question for you photo experts (about flashes)

[daniel]

so i just bought my nikon d60 and now have a big lens that gets in the way of the pop-up flash. i also have my dad's nikon F3 and his kalimar "175A automatic" hotshoe flash. I put it on my d60 and the flash works perfectly fine, but the camera doesn't seem to know its there (when deciding shutter speed and what not).

i havent been able to find a straight answer online by googling, but i am under the impression that there is either a setting in the camera that i need to change so it recognizes the flash, or there is some cable i need to buy to plug in the brain of the flash into the camera. i am thinking it is also possible they are just not compatible, because the flash is so much older than the camera.

can someone shed some light (hahahahaha) on this issue for me, please?

thanks

[32.5i]

so it works fine but it doesn't recognize it? Im confused..

does it go off when its supposed to?

[e30 gangsta]

I believe only the d80 can control on camera flashes in auto through ttl. I think.

[Trucidatio]

The camera just isnt recognizing the flash, as far as I know they are very specific for each camera. Take a look at the pins that are on the flash, and the ones on the camera. They need to match.

[daniel]

sorry i wasn't more specific.

the flash works and goes off at the proper time, but the camera does not recognize that there is a flash in the hotshoe, so it does not adjust the shutter speed accordingly, leading to very bright, overexposed pictures. so what i am trying to do is make it so the camera adjusts the shutter speed as it would with the other flash.

[CreagerPhotography]

You need to get a Nikon SB-600, they run about $220.00 just depends on where you buy it.

[daniel]

You need to get a Nikon SB-600, they run about $220.00 just depends on where you buy it.

holy jeebus. i think i will just use the flash on manual mode, then.

[CreagerPhotography]

Welcome to the world expensive camera equipment!
You might find one for sale for less then $200 through E-bay or CL.

[steinbachphoto]

okay it doesn't work because you need a flash that has the Nikon e-ttl metering in it. which is the through the lens metering. Thats when the camera will communicate with the flash to set the proper flash output. But unless the 3rd party flash was made for nikon, you won't get the ttl metering. Oh, also check out the voltage of the flash, if it's more than what your camera can handle you may fry it.

[daniel]

Welcome to the world expensive camera equipment!
You might find one for sale for less then $200 through E-bay or CL.

heh, yeah i just bought a lens that cost more than the body. not that that is difficult, but it is a little hard to swallow as a newcomer to "real" cameras.

okay it doesn't work because you need a flash that has the Nikon e-ttl metering in it. which is the through the lens metering. Thats when the camera will communicate with the flash to set the proper flash output. But unless the 3rd party flash was made for nikon, you won't get the ttl metering. Oh, also check out the voltage of the flash, if it's more than what your camera can handle you may fry it.

ok this makes sense. the flash was previously used on a nikon f3, so it must be designed for some kind of nikon. i will stop using it though until i find the cable for the flash to see if that makes a difference.


thanks again to everyone for all the suggestions!