Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The good news: This is a great little flash - lots of power (guide number 79 at ISO 100) and it recycles quickly despite not being labeled as a thyristor model. Note: it is not a zoom bounce -- the bounce head does not extend (or swivel) but it is designed to be compact and that it is. The unit I bought from one vendor was as described and worked well with my Nikon N50. It had a port that was obviously for a sync cable but the port appeared to be designed for a (relatively) standard 2.5mm male miniplug, rather than the proprietary Vivitar interface you find on the 283/285hv professional level flashes (or the model 2500 bounce zoom series, etc.). I attached a Paramount Sunpak PC coiled sync cable to the flash (using the male miniplug described above) and connected the camera end of the cable to an X port on a Nikkormat FTn. The flash fired no problem. That is good news as it means sync cables are readily available for anyone who needs one. The unit works fine in full manual mode, using the guide number to calculate the exposure, and has two automatic modes that also seem to work very well.
The drawback to buying this item on Amazon: I liked the flash so much I wanted to buy a backup and so I bought a second flash from abesbeergarden. It was billed as being a model V2000 and used the same photo - a picture of a bounce flash. What arrived was an earlier model 2000 (no V prefix). The older model is NOT a bounce flash and has a permanently attached sync cable - mine functioned but this is not a good thing as once it breaks it cannot be replaced. Buyer beware: be certain that the device you purchase is indeed a BOUNCE flash (v2000)
To illustrate the difference I've uploaded a photo of the two devices side by side:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vivitar_2000.jpg
The older, non-bounce, flash is on the left. As shown, the V prefix on the newer model is not printed on the plastic case. The principal differentiating feature is the bounce head which is present on the V2000 and absent from the 2000.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Vivitar V2000 General Purpose Electronic Flash for 35mm Camera
Guide Number: 79 / Easy-to-use calculator chart / Hot shoe and PC cord for any 35mm camera / Adjustable angle for Bounce effect
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