Sunpack 411 flash & C2020Z

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I have a Sunpack 411 non-dedicated flash that I would like to use with my C2020Z. It has 4 sencers & a bounce head. Should I just use it with the internal flash turned off? Or should I turn the internal flash on & reduce the exposure by one stop? I am concerned that with the inter- nal flash on I will get red-eye. Can someone tell me the best way to use this flash.

rudyschatz

-- Rudy Schatz (rudyschatz@aol.com), January 06, 2000

Answers

Rudy
I'm not sure how old your Sunpak 411 is. Please make absolutely certain it isn't a high-voltage trigger unit. Some older flash units put the full potential of the flash tube into the connector that goes to the camera. On older standard 35mm cameras this only became a problem after a year or two of usage. Each time the camera fired the contact (inside the camera) would arc. After a while the contacts would carbonize and it would become unreliable. I really don't know if your 411 uses a high or low voltage trigger. If you're handy with a volt-meter you can measure it by charging the flash (so it's ready to fire) and measuring the voltage across the trigger points. If it's high (it will measure as much as 700 volts - yikes) then do not use it with your Olympus. If it's low (typically 3 volts) then it should work just fine. All modern flash units use low-voltage triggers. My guess is that if you purchased it new from a reputuable dealer in the last 9 years then it's just fine. I wish I knew this model for sure - unfortunately I don't.

Des

-- Dan Desjardins (dan.desjardins@avstarnews.com), January 08, 2000.

Hi Rudy,

I'd endorse the above comments and say play safe and use a slave trigger to fire the Sunpak unit. A slave trigger is a little light sensitive gizmo that picks up the pulse of light from one flash and fires another without needing a connection to the camera.

If you set the exposure for the Sunpak unit the built-in flash will be pretty feeble by comparison, and shouldn't give any red-eye problems.

Regards,

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), January 10, 2000.


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