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Vivitar 283 Shoe Mount Flash for Universal ('Vintage')
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$30.99
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- Buy It NowVivitar 283 Shoe Mount 35mm Camera Flash Auto Thyristor
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I now own 2 of these Vivitar 283 flash units. One I bought back in the 70s, one recently. The guide number at ASA 100 is 120, so they have plenty of power. The auto thyristor sensor has five settings, and has always done a good job of giving proper light output. The multi-angle flash head automatically compensates (boosts) light output when it's not pointed directly at the subject. There are many accessories available very inexpensively. I own a vari-power module that replaces the auto sensor. It can be set anywhere from full power to 1/16 power. I also own a lens kit which changes the spread of the light beam. In 35mm terms, the lenses are 24mm, 28mm, 70mm, and 135mm. The 24mm and 28mm can be used as diffusion filters to soften the lighting effect. at any focal length. Also in my collection of accessories are a color filter set, a cord to run the flash from an AC outlet, a bracket that holds a standard white/gray card for using the white side to bounce the flash, and a cord to use the flash off-camera. I'll soon be getting the SL-2 auto slave adapter also. You can buy all of this, including the flash, for less than the price of a new Pentax auto flash with a guide number of 54 at ASA 100 with no accessories. The Pentax has more features; the Vivitar has more than twice the power. Any serious photographer will know how to set up/use a manual flash lighting scheme, so as far as I'm concerned the Vivitar 283 is a great buy. CAUTION: older 283s have a high trigger voltage. My old one is over 300 volts, and would probably fry a DSLR. The newer one has a trigger voltage of 8.8V, and I have been using it on the hot shoe of my DSLR with no problems. I'll use the old one as a slave. The 283 has a well deserved reputation as a reliable workhorse. My 35+ year old unit works as well today as when it was new. The mounting shoe is plastic, and the unit is relatively heavy. Care must be taken when it's mounted to prevent the shoe from cracking. I've been moderately careful with my old unit for 35 years and have not had a problem. The new auto flash units are great since they 'talk' to the camera and make adjustments automatically. The old school 'dumb' units like the 283 can't do this. However, if your DSLR has an aperture priority mode and you know how to use it, the 283 will perform extremely well. I have read reviews and seen youtube videos of professional photographers using them as the foundation of their studio lighting setups. At the typical prices on e-bay, you can have your own 'professional' muti-unit flash setup for about the same price as one good auto flash. Viva la Vivitar 283!Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I am thrilled to be able to use this flash with to my 44 year old 35mm SLR camera. Product was in excellent condition when I acquired it. This flash is packed with features and is easy to use.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
You cannot buy a less expensive more reliable on or for use off camera flash unit. I bought my first one When they came out in the late 70s and now I have five sometimes I gang them all up or use them separately.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Used with a remote trigger (of course, NEVER attached directly to new digital camera hot shoe!) old VivItar 283s and 285s function well. This unit seems in great shape, as described. Thanks for being honest & accurate!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Best old school manual flash I have used, Works well for slave flash. I have 4 of these.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Bought my first Vivitar 283 flash back in 1978. I currently have 3. They are compact, easy to use and highly affordable. Over the years I have used them with dozens of Vintage cameras from the 40's and 50's, as well as a few Canon and Olympus ones from more recent times. Currently use them with my 12 vintage stereo cameras. Highly reliable.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
The picture is not of the 283, blame e-bay on that, the Vivitar 283 was the best hot shoe flash you could buy at the time. It is still a good performer on digital cameras, just put your camera on manual set shutter speed and aperture and fire away. Remember you need to get a safe sync shoe adapter, these run amuck on e-bay and protect your camera from receiving too much voltage. If you use it without one of these you can fry your camera. The 283 has one fault, the hotshoe was made of plastic and could break off if the flash was hit while on the camera. That is why there are so many replacement hotshoes for sale.
Very beautiful Vivitar 283 new in the box. For this day and age you don't find finds like this anymore. Works great! 9 volt discharge so can use it on my digital cameras. Red dot on battery door.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
I use this on my Holga 120N and my Canon AE-1 program. I mostly use it set to the bounce position and attach a white 3x5 card held in place with a rubber band. This is my diffuser. It has worked great and the build quality feels very solid.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Flash was in excellent condition . Only tested high voltage power input. Very fast recycle. I bought it for parts. Used the metal hot shoe on a vivitar armatar 100 I purchased from eBay awhile back. Can't find this particular metal hot shoe with AC sync socket anymore.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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