----- Original Message -----

From: Paul J. Pasquarello

To: 'DrT (George Themelis)'

Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2008 9:01 PM

Subject: Chinese MF Stereo Camera

George,  I am enjoying my new camera and very pleased with the results.  I was doing some studio shooting and had trouble with syncing my hot shoe IR trigger. The hot shoe would not trigger the lights.  I finally picked up a Nikon AS-15 Terminal Adapter, hot shoe to female PC plug, $18. It works like a charm. Passing this on just incase any other owners run into the same problem.

 

Paul Pasquarello

DrT (George Themelis) wrote:

> Paul Pasquarello wrote:
> I finally picked up a
> Nikon AS-15 Terminal Adapter, hot shoe to female PC plug,
> $18. It works like a charm. Passing this on just incase
> any other owners run into the same problem.

I've looked at products like this but have really been
searching for a similar product which also has a hot-shoe on
top.

I'd like to be able to have a small, forward firing flash
directly on the camera and a cable-connected bounce-flash
off-camera.

--
John Thurston
Juneau Alaska
http://stereo.thurstons.us

John Thurston wrote:

> Paul Pasquarello wrote:
> > I finally picked up a Nikon AS-15 Terminal Adapter, hot shoe to
> > female PC plug, $18. It works like a charm. Passing this on just
> > incase any other owners run into the same problem.
>
> I've looked at products like this but have really been
> searching for a similar product which also has a hot-shoe on
> top.
>
> I'd like to be able to have a small, forward firing flash
> directly on the camera and a cable-connected bounce-flash
> off-camera.

I've had awful problems with flash cables. Why not use an optical
slave instead? Something like the Wein peanut slave

<http://www.adorama.com/WNPN1.html?sid=11695720733782982>

or a hot shoe slave

<http://www.adorama.com/WNHS.html?sid=11695720733782982>

If you don't have direct line of sight between the camera and slave
flash you could use a radio system instead. The Pocket Wizard is the
(high priced) standard, but there are really cheap ones available on
ebay (Gadget Infinity), and some other brands in between those
extremes. I think the Microsyncs <http://www.microsyncdigital.com/>
look interesting, but I haven't used any of them.

If you really want to use cables, then Wein has various adapters that
also have a PC socket. You can find a list of them at Omega Satter
<http://www.omegasatter.com/> (their distributor).

--
Brian Reynolds | "It's just like flying a spaceship.
reynolds@panix.com | You push some buttons and see
http://www.panix.com/~reynolds/ | what happens." -- Zapp Brannigan
NAR# 54438 |

Brian Reynolds wrote:

> John Thurston wrote:
>> I'd like to be able to have a small, forward firing
>> flash directly on the camera and a cable-connected
>> bounce-flash off-camera.
>
> I've had awful problems with flash cables. Why not use
> an optical slave instead? Something like the Wein peanut
> slave

I have optical slaves (including the peanut and a
shoe-trigger). They work ok but, depending on the flash
locations, fail to fire. I like them for parking a
fill-flash away from the camera, but if I'm bouncing from
the camera (or my grip), I'd prefer a cable.

They also have the problem of firing anytime someone in the
room fires a flash. This messes up their metering and their
pictures. It kills my batteries and leaves my flash charging
when I want it to be ready to fire.

> If you don't have direct line of sight between the camera
> and slave flash you could use a radio system instead.

Yeah. Buying buying an hauling around a wireless flash
system is way more money and work than I want to get into. I
just want a $15 block to stick on top of my camera that will
accept a small shoe-mounted flash and provide me a location
to connect a PC cable to fire my 283.
--
John Thurston
Juneau Alaska
http://stereo.thurstons.us

Hello John,

> Yeah. Buying buying an hauling around a wireless flash
> system is way more money and work than I want to get into. I
> just want a $15 block to stick on top of my camera that will
> accept a small shoe-mounted flash and provide me a location
> to connect a PC cable to fire my 283.

You have three choices from B&H:

1) Hamma (B&H #HAFAU) for $27.50. This is a hot shoe to hot shoe with two
female pc sockets.

2) Pentax (B&H # PEH5A2P) for $31.95. This is a hot shoe to hot shoe with
one female pc socket.

3) Wein Safe Sync (B&H # WE55454) for $49.95. This is a hot shoe to hot
shoe with one female socket, but has added circuitry to pevent high
voltage flash triggers from ruinning your camera's electronics.

Sound like the Hamma would be your best bet for the price. However you
may want to consider what I have done and that is replace the foot of my
283 with a Wein Slave. Read these details from the B&H site:

> The Wein Combination Slave & Replacement Foot for Vivitar 283 & 285HV is a
> robust upgrade for the Vivitar 283 & 285HV's hot shoe that also adds the
> versatility of remote triggering. It slides onto any flash foot with no
> other connection necessary; the built-in optical slave has a 150' (45.8 m)
> range. Special hardware needed to attach the slave to the Vivitar foot as
> a permanent reinforcement is included, and no rewiring or factory service
> for the Vivitar will be necessary. This is a sensible upgrade for anyone
> making a living with their trusty Vivitar 283 or 285HV flash.
>
> The Combination Slave/Replacement Foot has a built-in female "household"
> socket, the one connection which never seems to accidentally disconnect
> and cause you to miss a shot. The optical slave is disabled whenever a
> male household cord is affixed to the female household socket.
>
> The housing is made of aircraft aluminum and has a 1/4-20" threaded female
> socket underneath for mounting upon tripods and light stands.

The cost is only $49.95 (B&H # WEFSV283). The only thing you will need to
do is get a cord with a household plug on one end and the 283 plug on the
other. I am sure I have one I could send to you or you could get a custom
one made at Paramount Cords for about $20-25.

http://www.paramountcords.com/


Hope that helps.

David W. Kesner