I can share with you from first hand experience..... there's alot of confusion regarding flashes and flash compatibility issues with film and digital cameras. I hope to simplify this for you and de-mystify compatability issues. * HOT SHOE- is the bracket built into a camera body that accepts the flash attachment. The top of the hot shoe will reveal one of 3 basic designs. Flat with no electronic contacts, a single round electronic contact in the center, or a larger round electronic contact in the center and 2 or more smaller contacts or pin-points. ( late model Minolta and Konica Minolta cameras have a proprietary shoe design. Above description does not apply) If the shoe has NO contacts, it is simply a flash bracket to position the flash. The flash is fired via a sync cord plugged into the X jack on the camera body. A manual flash is all that is required. If the shoe has a single contact on top, a sync cable is not necessary. The flash will fire via shutter buttom. Again, a manual flash is all that is required. Manual flash output is a constant, thus the amount of light is adjusted via the aperature ring on the lens ( F stops) This was common for most older film cameras and SLRs. Many manual flashes offer a semi-automatic operation via a switch on the front of the flash. The most popular flashes offer a 3 position switch ( 3 color codes) each position offers 3 different operating ranges of light output. A chart on the back of the flash assists with f-stop settings based on subject distance etc. Manual flashes can be used on any camera, new or old, but with today's automation there is no need to make flash settings manually. If your camera has several hot shoe contacts ( 3 or more) an automatic DEDICATED flash is highly recommended. The camera and flash communicate intricately via TTL technology ( through the lens metering). The camera instructs the flash to produce enough light to expose the scene correctly. Close-up shots may fire a flash of lower intensity, while subjects at greater distances, in darker enviromnents etc, will require more light. Typically, no user settings are necessary with an auto -dedicated flash used in the camera's auto mode. While purchasing a flash, it's important to understand compatability issues. Make sure the dedicated flash is designed to work with Canon, Nikon, Pentax etc. After-market mfgrs. offer dedicated TTL flashes at a fraction of the OEM cost. How to visually detect a dedicated flash? It should have several pin contacts on the shoe bottom, a red AF illuminator ( red plastic sensor on the front...looks like a car tail-light) and should display the initials of the camera mfgr it;s intended to work with. ( CA- canon NK- Nikon PX-pentax etc) I hope this general overview of flash basics is helpful. Thanks.