Vivitar 285HV Auto Professional Flash

I bought 3, loved my old vivitar 285s. Real workhorses. All 3 didn't work when plugged into my quantum turbos. I kept them and am using them with AA NIMHs. However, because I need them to recycle fast (3-4 seconds) I am restricted to only going up to 1/4 power. Very dissapointing to say the least.

Just got off the phone with Vivitar Service. I described my problem to two people over 30 minutes, then was told that they no longer sell/support this product. They proceeded to give me another number to call that was NOT IN SERVICE.

This producrt supposedly came with a 2 year warranty. I have only had it 8 months and it worked fine for 7. I understand discontinuing something, but to not honor the new warranty for customers sucks. To say this is bad business would be an understatement.

If I can prevent anyone from purchasing their products today, my work is done.

Since this flash failed, I purchased a used Nikon SB-24 from KEH. There is no comparison in the quality of the two and the Nikon is easier to use. I can't speak for the "old Vivitar workhorses" from the past, but anyone that says this one is as good as the 20 year old SB-24 is not really looking at the two. I am not bashing the 285HV because it failed. There is honestly no comparison in build quality.

I had previous given this product one star because of a completely worthless warranty service. Eventually, after much hounding, the warranty department finally came through and replaced the broken PC cord that came with the flash. So, I've moved it up to three stars.

With that in mind, the flash itself is a four or five star item. It does just what I want, a not too expensive dumb flash I can use for off camera flash work. A few adjustable manual power settings, manual zoom and tilt provide about all the variables really needed for off camera flash work. Sure, it'd be great if it would tilt more than 90 degrees, or swivel as well, but these things are more important for on camera work. There could be more manual power settings too, but three is good enough for most work.

So, if you want to get a cheap, apparently reliable (so far) flash for off camera strobe work it is hard to go wrong with this flash. Be warned though, you may need to be very persistent with the warranty department if you have a problem!

I bought my Vivitar 285HV for my old Canon PowerShot G3. I originally had an Opteka flash that was much more automatic than the Vivitar, so it took a lot of trial and error to figure out what made the camera really work well with the light provided by the flash. I learned a lot more about operating my camera in manual modes, which has helped me in general to take better pics.

The flash itself does a fine job. It cycles fast, puts out quite even, adequate light and, once you figure out how to eke better pics out of your camera, is a great addition to any "basic" camera setup.

Add a Sto-Fen OmniBounce and this Vivitar flash is a very versatile unit.

I ordered two of these flashes to use as part of my portable studio setup. I use 'em with a couple white reflective umbrellas and they do almost as well as my monolights. Only difference, of course, is the power output. Just gotta move 'em in a bit closer, that's all.