Re: Vivitar 283 flash Gun and Fuji.
 

Its not that important, it all depends what kind of shot you are after, the flash will work in P A S and M
P is a programmed auto mode,
if you want to specify shutter speed ie to capture a fast moving subject or to show "movement" in a photo use S
If you want to show everything in the photo in focus or to exagerate DOF (depth of field) ie the main subject is in focus and the background is blurred use A
M is full manual where you can set everything yourself.
Remember if you use S and you set the shutter speed the aperture is set for you and visa versa if you use A

edit - Just found this for you, this gives a good explanation from someone who can put it in better words than I can :-)

Re: Vivitar 283 flash Gun and Fuji.
 

Thanks for that KSH, perhaps I should have asked what is the recommended iso setting while using a flash?
I know the higher the iso the faster the film. hehe

So I would have thought that by using a flash producing bright light the iso would be quite low, say 80,100 or 200 but when experimenting I found that those settings were to slow and produced dark images. So I set the iso to 400 and got fairly good results using the flash.
I know with my old practica slr when I had a 400 film fitted, for using in not so good lighting conditions I had to hold the camera very still because of the relatively slow shutter speed I had to select due to the bad lighting.
Would this not be the same for my digital camera i.e. having it set at 400 even though I'm using a flash

Re: Vivitar 283 flash Gun and Fuji.
 

I tend to do a lot of portraits and I personally use 100 sometimes 200, using the camera outside i use 80 unless it is a very dull day then I up it to 100 or 200, If I go out at night say to a family get together in a club I will go to 400 but no more than that as I feel the images are too grainy and I dont like them that way.
What angle have you got the flash at? have you tried other positions? I usually have mine at 60 if i'm not bouncing it back, mine has a diffuser on it though so it will still throw some light forward Heres one you might want to try adding a peice of card just to see if improves anything like this

Re: Vivitar 283 flash Gun and Fuji.
 

How you getting on with the flash? did you use it at the meet?
I did a test the other day using the Vivitar and had the camera set at iso 80 and it worked well, meant to try it without the diffuser on but forgot :-(

Re: Vivitar 283 flash Gun and Fuji.
 

I used the flash at the meeting. I had it in P mode and I had the iso set at 400 because any lower the images would be very dark.

See below.
P mode... iso set at 80 with flash bounced of the the ceiling.


http://www.accringtonweb.com/gallery...o/3243/cat/604

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Re: Vivitar 283 flash Gun and Fuji.
 

Thats not right, I just tried the same settings and mine was OK, try this for me and see what you get
Put in M mode, set shutter to 4000 iso to 80 and set iso to 3.6, set the asa on the flash to 80 (1 notch past the 64 mark) set the thyristor to M and point the flash full on

Re: Vivitar 283 flash Gun and Fuji.
 

OK done what you asked.
shutter to 4000, iso 80, F3.6.


http://www.accringtonweb.com/gallery...o=3253&cat=604

Re: Vivitar 283 flash Gun and Fuji.
 

From the 1st photo it didn't look like the flash was doing anything and I though it might have been out of sync but now you have used the fastest shutter speed it shows that it isn't.
When you say you bounced it off the ceiling did you mean you had the flash pointing straight up? have you tried different angles, I usually use 60 degrees.
Do you want to try out my diffuser? you can try the flash as well if you like to see if there is any difference

Re: Vivitar 283 flash Gun and Fuji.
 

I think it was straight up. So I did the tests again, one at 60deg and another straight up and there wasn’t mush difference in brightness between the two.
The flash is second hand and perhaps it’s busted.
Would be good if I could check mine against another working camera and flash unit.
I haven’t a clue, if I can’t get them to work together than I won’t use them

Re: Vivitar 283 flash Gun and Fuji.
 

I managed this shot using direct flash. I had the shutter speed very high about 3000 and F3.7. iso set at 80 and in Manual mode.
Better than my earlier attempts but I’ll have to remember how I did it. hehe

Re: Vivitar 283 flash Gun and Fuji.
 

Thats a bit brighter :)

Re: Vivitar 283 flash Gun and Fuji.
 

You sorted it out now Len?
Did you fit the screen protector I gave you OK?
Any better now you got a diffuser?