Problem with SB 28

[Marc Furth]

I’m still pulling my hair out trying to figure out what I’m doing wrong, is my flash or my camera at fault ? I still can’t get a decent exposer from my SB28. It always is under exposed by at least 1 stop sometimes more. I’ve carefully read the manual and set the camera according to it. The only way I get close to the right exposer is to set the flash on auto mode. I’m thinking about buying another flash. What is the best Nikon flash I could buy that might work best ? I also have on order the new Kodak Pro 14n that I’d like the flash to be compatible with.

Marc

[memobug]

If it's that consistent, set your flash compensation to +1 and you should be fine.

The SB-28 and SB-80 should work basically interchangeably.

Regards,

Matt

[Marc Furth]

When I was using my SB 28 with my Nikon 990 I could direct the flash off the ceiling and fill a small room with light and get great results. When I try this with my S2 Pro it seems the flash won’t fire at full capacity. You can hear the difference in the way the flash fires. The flash would make a loud popping noise, much more so with the 990 ?

Marc

[memobug]

As a test, if you cover the lens, it should fire at full power.

Regards,

Matt

[Marc Furth]

Hi Matt,

I covered the lens as you suggested and it did fired at full power. After that I started trying flash compensation, a plus 1 gave me a better exposer. Next I tried adjusting my distance to my subject and F stop and notice that most of my exposers were much better. I believe my problem is the distance scale on the flash which is rated in meters is not accurate. I’ve been under exposing because I’ve been to far away from my subject at to high of a F stop. I stopped using the distance scale and tried moving closer and all my pictures seem much better. I’m still compensating the flash with a Plus 1 for a longer distance from the camera, ( 15 to 20 feet ) but seem ok closer up with out.

Thanks,
Marc

[memobug]

If you have a way (usually a grey card and a light meter) to check your camera's ISO it might be useful. Some users have reported that the ISO rating is under or over.

You'd need to compare the exposure of the grey card under different lighting conditions with the meter reading. Or if you have a flashmeter, maybe you could look at the actual flash output. To see if it is accurate (and the camera is under-rated) or if it is too weak (and the camera is normal)

Regards,

Matt

[Marc Furth]

I have an old Gossen Luna Pro with a flash attachment. I'll dig it out and hopefully it still works, I'll report back.

Thanks,
Marc