Is the Minolta Auto 200x a good flash unit for my Minolta XG-1?

I have a Minolta XG-1 film camera. I will be shooting a friend with it soon--just doing some modeling shots. We will be shooting in the shade during the day. I would like to get some more lighting, though. I doubt that there will be anything creative I can do with my Minolta Auto 200x stuck on my unit. I can't use it wirelessly or anything. I have a nikon sb-600. Will that work on my Minolta? What should I do? Just shoot her in the shade and don't worry about lighting?

You ARE going to need some extra light if the subject is in the shade. Don't forget, a reflector can be your very best friend. You may need an assistant, but if you can position your subject so a reflector can be used out of frame to bounce light back onto them, then that can work wonders. A highly reflective gold surface can even add some very nice warmth to the subject.

A problem you will likely have with using your 200x flash will be sync speed. I'm not positive about this, but I think the max sync speed you can use with that camera is 1/60 shutter speed. Outdoors on a bright day, even in the shade, your shutter speed may be considerably higher than that, especially if you are using a wide aperture and / or exposing for a brighter, sunny background so as not to have it blown out. In such a circumstance, you would need a neutral density filter on the lens so your shutter speed will not exceed 1/60.

As to whether or not the Nikon flash will work on the Minolta is something you will just have to try. You do not have to have film in the camera to just see if the flash will fire when in the hot shoe. I have an old MInolta x700 (that I still use) and some flashes from other manufacturers will work with it and some will not. If you do use the Nikon, you will have to set it fully manually, and unless you have a light meter to read the light and / or a way to know the output of the flash for a given aperture and distance, then you run a real risk of having too much or too little fill light.

I suggest you stay with the Minolta flash or better yet, try to use a large reflector.

You should be able to use your Nikon flash on the Minolta. Flash will be limited to manual mode.
Guide number of the flash will vary depending on the flash zoom factor. If you don't have a manual for the flash have a look here:
http://www.nikonusa.com/...SB-600.pdf

Detailed information on settings, guide numbers etc. Are found from page 31 on.
Basic information on how to change flash modes is found on pages 26 ff.

You can try your flash while the camera is not loaded with film to see if the camera triggers it.

As the previous poster has already said: You can't use shutter speeds faster than 1/60 (1/125, 1/250 ect.) only 1/60 and lower (1/30,).

I have an old XG7 Minolta and a Minolta 200x flash. I need help with reading the ASA settings along with the other dial settings on the back of the 200x. Any help would be appreciated.