13 replies to this topic

[Tony]

I have been attempting to get my Nikon SB-24 to play nicely with my Nikon D3400.  I have, I believe tried everything I could think of, and I tend to believe the speedlight is not compatible with the D3400.  True the Nikon speedlight is Old School, however it has worked well for me for approximately 24 years.  It also works very well with my Pentax k100d Super camera, another Old School piece of equipment.  A thought just occurred to me, perhaps I would be better off to use a connector cable.  Thanks for any help profered

 

Tony

[Merco_61]

If you tell us what you have tried, somebody might have an idea on how to make it work.

[Brian]

The TTL is incompatible- The SB-24 came out with the N8008 generation of film camera.

 

I've used the much older SB-15 with my Df, using the built in sensor of the flash with the camera set to manual.

 

Have you tried that?

[Tony]

The TTL is incompatible- The SB-24 came out with the N8008 generation of film camera.

 

I've used the much older SB-15 with my Df, using the built in sensor of the flash with the camera set to manual.

 

Have you tried that?

Yes, I have tried just about everything.  I want to say that I have not been ignoring this thread, I just recently returned from a trip.  Earlier I left a message on Nikonusa.com' site and awaiting their reply.  This may save me a lot of work in writing down every move I made with the SB-24 on the D3400.  Thanks for understanding.  Will post the reply they send me.

 

Tony

[Tony]

Okay I have gone through the drill once more and the best I could get was either completely blown out or drastically underexposed.  Sometimes I even got half over and half under.  Here is what I found in the User Manual regarding external flash:

 

Dedicated ISO 518 hot-shoe with sync and data contacts and safety lock.

 

I cannot set the flash's ISO to 518 so that may well be the problem.  My guess is the camera does not know the SB-24 is affixed to the hot shoe and that is why all the wild and crazy exposures.  Will keep you posted.

 

Tony

[Merco_61]

ISO 518 is the engineering specifications for the hotshoe. If you set the aperture, ISO and shutter manually to something sensible like f/8, 1/125 and ISO 200, set the flash to Automatic and input your settings for ISO and aperture in the flash, what result do you get?

 

TTL metering won't work as you need iTTL in the flash and that was introduced with the three-digit speedlights.

[Tony]

Well sir, is my face red.  That worked out beautifully.  It also worked out well in Night Landscape, Portrait and Close-up.

 

Once again, many thanks.

 

Tony

[Tony]

ISO 518 is the engineering specifications for the hotshoe. If you set the aperture, ISO and shutter manually to something sensible like f/8, 1/125 and ISO 200, set the flash to Automatic and input your settings for ISO and aperture in the flash, what result do you get?

 

TTL metering won't work as you need iTTL in the flash and that was introduced with the three-digit speedlights.

Hello Peter,

 

I attempted to take a few shots with the settings you recommended.  I did not change any of the settings, either flash or in camera and the shots turned out very overexposed.  I noticed the ISO on the flash was at 100 as opposed to the 200 you recommended.  I had to bump up the ISO on the flash to 1250 in order to get a very good photo.  Now, the only change I did make prior to taking photographs, was to swap out the kit lens for the Nikon 70-300 telephoto lens. None of the in camera settings were changed, only in the flash unit.  It is easy to see why I was experiencing an inordinate amount of frustration earlier.  Any Ideas on this?

 

Thanks,

Tony

Here is the response I received from Nikon in regards to the compatibility of the SB-24 Speedlight for the Nikon D3400 camera.

 

Response from David M.

Hello Mr. Tarquinio.

Thank you for contacting Nikon.

The SB-24 is not in our current lineup of speedlights nor is it part of Nikon's wireless Creative Lighting System. What I can say is that the hotshoe technology hasnt changed so the speedlight will connect and work at least in TTL mode. To get full functionality an external flash I do recommend that you take a look at our current line up of speedlights and see if any will work for you.

[Merco_61]

What zoom setting was the flash head at? What was your distance to the subject? Is the light sensor clean or is there some lint or dust obscuring the sensor? Is the flash mode selector firmly to the left? 

