Need some help on Achiever 260T

[enivre]

Hi,

Okay I've decided to just use my 4+ year old achiever 260T on my 602 regardless of warnings of the high trigger voltage (mine's at 60+V)... but I'll upgrade to a vivitar when cash permits me to do so..

Anyway, I don't understand what the buttons on the front do coz I got the flash from my brother who doesn't remember what they are supposed to do anymore..

Can anyone enlighten me on this? Thanks..

Ervine Lin

 

[StreetShooter]

The button can be pushed to adjust the strength of the flash. Blue is the weakest, followed by yellow, then red. M is for manual, which is full power. The little hole is the thyristor.

Basically the first 3 are auto-mode, which means that the flash will cut off automatically once a certain amount of light reaches the thyristor. There's a little chart on the back of the flash that acts as a guide to which ISO and aperture to use.

How I usually use it is to set the flash at the blue setting, and the camera at Shutter Priority, 1/200s. The aperture will usually be adjusted by the camera to the optimal value, depending on the ambient light conditions.

Just experiment. Using aperture priority is a no-no because your picture will usually end up being overexposed. You can try manual mode and fine tune the exposure using agaration.

 

[enivre]

That's great!!

Thanks a bunch but just need to clarify something...

Normally when do you set it to the various colours and under what situations?

Also, does the camera know what the flash is doing? Not really right? The flash just fires and so the metering in the camera actually isn't accurate because the flash & camera don't really communicate as such...

Hope you get what I mean, sorry a little green at this photography thing...

Thanks again..

 

[StreetShooter]

Originally posted by enivre
That's great!!

Thanks a bunch but just need to clarify something...

Normally when do you set it to the various colours and under what situations?

Also, does the camera know what the flash is doing? Not really right? The flash just fires and so the metering in the camera actually isn't accurate because the flash & camera don't really communicate as such...

Hope you get what I mean, sorry a little green at this photography thing...

Thanks again..

I think the choice of which auto setting to use depends largely on the ISO you are using and the distance from your camera to your subject. For ISO 400, the blue setting should be enough to cover the subjects in a small to medium sized room. If you want to use ISO 100, then you need to increase the flash power a bit ie use the yellow or red setting. But keep in mind that this will make the background look a bit darker, and the picture less "natural".

No, there's NO communication between the camera and the flash. The flash makes sure that there is sufficient light for the range of aperture settings as indicated, at the distances indicated, at the ISO chosen. eg f2.8 to f4 for the distance marked by the blue bar on the chart at the back of the flash. When the thyristor "senses" that enough light has been reflected from the subject (onto itself), it will cut off the flash power, so that you don't get an over-exposure. You know, like a thermostat switch.

 

[enivre]

Oh... Hmmm.. okay I think I got it...

Will go experiment.. thanks a bunch