I have an NEX-6 and I wanted to use an external flash connected to the hot shoe. I have a canon speed light 580EX
I was told I may need to watch out for the different voltages, as the flash may operate at different voltages and harm the camera.
I should be able to find the operational voltages for the speedlight (if you know any good resources that would be great)
But, I cannot find the safe voltage for the NEX-6.
As a last resort, is there a way I could measure this with a test meter?
Answer
Modern flash units from recognizable manufacturers rarely use camera-damaging trigger voltages, so you don't need to worry about the 580EX.
Once upon a time, the flash trigger transformer's primary voltage (several hundred volts) was directly switched by contacts in the shutter in order to generate the 4000 or so volts the flash tube needs to have in order to trigger a flash. This is what would kill a modern camera.
A modern flash uses generally logic levels (~6V and under) to both trigger and communicate with the camera.
You can check here for a partial list of safe/unsafe strobes as of 2004. Another, more up-to-date source is here. I'd say a trigger voltage over 5 volts would be questionable for any digital camera.
Oh yes... Here is how to check your speedlight trigger voltage if you're still curious.
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