N00b flash help (Hanomat bx550)

[Griffin]

So I have my mom's old Canon ftb w/ Tokina 17mm and I have this Hanomat flash thingie. On the back is a little dial which I can rotate to the correct ISO and then the scale at the top tells me which aperture to choose for which distance. Now.... which shutter speed do I use? The camera has a red "60" on the shutter speed dial, so I presume anything 60 and under will do, as the curtains will be open when the flash fires, right? Is there no risk of overexposure if I go for 1/30 or 1/15?

This is the flash in question:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-H...age_Cameras&hash=item3f1c53bf62#ht_500wt_1054

You can see the green round switch in the middle. It has three positions, to the right reveals a red circle below the white dot. The center position is shown and of course the left position with the green circle below the white dot. Does anyone have any idea what all these positions do?

Ok, thanks in advance!

Edit: Just found a manual for my flash. I could never find one looking for Hanomat, but Hanomex seems to be the same unit. :http://www.cameramanuals.org/flashes_meters/hanimex_bx550_flash.pdf

 

[Mcary]

OK lets say you want to take some pictures with kit you've described. For the first shot you choose F-8 at 1/60th and the second you choose F-8 at 1/15th of a second. Both shots will receive the same exact amount of light from the flash. So no using a slower shutter will not result in an over exposed shot. What will happen is the the second shot will receive a greater amount of ambient light due to the cameras shutter being open for a longer period of time.
F-stop/aperture =for control flash
Shutter =for controlling ambient light

 

[Vics]

Mcary's right, and that may be just what you want. Check out strobist.com and taKe his free strobist 101 course, and you'll know all about strobe. The course assumes you have a digital SLR, so you hasve to work around somke of that (a flash meter like the sekonic 308L would be perfect). The red 60 on thye shutter speed dial means that that is the highest speed at which the flash will synch with your shutter.

 

[charjohncarter]

It also appears from the picture of the front of the flash that there is an auto setting switch. Read the manual to see if I am right and how to determine the f stop for auto low light flash. This feature can be very convenient.