what flashes can i use with my minolta slr?
 

i have a minolta XG-M slr camera and have no idea what kind of flash i can use with it. I'm a begineer to slr photography so any help with this would be great!

Hi there Archie, Welcome to WPF and the world of Photography - Your camera dates from about 1981 here is a LINK that gives you some information about it. You will notice that the "hot shoe" on the top of the camera where the flash gun goes has one central contact. Others may correct me but I think that means that many of the functions of modern flash guns will not work with that camera so a very simple model will do. I suggest you take the camera to a place like Jessops or your local camera dealer - there are several specialist shops in Bristol - and they should help. You do not need an all singing, all dancing flash as it will not work with this camera - yes it may flash - but it will have other functions the camera cannot use. I would not expect to pay much more than about £10 for such a flash gun. What ever you do - enjoy photography.

thanks so much! im going to go round a few shops in a couple of days and see how it goes, if i need any more help i'll do another post in this, thankyou!

Sound like a non-dedicated unit something in the vein of this

http://www.heritagecameras.co.uk/pra...shoe-302-p.asp

will do. basically your looking for something second hand in good condition. i.e clean battery contacts etc. Trouble is many camera shop dumped most of this old gear as it was not suitable for the modern digital SLR cameras.

e-bay is usually good for finding old style equipment cheaply.

As Andy has said you can pick up a small 2 battery job for £10 to £20 and the more powerful 4 battery jobs for £30 to £40.

Good hunting

If it helps I use a Cobra Auto 210 (4 battery) with my XG-M. I've had it a long time and can't remember what it cost but I doubt it was much. It works well but I can't really say I use enough flash to comment beyond that.

is there something in particular i need to look for so that i know that a flash will fit my camera? because theres loads of flashes on ebay i see but i have no idea whether they will work with it or not..

They will all almost certainly fire/flash - so from that point of view they will work. As the others have said, any function that require communication between the flash & camera - eg automatically recognising the aperture set on the lens... will not work. However that isn't necessarily a problem - in fact working with manual equipment will teach you more about your hobby that fancy auto stuff.

useful features to look for are: -

1) a bounce head (& swivel) - this enables you to bounce light off ceilings (& wall) to give a softer more diffuse light which creates more flattering shots

2) 'auto' mode(s) - this is a setting in which you tell the flash, usually by means of a slider, what aperture (from a set selection eg f4 or f8 for a particular ISO) you have set on the camera. The flash then has a sensor which measures the amount of light coming back from the subject and adjusts the light output to give the correct exposure

any advice on whether these are good/will work with my camera?
i dont want to spend too much as im not using it for particularly serious purposes, just one that works so i can take pictures at gigs and things.
-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MINOLTA-PROGRA...item3efde3b631

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MINOLTA-PROGRA...item25597ee74d

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dedicated-flas...item2c53a7afa8

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Minolta-2800-a...item3a58f32623

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Minolta-progra...item4cee50e5f2

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Minolta-Auto-2...item51915714bc

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Minolta-Auto-2...item335b5291df

i know this is a lot, thanks to anyone who's already given advice and if anyone takes the time to look at all these and tell me what they know that would be so helpful!

Hi Archie, Items 3, 6 and 7 will work with your camera - Item 3 is a new item so it shows you can buy what you need new. Any flash gun may fire but will have functions your camera cannot use. af flash guns have an auto focus mechanism. Your camera is manual focus therefore that function of the flash would be redundant. If you can find one - an ideal flash would be either number 3 or a Sunpak

Here are some links to suitable flash guns
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sunpak-SP140-C...#ht_500wt_1182
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SUNPAK-AUTO-24...#ht_500wt_1182

This one may seem strange to you but is an old Pro unit that plugs into the camera - the sensor battery he mentions is easily replaced by yourself Needs two hands - very powerful and light adjustable.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sunpak-Auto-Zo...#ht_500wt_1182

This one is simpler:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SUNPAK-AUTO-14...4#ht_500wt_956

And this one is probably the best of the lot for you. It is designed for manual 35mm SLR's.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SUNPAK-Auto301...7#ht_874wt_941

If there are no instructions - do not be put off. Google the flash gun you are thinking of and add the word manual or instructions and in most cases someone out there will have placed the instructions or manual on the web.

out of the ones bar the best one at the bottom, are they worth the money theyre charging? some are 99p and some a tenner so are the tenner ones worth extra money than the ones with a cheaper starting bid?