 

It is years since I used an SB-24 so I have forgot most of what I used to know about it, and I mostly used them either in manual or TTL then.

[Tony]

What zoom setting was the flash head at? What was your distance to the subject? Is the light sensor clean or is there some lint or dust obscuring the sensor? Is the flash mode selector firmly to the left? 

 

It is years since I used an SB-24 so I have forgot most of what I used to know about it, and I mostly used them either in manual or TTL then.

Zoom setting is at 85mm, distance to the subject is 116mm.  Yes, the light sensor is clean and the flash mode is firmly in Auto as you instructed.

 

tony.  I will post the photo now.

 

Nikon D3400 with Nikkor AF Zoom 70~300mm 1:4.5~6.3 G ED Lens.  1/125s, f4.8  ISO 1250, CWA Metering, EXP., @ Shutter Priority.

 

thnx.

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[Merco_61]

@ ISO 200, f/4 and 85 mm, the near limit is 7.3 feet if you check the table on p. 69 in the SB-24 manual. @ f/4.8 this is probably around 6 feet. If you were closer to the cat than that, the flash automation couldn't lower the flash output further.

 

As the lens aperture was f/4.8, did you remember to lower the aperture setting in the flash as well? f/4.8 to f/8 is about equal to the difference between Iso 200 and 1250. I am not sure if the body changes the flash setting or not. If it doesn't, shooting in manual rather than any other exposure mode is an even better idea than usual.

[Tony]

@ ISO 200, f/4 and 85 mm, the near limit is 7.3 feet if you check the table on p. 69 in the SB-24 manual. @ f/4.8 this is probably around 6 feet. If you were closer to the cat than that, the flash automation couldn't lower the flash output further.

 

As the lens aperture was f/4.8, did you remember to lower the aperture setting in the flash as well? f/4.8 to f/8 is about equal to the difference between Iso 200 and 1250. I am not sure if the body changes the flash setting or not. If it doesn't, shooting in manual rather than any other exposure mode is an even better idea than usual.

okay, correction due here.  I just checked the strobe and the settings are:  ISO 1250, zoom @35mm, F/8. The distance on the strobe starts at 6.5 feet to 60 feet.  The Rear/Normal setting is on Normal and the selector is firmly on A or Automatic.  Hope this helps.  Why did this thread get moved?

 

Tony

 

Also, in order for the aperture to come down to f/4.8 on the Speedlight, I had to bring the ISO down to 200.  Otherwise, f/16 remains constant at higher ISOs.  Working with it more, it is working beautifully while on AV mode.  Yesterday it worked very well on Shutter Priority.  I will wait until this evening to see what other surprises are in store.   Thank you, sir.  Much appreciated.

[Merco_61]

The EXIF says that your camera was set to f/4.8, ISO 1000, 1/125 and shutter priority. If you change the aperture to 1 2/3 steps wider and increase the sensor sensitivity to 2 1/3 steps higher compared to the settings that worked withthe other lens, it is not surprising that the result is severely overexposed.

 

The thread hasn't been moved. It is in the same wrong place as two days ago when you posted it.

[Tony]

Okay, Flash settings: ISO 6400 maximum.  F/16 and zoom @35mm and still on Automatic.

 

Camera settings:  Programmed minimum shutter speed at 1/125s, f/8 flashing in the viewfinder and Mode on Shutter Priority.  Note;  I went back and used the settings you recommended earlier and when I went to shoot, the camera would hold on to ISO 200, but jumped up and ended up with serious overexposures.  Now with the settings that I have given you, the photos are nearly perfect, just a shade over.  I do know that sometimes the strobe's settings will override the camera's and vice versa, so it isn't consistent.  I believe that I will have to fidget with it with each individual photo until it is right.

So, I believe that the flash is sometimes compatible and sometimes not.  The other option I have is to use the onboard flash which Nikon managed to send out a weaker beam in order to let the battery last longer.  It is supposed to be set to let out just the exact amount of light, however I have tried it several times and adjustments are necessary also.  Well, from here I will not take up anymore of your time.  Thanks again, as always you are very gracious and generous with your time and knowledge.  Happy New Year.

 

Tony