Old flash unit salvagable?

I have a very old flash, (Gold Crest SR-33) that I 'inherited'
It has a wire that I can plug into my old manual camera but not to my 'new'
Canon EOS Elan.
Simply plugging into the hotshoe doesn't seem to activate it when I take a
picture.
Is there no way to salvage this flash to use with the Canon?

You might be safer just junking it. Some old flashes have very high trigger
voltages, which can damage the trigger circuits in modern cameras.

The reason it did not fire may be because the flash foot does not have any
contacts on it - it may be intended to fire via the sync cable only, and
simply mount to a cold shoe, which was common on old cameras. For instance
my Vitos have what looks like a hotshoe, but is only an accessory shoe with
no electrical contacts.

Mike

"Yohan Jung" wrote in message
...
I have a very old flash, (Gold Crest SR-33) that I 'inherited'
It has a wire that I can plug into my old manual camera but not to my
'new'
Canon EOS Elan.
Simply plugging into the hotshoe doesn't seem to activate it when I take a
picture.
Is there no way to salvage this flash to use with the Canon?

You might be safer just junking it. Some old flashes have very high trigger
voltages, which can damage the trigger circuits in modern cameras.

The reason it did not fire may be because the flash foot does not have any
contacts on it - it may be intended to fire via the sync cable only, and
simply mount to a cold shoe, which was common on old cameras. For instance
my Vitos have what looks like a hotshoe, but is only an accessory shoe with
no electrical contacts.

Mike

"Yohan Jung" wrote in message
...
I have a very old flash, (Gold Crest SR-33) that I 'inherited'
It has a wire that I can plug into my old manual camera but not to my
'new'
Canon EOS Elan.
Simply plugging into the hotshoe doesn't seem to activate it when I take a
picture.
Is there no way to salvage this flash to use with the Canon?

"Yohan Jung" wrote in message
...
I have a very old flash, (Gold Crest SR-33) that I 'inherited'
It has a wire that I can plug into my old manual camera but not to my
'new'
Canon EOS Elan.
Simply plugging into the hotshoe doesn't seem to activate it when I take a
picture.
Is there no way to salvage this flash to use with the Canon?
What I would do, is get a cheap slave and plug the flash
into that. I would never try to connect it to a modern camera. Besides; then
you would have a flash you could aim from any direction and distance. Bob
Hickey www.Pbase.com/bobhickey/galleries

"Yohan Jung" wrote in message
...
I have a very old flash, (Gold Crest SR-33) that I 'inherited'
It has a wire that I can plug into my old manual camera but not to my
'new'
Canon EOS Elan.
Simply plugging into the hotshoe doesn't seem to activate it when I take a
picture.
Is there no way to salvage this flash to use with the Canon?
What I would do, is get a cheap slave and plug the flash
into that. I would never try to connect it to a modern camera. Besides; then
you would have a flash you could aim from any direction and distance. Bob
Hickey www.Pbase.com/bobhickey/galleries

"Mike Lipphardt" wrote in message
. com...
You might be safer just junking it. Some old flashes have very high
trigger
voltages, which can damage the trigger circuits in modern cameras.

The reason it did not fire may be because the flash foot does not have any
contacts on it - it may be intended to fire via the sync cable only, and
simply mount to a cold shoe, which was common on old cameras. For
instance
my Vitos have what looks like a hotshoe, but is only an accessory shoe
with
no electrical contacts.

Mike


I agree with Mike on the likely 'problem': the flash isn't a hotshoe mount
and needs its synch. cord plugged in. The trigger voltage issue is a very
real one too, with modern very electronic cameras being much more prone to
damage from high voltages than older mechanical ones were.

If you really want to use it, look for a device made by Wein called a "Safe
Synch". This plugs into the camera's hotshoe and has another hotshoe on top
plus a socket for a synch. lead - so you'd mount it on the camera, put your
flash in the upper socket, plug in its lead, and it should work. The clever
bit, and the reason for the "Safe" in the name, is that this gizmo limits
the voltage seen by the camera to a low, safe, level - so you can use older
guns with no fear of damaging modern cameras.

The Safe Synch. isn't all that expensive, but even so it may cost more than
this old flash is worth - it's your call as to what the flash means to you.
Of course, the gizmo would let you attach two flashes at once - your current
one via the synch. socket for off camera use plus one in the hotshoe to
provide fill. That might be fun to experiment with.



Peter

"Mike Lipphardt" wrote in message
. com...
You might be safer just junking it. Some old flashes have very high
trigger
voltages, which can damage the trigger circuits in modern cameras.

The reason it did not fire may be because the flash foot does not have any
contacts on it - it may be intended to fire via the sync cable only, and
simply mount to a cold shoe, which was common on old cameras. For
instance
my Vitos have what looks like a hotshoe, but is only an accessory shoe
with
no electrical contacts.

Mike


I agree with Mike on the likely 'problem': the flash isn't a hotshoe mount
and needs its synch. cord plugged in. The trigger voltage issue is a very
real one too, with modern very electronic cameras being much more prone to
damage from high voltages than older mechanical ones were.

If you really want to use it, look for a device made by Wein called a "Safe
Synch". This plugs into the camera's hotshoe and has another hotshoe on top
plus a socket for a synch. lead - so you'd mount it on the camera, put your
flash in the upper socket, plug in its lead, and it should work. The clever
bit, and the reason for the "Safe" in the name, is that this gizmo limits
the voltage seen by the camera to a low, safe, level - so you can use older
guns with no fear of damaging modern cameras.

The Safe Synch. isn't all that expensive, but even so it may cost more than
this old flash is worth - it's your call as to what the flash means to you.
Of course, the gizmo would let you attach two flashes at once - your current
one via the synch. socket for off camera use plus one in the hotshoe to
provide fill. That might be fun to experiment with.



Peter