Vivitar 283 Flash

Chan Tran

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Went to estate sales today and I knew they have a Nikon F2 Photomic (DP-1) there but when I got there someone already bought it. On the table they have the Vivitar 283 flash with the remote sensor and complete with manual and brochure. The unit looks like new so I paid $15 for it. Kind of a high price for the 283 but it looks brand new although I knew it's very old as it was made in Japan and Vivitar has moved production of the 283 to Korea and then China. Since it was made in Japan it has high sync voltage so I can't use it on my newer film camera like the F5. I put the batteries in an turned on and it didn't turn on. I waited for a good 5 minutes or more but it didn't turn on. Instead of running down my batteries I hooked it up to my power supply and power it. After about 15 minutes it turns on. After that it works just fine.
 

AnselMortensen

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It sounds like the capacitor needed re-forming.
Congratulations, those flash units are workhorses.
 

xkaes

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That's not a bad price for a 283 -- especially with the extras you have. It would have eventually turned on with the batteries. I have some 283's that will only work with the batteries, and some that will only work with the A/C power, and some that work with both.

There's been a discussion in another thread about "DEAD" flashes -- and how to revive them. I've learned not to give up immediately -- and even more, to EXPECT old flashes NOT to power up.

I've gotten some great deals on great "DEAD" flashes that just needed a little JOLT.
 

BradS

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Seems like a very nice price for a Vivitar 283 with the remote cable. I've seen the cable go for $15 by itself.
 
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Chan Tran

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After I revived it with the power supply it now works on batteries just fine. Damn the sync voltage is 267V. I have to build a safesync circuit.
 

craigclu

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The early ones had high trigger voltages but the later versions were quite low and safe. Easy to check with a VOM if you have one.
 
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Chan Tran

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craigclu said:
The early ones had high trigger voltages but the later versions were quite low and safe. Easy to check with a VOM if you have one.
Click to expand...

As I posted earlier I did check and it's 267V also I knew when I bought it because it's made in Japan so it's the early version.
 

btaylor

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I bought a Wein safe-sync on eBay. Probably spent $30-40 on it, but I’m happy with it because I don’t worry about any of my old Vivitar, Sunpak or Novatrons doing any damage to my digicam.
The old 283’s are real workhorses.
 
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Chan Tran

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I am a little bit disappointed is that the choices of f/stop for ISO 100 are 2.8, 4, 8 and 11. But the flash would be most useful at 5.6 where it has just about enough power for a ceiling bounce. f/8 won't do it.
 

xkaes

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btaylor said:
I bought a Wein safe-sync on eBay. Probably spent $30-40 on it, but I’m happy with it because I don’t worry about any of my old Vivitar, Sunpak or Novatrons doing any damage to my digicam.
The old 283’s are real workhorses.
Click to expand...

The 283's are my work horses as well -- but I only use them on older cameras. By that I mean PRE-TTL cameras. On the newer cameras, I use newer flashes to take advantage of the newer features of the newer cameras -- like TTL & ADI flash.

But I also use my 283's as slaves OFF the cameras -- old OR new -- usually in manual mode.
 
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