Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL

Comments about Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL:

easy,powerful, I like the price too

Comments about Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL:

I have a 25 year old Vivitar 285 that still works fine after all these years. However it isn't safe to use with DSLR cameras so I thought the 383 would be a good buy.

Initial testing on my E-5 went well with direct flash but I found that bounce flash was over-exposed with the camera not communicating with the flash. Maybe a software issue when used on an E-5. I did not experience this problem with my E-520.

After about 20 flashes it stopped working. I replaced the batteries with no success, I can hear it charge up and the display works but it does not fire either on the camera or with the test button.

Comments about Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL:

Very good results with my Oly e-520. Bad thing is that it is very bulky/heavy and the plastic is very cheap looking. The locking mechanism is a push type (look at picture) that may not lock on hot shoe sufficiently if you are not careful. I broke mine from the point where the locking mechanism meets the lower body of the flash unit. I tried to fix it but the plastic is too fragile to fix with epoxy. If you buy it, be very careful with it.

Comments about Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL:

I bought one of these, and when I got it the backlight on the LCD didn't work.Another problem is that at the 28mm setting, the light output doesn't match the field of view of my Olympus E-620 with the standard 14-42mm lens at 14mm (28mm equivalent). There is considerable vignetting. To get even coverage, you have to manually set the flash to its 24mm setting and use the diffuser (thus negating the value of an auto-zoom flash!). The vignetting continues up to the 70mm setting, getting less each time, but still visible.I returned the flash because of the problem with the LCD and the vignetting, and got a Zeikos ZE-FL70 instead. Surprise! It's the same flash, rebadged, cheaper, and with a table stand included in the box!Same vignetting problem too, but I've decided to live with it.

Comments about Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL:

I have an Olympus FL36 flash which is a great flash but a bit gutless with long recycle times. I purchased this flash because it was less expensive and decided that if I don't use it as a on camera flash I could always use it as a manual slave. It works OK but not great. I found the flash has a bit uneven light distribution so full frontal flash leaves shadows on subjects feet etc (Does not fill any frame) . As to the internal TTL use, it just works. As a bounce flash it works OK but for direct flash it is a bit harsh. The on camera flash compensation seems to be ignored in TTL mode so you can't compensate. As to build it's not bad except for the battery compartment for which as previous reviewers have stated there has been a special place allotted down under for the designers. If you have a FL Flash or a Metz its OK as a spare/slave otherwise buy the FL36 or Metz 48

Comments about Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL:

[...] works great on my e510. Simple to use and functions well using the TTL mode.

Comments about Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL:

I found that in order for the ttl feature to work I had to set the high & low values for the iso to 200. If I let the iso setting stay in auto for the camera the ttl would not give me the correct exposure. Other than that glitch the flash works fine. I think I might buy another to use as a slave.

Comments about Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL:

Ok it does not have all the bells and whistles of the oly or metz flash, but its got TTL and auto zoom. The battery door is funky, Dante has a special place for the team that designed that door. The built in reflector card and drop down lens are a bit touchy too. Recycle time with fresh batteries is good. If you want a basic flash that works on your Evolt cameras and don't want to pay more than $130.00, this is it. Its vivitar only in name, Sakar bought the rights so its a third part flash with the vivitar name. The foot is a bit flimsy but so was the foot on the old 283. Treat it right and it will give you good service.

Comments about Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL:

I bought this to use on my E-500 and it is excellent. The autofocus assist red light is cool but I don't use it much. I primarily use this along with a Gary Fong diffuser. The two together makes indoor flash shots look near professional. Nice soft shadows.

Comments about Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL:

good product, excelent price, great value

Comments about Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL:

I decided to give this flash a try because of the low price and my experience with using several Vivitar 283 flashes. I have three of them and they still work perfectly even though they're over 30 years old. The new DF383 seems to be built well but the TTL exposures are very inconsistent and mostly underexposed.

Comments about Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL:

For a fraction of the price of a Olympus FL 50 or FL 36, The 383 is just as powerful, and reliable.
I find Recycle time fast, slave mode great, easy to use. Couldn't be happier!! Comes in with built in diffuser and reflection card.
Great buy for the price. I plan on buying one or two more for off camera!

Comments about Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL:

I bought this unit on 10/22/09. To date it has flashed just one time. I have replaced the batteries to see if that was the issue, but the test button wont even fire the flash.

3 emails, and 7 calls to Vivitar for support. All emails unanswered. 3 of the calls to voice mail unanswered. The 4 calls that got through take my info and say they will forward to the flash support group and i will get a call in 24-48 hours, but the call NEVER comes. My last call, i asked for an RMA number only to be told that flash support would provide that when they called me.

Want to have more fun with your money? put it in the shreader and then use it as decoration in a photo, at least then you might have some value from the money.

Oh - I gave it 1 star, because i could not figure out how to do zero stars.

Comments about Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL:

The flash's TTL work very well on the hot-shoe with consistent results. Be aware that is only recognizes FULL ISO steps (100, 200, 400 and 800). So if you try and set your camera to ISO 640, the flash will default to 400 - just something to be aware of. Other than that, it works very well.

The red AF assist beam works but is a little. however, It is better than nothing and 100% better than Oly's built-in flash strobe assist.

Off camera / remote / slave use is spotty at best. Sure, it's manual / not TTL and that's fine. The problem is 1) the sensor is very sensitive to the position of the trigger flash and 2) exposure is inconsistent and not always predictable. However, it is useful and can have some nice results from it.

Value: for less than the OEM unit, you get a unit that is more powerful and recycles much faster than the Oly FL36R but is smaller than the FL50R. It's a great value if you work within its limitations. One more limitation. It will only work in manual mode on the E-1 (this may be the case with any "old" Oly DSLR). It works just fine on my E-3 in full TTL.

Comments about Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL:

Overall, this flash should be very good for any hotshoe application on an E-510/410 series or newer. It works on the hotshoe well with my E-3. However, it does not function in TTL on the E-1, just manual - a big let down.

For remote triggering, it's hit and miss - mainly miss with the E-3. I wouldn't buy it for this feature, but if you are looking for a solid TTL in-hotshoe flash this is an affordable choice.

Comments about Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL:

I was looking for an economical flash I could take places I might not take a $400 FL50. This unit fills the bill nicely. Reasonably powerful, though you can never have too much flash power! Works well with my E510, and lots of features.

Comments about Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL:

Overall I am very impressed with this flash. For the money it's quite powerful and the TTL functionality is nice to have, but it's also fully manual controlled for off-camera use. The built in optical slave is a nice feature. I have run into one instance where the flash appeared to "lock up" but removing it from the camera and power-cycling seems to have cured any issues. I wish it would have come with a foot for easier off camera use.

Comments about Vivitar DF 383 Series 1 Digital TTL Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash for Olympus TTL:

This flash work great with olympus 520 loved red beam that comes on in low Light helps the olympus focus i am very happy with the vivitar DF-383 got good pics with the flash at a good price