New camera / old flash

Aloha,

I just purchased a Nikon D5000 and am still working on taking a decent photo. I have a Nikon Speedlight SB-16 from days gone by that I would like to get some more use out of. Is there a way to hook up my old flash to my new camera?
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Aloha, Glen

Aloha Glen said:

Aloha,

I just purchased a Nikon D5000 and am still working on taking a
decent photo. I have a Nikon Speedlight SB-16 from days gone by that
I would like to get some more use out of. Is there a way to hook up
my old flash to my new camera?
--
Aloha, Glen

Click to expand...

--
Aloha, Glen

Aloha Glen said:

Aloha,

I just purchased a Nikon D5000 and am still working on taking a
decent photo. I have a Nikon Speedlight SB-16 from days gone by that
I would like to get some more use out of. Is there a way to hook up
my old flash to my new camera?
--

Click to expand...

Yes, but it won't quite work right. I also have an SB-16. It's designed for TTL flash, where the camera set the flash exposure by measuring light reflected off the film. Digital don't do that, so the new Nikon flashes set exposure off a preflash.

I just stuck the SB-16 on my D300 and it works fine in the A1/A2 modes where it measures the light with its own sensor. But it's a lot of work to set everything on the camera and the flash to be in agreement; I bought an SB-600 for my digital Nikon.

--
Leonard Migliore

--
An excellent lens lasts a lifetime, an excellent DSLR, not so long.

I am not familiar with this particular flashgun but I use a SB28 on my D90; though there's no TTL exposure the flash itself can be used to get the exposure right with the camera in manual metering mode.

Lizzie

Glen,

Does your SB-16 have the hot shoe mount or the F3 mount that went over the rewind lever?

If you have the F3 version the only real way to use the flash is with a slave (a sync cord would work if the D5000 can use one(?).

If you use the slave, you will need to turn off the pre-flash on the camera (if that’s possible on a D5000).

You might be able to find the hot shoe bottom for the flash used somewhere but the last time I looked they cost more than the used SB-16 with the F3 bottom.

These were/are wonderful flash units. I wish there was something comparable today that didn’t cost a fortune.

Mine won’t run off rechargeable AAs. I’ve been thinking about trying to put together a power adaptor so I could try using an external power pack and making the flash into a mini mono light.

Regards,
Jeff

Hi

Be careful as the trigger voltage in old flash guns can fry the innards of modern cameras. Try Google for facts (now and then).

Regards, David

Older Nikon speedlights are generally safe to use with modern Nikon DSLRs. There's info on compatability at

http://nikonasia-en.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/nikonasia_en.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=zOinWFXh&p_lva=507&p_faqid=1026&p_created=1098298590&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9ncmlkc29ydD0mcF9yb3dfY250PTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1zYiA2MDAmcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT03JnBfcHJvZF9sdmwxPTk3JnBfcHJvZF9sdmwyPTk5JnBfY2F0X2x2bDE9fmFueX4mcF9zb3J0X2J5PWRmbHQmcF9wYWdlPTE*&p_li=

On the web page above there's a list of Nikon's speedlights; just click on the one you need to check out.

Lizzie

David Hughes said:

Hi

Be careful as the trigger voltage in old flash guns can fry the
innards of modern cameras. Try Google for facts (now and then).

Click to expand...

That's true. Then there's also direct measurement. Before I stuck my SB-16 on my D300 I put a DVM on the contacts and it read 4.38V, so I kept going.

--
Leonard Migliore

Aloha,

Mahalo (thanks) to everyone who replied. What a wonderful source of information. This was my first time in this Forum and I'm blown away by your helpfulness.

It sounds like hooking up the SB-16 to my D5000 is possible, but problematic and expense with limited results. Does anyone want to buy a SB16? I think I'll save my $$ for a while and buy a new flash. Any suggestions on the best bang for the buck?
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Aloha, Glen

I have been interested in this post and the replies.

I also have a D5000 and a D40X.

Has anyone used the Vivitar DF-383 for Nikon? I too have been wanting a flash that is more in line with my wallet and have researched this Vivitar flash. Many moons ago Vivitar used to make a good product for film, but what about in the digital world? Anyone have suggestions?

Thank you in advance for your help.
Kay

khez said:

I have been interested in this post and the replies.

I also have a D5000 and a D40X.

Has anyone used the Vivitar DF-383 for Nikon? I too have been
wanting a flash that is more in line with my wallet and have
researched this Vivitar flash. Many moons ago Vivitar used to make a
good product for film, but what about in the digital world? Anyone
have suggestions?

Thank you in advance for your help.
Kay

Click to expand...

Hi Kay

In the D40-60/5000 forum a poster asked about a Sunpak flash gun and one suggestion was that they look at the Sunpak PZ42X. It's a lot cheaper than the Nikon SB600 and SB900.

ATM the SB400 and SB28 are all I have needed. The older vivitar flash guns are popular on the second market but you would need to check out whether they were safe to mount on your DSLR's hot shoe without a voltage adaptor.

Lizzie

Liaaie,

I'm new to this. How do I check to see if it will work without a voltage adapter? the one I am looking at is specifically for Nikon and the D-40,60, 90 TTI series. thanks for your help.
Kay

Glen,

I have recently used my 25 years old SB-16 with my D700 for a friend's formal party and the combo worked fine.

I used the SB-16 in Auto mode and the D700 in Aperture Priority mode. The camera detected the flash and set shutter speed to 1/60. At ISO 200 the SB-16 calls for f/5.6 and that was my datum point. I adjusted aperture slightly depending on situations.

As you know the SB-16 has a main and secondary flash heads. The secondary flash head acts as a catch light for the eyes but of course it creates a harsher shadow. I wish there were an on/off switch and clip-on ND filter for the 2nd flash head like on some old Metz potato mashers.

No surprise I much preferred the SB800 (on loan to my niece along with my D50 to explore photography.) The SB800 yields more accurate exposure and does it faster (feels like it as I didn't measure them) even without the 5th battery.

My advice is, since you already have the SB-16, use it by all means. But know that with a SB800 (or SB900 now,) there is a new level of speed, accuracy and creativity waiting for you.

Kevin --