Looking for info on the Vivitar 2600 flash - users out there ?

Hi,

I have been given a Vivitar 2600 automatic flash - seems like its the earlier version of this which is listed in the specs as having a guide number of 60 (!) - mine has a sticker on it saying GN 18 a much more appropriate number considering the size of the unit ...

it has three settings red, M and blue - I understand how to use M (manual) - but want to know what the what the is going on with the red and blue settings which I'm assuming are two auto modes ...

On the back is a slider which I'm not sure is purely for info or has some sort of electrical switching going on - Once I have set the ASA on it it gives me the info for the f-stop and distance at which the full output of the M setting will expose correctly (for %18 grey I'm assuming?) - it also has two funky little blue and red lines as to what they mean I'm not sure...

Once I'm in an auto mode its for selecting the ASA ? It must be - right ?

So keanu - blue pill or red pill ?

:confused:

any help appreciated

Nick

I have a Vivitar flash that is either the same as this, or very similar.

The guide number is probably 60 for feet, 18 for meters (which is the same thing).

You set the ISO of your film on the sliding scale. If you have the front switch set to red, you read the suggested f stop opposite the red line/marker on the back, set your lens to that f stop and the flash will adjust the light output automatically based on the light bouncing back to the sensor.

The position of the red line against the distance scale shows you the maximum distance you can expect to use that auto function with.

The blue setting on the front switch works the same, except it is based on a smaller lens opening/different f stop, and therefore works only up to a shorter maximum distance.

In your pictures, it looks like for 100 ISO, the red f stop will need to be set to f 2, (which works up to 9 meters) while the blue f stop will need to be set to f 4 (and should work up to about 4.5 meters).

The two ranges give you useful trade offs in auto - you get greater distance with the larger (red) f stop, but lose depth of field.

Most flashes like this are a bit optimistic in their guide numbers, and quite dependent on things like reflections off low ceilings, but it is relatively easy to test them.

Hope I understood your query, and that this helps.

Matt

makes sense yes, thanks for that - I was thinking more along the like of my Metz guns where in auto mode you set the aperture and the ASA then it does its sensing magic - but this one aint so spectacular as its sensing cut off points seem set at two selectable points and the f-stop is determined by that (and the ASA) -

well I cant complain if it was a gift!

and thanks for clearing the guide number thing - youd think it would be a standard world wide.. I'll watch out for that one and might even look up the full definition of the term one day

I've just noticed another ??? ...on the ASA setting switch the main registration /witness mark has a little off-sider mark one-stop to the left of it ... ie. when the main mark is set on say 50 ASA the other little mark is on 100ASA ... this relationship holds true for the complete range apart from the end where its 400/1000 and when the main is on 1000 the side mark disappears off the scale

Whats that business about ? (not important for operation obviously, but I;m interested nevertheless)

nick mulder said:

I've just noticed another ??? ...on the ASA setting switch the main registration /witness mark has a little off-sider mark one-stop to the left of it ... ie. when the main mark is set on say 50 ASA the other little mark is on 100ASA ... this relationship holds true for the complete range apart from the end where its 400/1000 and when the main is on 1000 the side mark disappears off the scale

Whats that business about ? (not important for operation obviously, but I;m interested nevertheless)

Click to expand...

Just a guess, but there may have been a wide angle diffuser available for or included with the flash that, when clipped on, reduced the output by a stop.

Matt

The 2600 is basically a newer versionof the Vivitar 225. You can find a manual copy here:

http://66.49.230.119/flashes_meters/vivitar_225.pdf

This link is to Mike Butkus' site of old camera, flash and assorted other manuals. It is a great resource and I keep his site bookmarked. I even send a donation every so often to keep him going.