How do flashes work?

[Steve Smith]

I don't agree. If I was a digital camera designer I would be thinking "what do I need to do with this flash trigger circuit to make sure it will work with any flash that its owner may connect to it?".

The answer is to fit a robust thyristor or triac output stage to it. Of course, the marketing people might have other ideas thinking that they could sell more flashes if the customer has to use one dedicated to the camera.


Steve.

 

[archphoto]

I think that manufacturers of flashes in the past never, ever envisioned how much electronics would be put into camera's to come.
Just one example: the Metz 402, the old workhorse of the past. I have that one for the past 25 odd years and used it with about every MF camera I have owned and still own. It is dangerous to connect it to my latest electronics laden camera's and I will add a tryristor to the sync circuit.
The same with the Braun's 370 and 380 and so on.

25 years ago this medium, internet, that we all take for granted, didn't even exist.........

2GHz was something for wave-pipes and laboratory set-ups, now it is build into my cellphone.
Everything became smaller in those 25 years and therefore more supseptable to interference from neighbouring circuitry.

On the other hand the camera makers have been forced to put more and more sensitive electronics into their camera's because of the competition.
This entire thing called Digital is not an evolution, it is a revolution, that made many things of the past obsolete or at least not suitable for the newest generation.

Adding Safe Sync's (basicly thyristor based electronics) is just a needed adaptation between old and new.

Peter

 

[Steve Smith]

Adding Safe Sync's (basicly thyristor based electronics) is just a needed adaptation between old and new.

Yes, but my point is that if camera manufacturers designed in a Safesync type of circuit in all cameras, there would be no incompatibility.

Steve.

 

[archphoto]

I think you are right with that.

Peter

 

[Chazzy]

Yes, but my point is that if camera manufacturers designed in a Safesync type of circuit in all cameras, there would be no incompatibility.

Steve.

I agree totally. It should not be necessary to buy a safe synch in order to use the camera with flashes which remain in common use. As far as I'm concerned, it's a case of bad camera design, unless building the feature in would be expensive, which doesn't seem to be the case.