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| Digital Camera
Resources |
| Excess Trigger Voltage can Ruin your
Camera |
| I recently ordered a few sync cords from
Paramount Cords.
In reading the accompanying material, I realized how important an issue this
really is. Everyone wants to save a little money, and in doing that you may
be putting your new digital camera in jeopardy. Camera manufacturers match
the trigger voltage of their strobes to their own cameras. Third party flash
manufacturers make universal flashes that can work with any camera, but in
doing so, might damage your camera. |
About Trigger Voltage from Paramount's literature
A sync contact is a small wire within a camera which receives a voltage
spark from the flash at the moment of sync. This voltage spark causes
pitting, black carbon buildup and/or contact burn out. Most flash
manufacturers aren't worried about it as the damage isn't immediately
detected. The high sync voltage will also damage the cameras electronic
circuitry. Some cameras will misfire from a sync voltage of 6 Volts or
greater. High voltage can also generate electro-magnetic interference which
can cause unwanted effects on camera operation. Some 3rd party flashes have
reported trigger voltage of higher than 200 Volts. |
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Paramount (got to give them a plug here) sells
custom sync cords with built in voltage protection. In fact, they will build
any cord you need. |
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Wein Safe Sync is also a good
safety measure. It's a module that a flash sits on in the cameras hot shoe
and reduces the trigger voltage to a safe level. It also has a sync socket
for use with off camera flash. |
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