My personal opinion of the 6 volt limit is "hogwash". People use their
T-32s on E-510s and other E-thingies all the time. The T-32 runs around
11-12 volts. Perhaps you got your info from Olympus America who just
happens to also sell the Wein Safe-Sync after spreading the FUD. Ask
Olympus Europe and you get a different (and to me a more reasonable)
answer. See:
<http://www.fourthirds-user.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-1284.html>
where Andrew Martin says:
"I have a lot of moneysworth of old flashguns, and I asked Olympus
Europe what the safe trigger voltage limit was for the E-510. They said
200V! This was a surprise, especially as the FAQ on the Olympus US site
said 6V was the safe limit. I contacted them both, and pointed out the
difference in advice. The Europe site said they had checked with the
engineers, and they repeated that 200V is safe. The US site said that
although 200V won't immediately fry the E-510's electronics, it won't do
it any good in the long term. It may be complete coincidence, but
Olympus US resells a device called a Wein Safe-Sync (look it up on
google) which isolates digital camera electronics from big trigger
voltages - worth the 40 quid or so for complete peace of mind maybe."
At Olympus America, even the FAQ for the E-3 (their highest cost
professional camera) says the trigger voltage is limited to 6 volts.
That says that a great many studio strobes couldn't be used without a
Safe-Sync. Sorry, I don't buy it.
As I said before, there is no voltage warning at all in the E-510 manual
although it does warn about possible problems with incompatible TTL and
other non-trigger contacts. It's your camera and your risk but I know
what I'd do.
Chuck Norcutt
Moose wrote:
> On 8/18/2010 9:23 PM, Jim Nichols wrote:
>> Thanks, Moose. You will probably see that I worked it out, as I
>> responded to Chuck. My flash unit triggers with 20.5 volts with
>> new batteries, but the E-510 is limited to 6 volts. I think there
>> is an interface that will protect the camera circuit, but I have
>> not pursued that. A newer flash might be a better investment.
>
> Only 6 volts? That's really second rate.
>
> If you really want to do a bit of playing with macro fill flash, I
> think you want something that can go off the camera. I don't keep up
> on flash stuff, but I'll bet there are units that can be triggered by
> the on-camera flash, even set very low. With something like that, you
> could even do hand-held flash, and easily try different angles.
>
> As it is, the E-510 shuts off the built-in flash when one is attached
> to the shoe.
>
> Dr. No Flash
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