I case you need a flash, I just reviewed my flash gear and discovered
the following I'm willing to part with:
Honeywell Strobonar 100:
Completely manual itty-bitty electronic flash made in 1971. In very
good condition, complete with manual. Requires 2 AA batteries. To use
a manual flash you dial in the ASA of the film in the camera and the
distance to the subject. The calculator dial tells you the aperture
which you then manually set on the lens. This may be a red eye
generator but not nearly as bad as your Nikon with built-in flash since
this tube would be about 3 to 3-1/2" above the center of the lens.
Guide no. 56 at ISO 100. This little flash is 1/2 the power of the two
below.
Yours free if you pay for the shipping.
Vivitar 550FD:
Yes, I did have a spare. Can't even remember where I got it. In very
good condition, complete with manual. Bounce head, 2 auto flash ranges
plus Oly/Pentax/Minolta TTL and manual. Requires 4 AA batteries. Guide
no. 80 at ISO 100.
Yours for $20 plus shipping.
Vivitar 3500:
Just got this recently in a kit buy. I've never used it so I had to go
see if it works. Works fine but didn't appear to at first until battery
contacts were wiped. This flash only takes 2 AA batteries so it's only
working with 3 volts instead of 6 to cross a dirty contact. Moral of
the story is keep the contacts clean. This flash is larger than the
550FD despite only having 2 batteries. It has a bounce head plus a
zoom. The zoom can be set for wide angle, normal or telephoto lenses.
It has 3 auto flash ranges plus TTL and manual. This particular flash
has a custom TTL module for Olympus but it can be snapped off and
exchanged with other custom camera modules which sell for about $10 on
ebay. Guide no. 80 at ISO 100 for normal angle. Effective guide number
changes with zoom.
Your for $25 plus shipping.
Shipping for any of the above via Priority mail would likely be
$3.50-4.00. No questions asked guarantee for 30 days. Search ebay for
the Vivitars with specific model number if you want to see what they
look like.
Someone gave you advice today to buy a BG-2. A BG-2 is really designed
for rapid firing of a T-32. It's an expensive piece of gear if you
don't have TTL capability and especially a T-32.
Your best bet to avoid red-eye is to use a moderately powerful flash and
use bounce. A small flash on the hot shoe is OK. I used a bounced 283
in auto mode on My OM-1 for many years and got great pictures. I never
broke the shoe but was always nervous. My standard flash configuration
today is a T-32 on a BG-2 set for bounce and swivel providing the main
light. There is also a 550FD in the hot shoe in bounce mode, both of
them set for TTL on an OM-2s. Makes for a soft, even light.
ps: To use a T-32 without a winder you reverse it so that the handle is
on the left and your right hand is free to wind the film and press the
shutter release. If you decide on a BG-2 make sure it has the grip
strap and M-grip cord included. These have been discontinued by Olympus
and can be hard to find individually.
pps: I assume that the cable release is for the OM-1 on the telescope.
That's fine. Don't bother with the cable release on a tripod however.
If you search the archives you'll find a great deal of stuff on the
effects of and control of vibration. The official Olympus factory
recommendation is to dampen the camera vibration with your hand while
you gently squeeze the shutter release. Even with mirror lock the
camera still shakes, mostly from the automatic aperture stop down. Not
a problem with a scope though and especially with long exposures.
Good luck,
Chuck Norcutt
Woburn, Mass.
OM (and Celestron C-8) owner for 25 years.
Chuck Norcutt wrote:
>
> Aaron said:
> In order to use the OM-1n for general purpose photography, I need a
> decent flash for it. What would work best on this camera?
> ------------
> No doubt you'll get 1000 replies on this one because there are probably
> 1000 different flashes you could use. With shoe #1 or a PC cord you can
> use a strictly manual flash or an automatic flash (where the automation
> is in the flash and not the camera). You can also use an OM TTL
> compatible flash. You won't get any TTL flash automation but the flash
> ready LED in your OM-1n will light as long as it's mounted on a shoe 3.
>
> Someone will come along with an appropriate Sunpak, Metz, etc
> recommendation but I don't think you can go wrong with a Vivitar 283 or
> 285. I believe both are still available new for about $80-90 but
> they're as common as dirt on the used market since they've been in
> production for over 25 years. These flashes are automatic flashes
> offering a bounce head (swings up and down). Both have lots of
> accessories available such as filters and variable power controls. The
> 285 has a built-in zoom feature to control angle of coverage for
> different focal length lenses or distances. I don't know what the
> number is but there is probably a comparable Sunpak flash which offers
> swivel action (side-to-side) in addition to the bounce.
>
> The 283/285's have been in production so long that the technology has
> changed along with the cameras. More modern 283's will have a low
> trigger voltage of, say, 6 volts suitable for an electronically
> controlled camera such as the OM-2s and later. Older 283's had high
> trigger voltages, say, 250-300 volts. These would likely fry a 2s but
> are perfectly fine for your OM-1n which has a mechanical flash contact
> switch.
>
> Another Vivitar flash that I can heartily recommend is the 550FD. This
> is a much smaller (lower power) flash that you can probably buy used for
> about $15-20. This little flash offers a bounce head and manual, auto
> and TTL modes for Olympus, Minolta and Pentax all in the same unit. (it
> has 7 contacts on its base).
>
> Being smaller, the 550FD will not put so much strain on the flash shoe.
> A large, high flash such as the 283 can exert a lot of leverage if
> struck and may break the flash shoe off. Big flashes are best mounted
> on a flash bracket and fed from a cord.
>
> You'll probably get several offers to sell this or that flash. If you
> don't, contact me off list. I've got a few spare flashes kicking
> around. Maybe even a spare 550FD but I'll have to check.
>
> Chuck Norcutt
> Woburn, Massachusetts, USA
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