Smith-Victor PG250S Wireless Mini Slave Flash, Guide Number of 70', ISO 100.

SKU: SVPG250S

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Questions & Answers

Shopper : Noobee question. Can I use this with a Nikon D610? If yes, how exactly do I sync the two?Donald M : I'm not sure if it works with Nikon. But I'm sure it does. It's just a standard hot shoe mount. And for syncing 2 together. I just use my other flash to trigger it.(optical trigger) There a nice little flash unit and would recommend them. I mainly use them as a fill flash. And for 20+ bucks. It's well worth it.SHIHJIN K : Sorry, I'm a Canon shooter. So I can't tell if it will work with Nikon D610. I use it for kicker light once a while.MICHAEL B : You can use it with any camera with flash. Problem is, it will probably not sync anything faster than 1/60th (like film cameras) and it will be full blast. I have two (for side lighting) and you have to do test shots to make sure you don't drown out with too much light.
Sergio P : Hi, does anybody know if it works with preflashes? I own a Canon DSLR so need to manage preflash. thanks!MICHAEL B : It does fire off with even pre-flashes. So I wouldn't recommend it if your camera does preflash for reducing red-eye. That's one of the few limitations to this slave flash. It's rated faster than 1/60th. With certain settings and lighting, I have managed to get it to sync at 1/125th. But that's on rare occasions, 1/80th is the max sync I'd rely on.SCOTT D : ANY flash burst will likely trigger this unit so I suggest disabling your red eye pre flash . This unit can also be triggered with a cheap radio transmit receiver combo and its quite brite .DONNY J : No sorry it doesn't ...... It responds to manual flashes only.
Shopper : How well did it work? Were you happy with it?LOU ANN M : It works beautifully. Very convenient for the camera bag. It slaves off of my canon speedlite ST-E2 transmitter. I was told by a friend to leave the batteries out of it when not in use or it may "blow" it.RICH J : works greatDonald M : Its a nice little unit, I'm glad I got it. If I had any complaints, it would be the recycle time being a little slow. But for the most part. I'm happy with the quality and prefomanceMICHAEL B : I bought two of these for flanking light with the main flash pointing up at the ceiling. They never have missed a sync even in a brightly lit room and they will still fire even with low battery juice. The built-in stand really makes it versatile for either tilted or "clamped" onto something. Also, you can sync faster than 1/60th. 1/80 is easy with 1/125 being attainable in certain situations. Negatives: They are made of plastic, so don't be too rough with them. I've had mine over a year and no signs of wear or falling apart. The flash is always full powered, so make sure you adjust range as needed or use a soft screen to prevent overexposure. Also, they don't have any easy method of using gels/filters or other attachments. These are great for fill flash "on the spot" when you don't/can't have all your umbrellas or lighting gear. Accept them for what they are: quick and easy setup.GAIL M G : This product worked well as a slave. Reliable and worth the price.

Reviews about this item

Review Summary

2016-05-04T16:27:44

Rated 5 out of 5

easy to set up and use

easy to set up and use. very responsive to the presence of the main flash.

BRUCE F.

2015-12-28T16:48:01

Rated 5 out of 5

works as advertised

I bought this flash because I am getting into water drop photography. I won't be using it at any great distance, and my canon macro twin lite will be used in manual mode off camera. With this type of photography, the more flashes the better, and I didn't want to spend a fortune on more canon flashes. I use this to illuminate a piece of etched glass from the rear and it is triggered by my macro flashes. in order to change colors I place it under a colored bowl from the dollar store. It's a tricky set-up involving trial and error as it has only full power. You can put a handkerchief or something over it if it is too bright, but it hasn't been for me. This works great for what I am doing at a dirt cheap price. Be sure to remove the batteries and discharge the flash when not in use. At this price I may buy some more, for background illumination.

ROBERT S.

2011-11-06T19:00:00

Rated 4 out of 5

Very handy mini flash

I have used this flash behind brides to backlight the wedding veil. The only con that it has is that it is slow to recycle and therefore only every other shot had the backlight in it. I don't know if this is a battery or flash issue so I will have to do some tests. All in all it is a great product to add to your arsenal when you are in the field.

STEPHEN B.

2010-10-30T21:00:00

Rated 4 out of 5

One Bright Idea !!

