Vivitar 285
Ease of Use
Value For Money
Vivitar 285
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User Reviews
Ease of Use
Value For Money
As A Manual Flash I Give A 8 Point Rating. The Viv
As a manual flash I give a 8 point rating. The Vivitar 285 is a great and powerful flash for the price. I have owned 5 of the later ones with low hot shoe voltage. They are sturdy. Nothing has ever broken. As a manual flash it is an excellent product. I have even used my own with my Panasonic FZ50 digital camera with good results. While there is some automatic adjustment thru the thyristor, you still need your experience to adjust the output for distance.
My New Vivitar 285hv Exploded And Spewed Smoke 5 M
My new Vivitar 285HV exploded and spewed smoke 5 minute into testing.
Value For Money
The Old War Horse U Can Rely On. I Bought My Vivit
The old war horse u can rely on. I bought my Vivitar 285 Flash Gun 2nd hand when i was learning as an amateur. 12 years from now, camera models in and camera meodels out, I never have dared to discard it.The best SEMI AUTO NON TTL flash on earth ever. The latest built-in flash SLR models are bound to dis-appoint u in contrary to manufacturere's claims.285 is the answer when u are not in a position to spend for dedicated branded ttl flashgun. Perfect sync upto 1/250 secs. Priceless gift for purists.
"best SEMI AUTO NON TTL flash on earth ever"
.... yeah, right, as long as you avoid the non-HV version which can blow up your camera with high voltage, don't mind the lack of swivel, don't mind that it covers ISO only up to 400, and don't mind the foot braaking off. But at least it was an improvement on the 283, and is better than the built-in flash some cameras have - but then anything is faint praise indeed.
The 285 is still the most reliable and best all-round flash you can have in your kit.
I had one of these for years. Great tool for powerful night shooters.
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