When You Need More Light.

This past Fourth of July, while at a party, I had the pleasure of talking with Bob, a friend who has an interest in photography. During our conversation, Bob mentioned that he was thinking of getting an external flash unit for his digital SLR camera. He mentioned the right reasons for purchasing an external flash unit, which I think are more power and more versatility than the pop-up units on the camera can deliver. I forget what brand camera that Bob has, but I suggested that he look into an off-brand flash. The one I suggested was the new digital version of an old workhorse, the Vivitar 285. Why the 285 ? Simplicity ! Not to mention that It’s MUCH less expensive than the the TTL, computerized, multi-function, dedicated-flash units offered by camera manufacturers. In my experience of teaching flash photography, I think that it is much easier to come to an understanding of flash photography with a basic flash unit like the 285 than with a more expensive, dedicated flash that has too many bells and whistles. I’ve worked with nothing but basic flash units like the 285 and I’ve had nothing but good results. For simplicity, predictability and compositional involvement, I’d take the 285 over anything else out there. My thanks to Vivitar for redesigning and making available the 285 for digital cameras.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 11:44 pm. It is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.