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Rmbrad
Tinkerer
Username: Rmbrad
Post Number: 3
Registered: 06-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 05, 2008 - 04:03 pm: | 
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I don't know if this is the right forum for this, but here goes. I was given an old Nikon F Photomic Tn camera. I am trying to put things together so that I have a flash unit for the camera. I did the ebay thing, and bought a Nikon AS-1 hot shoe adapter. I also bought a Nikon SB=15 flash unit. Neither of these came with owners manuals. I finally got both of them today, and tried to get the flash unit to work. No luck. I am now wondering if these parts are compatible, or if I have a problem with the camera, the hot shoe, the flash unit, or a combination?
Any help in getting this figured out would be greatly appreciated. |
M_currie
Tinkerer
Username: M_currie
Post Number: 131
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 08, 2008 - 08:55 am: |
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I would start at the beginning, and if possible, and test the flash first.
Power up the flash. Does it have a test button, and does it fire when you push it? If so, the next step is to get a piece of wire (insulated, and be careful here) and with flash powered up and not mounted on the camera, use the wire to bridge the hotshoe contacts of the flash. This will usually be between a contact hidden inside the rails of the shoe, and the center contact of the shoe. When you bridge these contacts it should fire the flash. If it does not, you have a flash problem.
If the flash works, the next step is the camera. Ideally, you should get a multimeter. These days, if you're in the US at least, you can get a cheap digital multimeter for very small money, and it's very useful to have around. Start by taking the flash off, setting the meter for resistance (ohms). Now with the flash adapter not mounted, set one probe on the frame of the camera, and the other on the little contact dot at the rear of the flash shoe on the camera. It should read the same as an open circuit, or no contact. Now fire the camera. The meter should briefly show that a circuit has been completed. A digital meter will not show much of a reaction, but you should see some digital confusion at the time of the firing. If this occurs, the camera is all right.
If both camera and flash are good, suspect the shoe adapter. There may be a bad contact within it. If the Camera's hot shoe does not work, you might still be able to fire a flash from the PC connection if you have a flash that can use a cord. That can also be tested with the multimteter.
A Nikon F should be capable of firing any hot shoe flash, including newer dedicated flash units, when used in manual or simple automatic mode. |
Darkprints
Tinkerer
Username: Darkprints
Post Number: 1
Registered: 07-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 12, 2008 - 04:25 pm: |
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If your Nikon F is a black paint model, the paint is preventing proper contact with the AS-1 adapter. To fix, scrape some paint off the beveled area just to the right of the rewind knob, where the AS-1 makes contact. |
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