One powerful little light. Optical slave is more sensitive than expected , easily triggered indoors and with some practice outdoors as well. One word of caution, the unit still holds power after the batteries are removed so be sure to fire after removal of batteries with the manual button on the hotshoe mount.

DONNY J.

2010-07-21T21:00:00

Rated 3 out of 5

Warning: Do Not Leave Batteries Inside

*The Good: It's a handy tool at good price. Good for practice. Great for Still Objects. Nikon D40 built-in flash works as a commander to these slaves, no trigger device needed! *The Bad: From the first use I could smell a strange burning plastic, even a model noticed it... Not Good! (Totally kills the moment when everyones nose turns up.) *More Bad: I used it about 3 times before packing it away. The 4 AA batteries exploded while I left them inside the flash. (There is a warning not to leave the batteries inside the flash, however after a while I forgot about it & packed the flash away in storage) and after 3-4 months of no use, it stopped working. This is when I discovered the batteries had leaked inside. In an attempt to learn lighting basics, I bought this (Smith Victor PG250S Wireless Mini Slave) and the other smaller version (Smith Victor PG160S Wireless Mini). Opening the box I was thinking it looked like something funky from the 1970's and was surprised how lightweight & cheaply made it looked & felt. Immediately testing, I was again surprised at the amount of light output. This little guy kicks out quite a bit of light for my small living room studio set up. When I used it against white backdrop & white floor with reflector it was completely overexposed and would take some serious adjusting. Once I got the hang of it... not too bad. While I found the recycle time to be somewhat slow, I have nothing to compare it to. Basically I would shoot 3 continuous shots on my NIkon D40 and the 2nd shot would not fire a flash, but the 1st & 3rd shots turned out well lit. After post processing I could fool myself into seeing a decent picture. Overall, I think the flash served it's purpose for teaching me about lighting. You get what you pay for as cliche as it is! But I wish I would have just saved a few more weeks and bought my Nikon SB 600 in the first place. (The other Smith Victor PG160S Mini Slave I mentioned is still kicking like new and the batteries were also left in it for the same length of time, go figure. It is smaller though, so it needs to be closer to the subject. It seemed to have a better build too. I prefer the smaller version.)

JENNIFER M.

2010-07-06T21:00:00

Rated 3 out of 5

Does not work with cameras that...

Does not sync with cameras that use pre-flash, such as Canon Powershot

Silvercutter

2010-02-21T19:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

Very handy addition to a camera bag

This flash is so light and of the perfect size to always carry. It's great as a backlight and accent light.

Pootah

2010-01-10T19:00:00

Rated 4 out of 5

great addition

great addition to arsenal! light weight. had some trouble getting it to fire outside in daylight! no problems inside or at night!

photo b.

2010-01-09T19:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

What a Great Slave Flash I recommend it

Very portable, istead of using an slave umbrella just bring it with you in your standard camera bag pack. Make sure you have enough space to use this as a fill in flash, the flash is so powerful you need to adjust the distance or follow the meter reading scale. Best for traveling and fill in flash photography.

rohger

2008-05-14T21:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

A big difference for a small price

I bought a couple of these units. They're small enough to fit in any bag or jacket pocket, and the flash-detector trigger means they work with my SLR and external flash and with my son's compact point and shoot. They make a big difference in taking family portraits while you're visiting and can turn a mediocre shot of outdoor statuary at night into a great picture.

Joe

About Smith-Victor PG250S

FEATURED REVIEWS

A big difference for a small price

By Joe

I bought a couple of these units. They're small enough to fit in any bag or jacket pocket, and the flash-detector trigger means they work with my SLR and external flash and with my son's compact point and shoot. They make a big difference in taking family portraits while you're visiting and can turn a mediocre shot of outdoor statuary at night into a great picture.

easy to set up and use

By BRUCE F.

easy to set up and use. very responsive to the presence of the main flash.

Use the PG250S to light small areas or as an accent light adding sparkle to the sybject. It measures 1-1/4" x 3-3/4" x 4-1/4" and the built-in tilt bracket allows it to be positioned anywhere a little extra light is needed.

It has a GN of 70, a built-in slave, test button and front and rear ready lights. The unit recycles in 4 to 6 seconds and flash output is fixed at full power. It can also be used with the PG820MT Mini tripod for a wide range of positions.