Join Now
Join ePHOTOzine, the friendliest photography community.
Upload photos, chat with photographers, win prizes and much more for free!
I have an SB24 Nikon speedlight which sits on my F4. The flash head zooms when i zoom my lens. How do I use this flash with longer fixed prime AIS lenses like my 135 f 2.8
For instance to light head and shoulders portraits.
You can manually zoom the flash to cover an 85mm lens. If you want more than this, you could get a SC-17 sync-cord to allow the flash to be positioned off-camera (closer to the subject).
I'm just looking to put a perhaps a burst of fill flash onto face
The zoom setting is only really needed to gain extra distance-flash ability. Fill-in flash shouldn't affect the overall image much, no-matter what zoom setting (on the flash) is used (some light will get bounced around, but this should be minimal).
On my Canon I use a Speedlite 420EX. On the back is has LED's that show the zoom, up to 105mm (I assume that's on a full frame sensor). I use it for longer lens work as well though. For example this shot was at 155mm on a 1.6 crop sensor. Also, the exposure compensation on the camera was dorwn 1 stop and the flash exposure comp was down 1.6 stops.
I'm pretty sure it should be suitable for fill flash on much longer lenses, and as such I'm guessing that your setup will be suitable for much longer lenses than it may suggest. You'll just be wasting a lot of light by illuminating space outside of the frame.
As above. With Canon, the flash resonds to the focal length of primes just the same as it does with zooms. Stick a lens on which is "bigger" than the flash zoom range and it just stops at the max.
If that's not enough, I have a "better beamer" beastie which is essentially an elastic-band mounted fresnel lens which focuses the flash in. Good for wildlife fill-flash at longer tele lengths.
Try setting flash to TTL, you should then see the lens focal length and aperture on the LCD screen on the back of the flash.
Should just work from there, if you're bouncing it off the ceiling pull up the little white reflector on the flash to give a catchlight.
Try this link for stacks of info:
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonf4/flash/index.htm
How About the Kirk Enterprises Flash X-Tender available from Warehouse Express or
the Lepp Project-A-Flash available from Speedgraphic
Add a Comment
ePHOTOzine, the web's friendliest photography community.
Upload photos, chat with photographers, win prizes and much more.
Login or Join Now
New to ePHOTOzine? Join ePHOTOzine for free!
Related Content
Join Our Free Newsletter
Awards
Current Competitions
foliopic 'Movement' Competition
1st May 2012 - 31st May 2012
This month's competition theme is 'Movement' which can be interpreted in a number of ways. You could photograph an animal running, a person walking or a car speeding...
Featured Directory Listing
May's Photo Month
Check out ePHOTOzine's inspirational photo month calendar! Each day click on a window to unveil new photography tips, treats and techniques.
Interact
Photography Gallery Photography Forums Recent Forum Activity Members' Meetings Members' BlogsSearch ePHOTOzine
Having trouble or would like to make a suggestion? Create a report
Calibrate your monitor so you can see 16 different shades.
ePHOTOzine © 2001 - 2012 Magezine Publishing | Contact Us | Site Map | Top