtight seal.
The advantage of getting the Canolite D is that the camera senses that flash via hotshoe contact, and the camera will automatically select f/stop on the lens based upon subject distance, and the camera automatic flash control circuit is engaged. Using a generic Auto mode flash would not necessarily cause the camera to change to using its automatic flash control circuit, and the f/stop is automatically selected based upon focus distance would not occur. In essence, your camera uses automatic built-in Guide Number arithmetic to decide what aperture to use at what distance...the flash output is fixed in intensity.
A Canon-specific hotfoot unit might trigger the camera correctly to go into the use of its flash control circuit (I cannot say with any certainty)
If not using Canolite D, you would need to first decide what f/stop to use (and the flash unit you use might or might not allow a choice of f/stops, and your viewfinder would not warn you that you are outside the allowable range of distances for proper flash exposure....the ability or inability to be within correct exposure control range would be entirely determined by the flash's own range of control, using the photosensor to determine when to 'turn off' the light output, and you would not be warned about being in/out of control range in the viewfinder. Pages 17-19 describe the use of non-Canolite flash unit, so get the user manual from the web if you do not have it (that is how I got the manual to read up about your camera).
So if you follow pages 17-19, any Auto mode photosensor flash would work fine. Some allow only one aperture for a given ISO setting. Others give you a selection of 2 (or more, depending on flash) apertures to use...use a smaller aperture (f/16) for close things, and a larger aperture (f/4) for farther subjects, as a general guideline. Look on the GN dial to see how many different apertures are permitted for operation of that flash.
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