Nikon SB 28-DX on M6 TTL?

[ralph_barker]

Does anyone know if the TTL circuitry on the Nikon SB 28-DX flash is compatible with the M6 TTL?

[john_collier5]

Absolutely not! One Leica-User tried it and reported the flash got

hot and the camera's batteries quickly drained.

[stefan www.randlkofer.co]

but i have seen a photographer who used a nikon spiral cable with his

handheld sf20 on a leica m6ttl. he claimed that this was a current

nikon cable and to have full ttl. is that true?

[steve_wiley]

The chord is the SC-17. I did a very unscientific test on color

neg with the SC-17 and the SF-20, and it appears that the flash

exposure is non-linear as compared to on camera TTL flash

exposures.

[ralph_barker]

Steve - Could you explain further, please? The SC-17 is essentially

just a four-conductor extension cord, the pins of which appear to

align with the contacts on the camera hot shoe and the SF20, and there

is no measured resistance between the pins on the cord indicating

other electronics in the hot-shoe blocks. Thus, I'm curious about why

it apparently didn't work as expected.

[stefan www.randlkofer.co]

what is a non-linear flash exposure?

 

<p>

 

if you could be able to use the sf20 off the camera with full ttl

control, you would probably pretty soon run out of flash power, as

the light fall-off due to the angle between the lens and the flash

would be rather big.

[john_collier5]

Leica, Nikon, Contax and Pentax all use similar hot shoe contact

locations. The contacts DO NOT have similar functions and the

flashes ARE NOT compatibile on other systems. However you

can use the cords to connnect a TTL flash to a Leica camera.

There is no "circuitry" in the cords. I have used the Nikon SC-17

TTL cord and the Contax 100 TLA cord. They both work well and

maintain full TTL flash function. I presently use the Pentax cord

and adapters as it allows me to mount a finder on top of the

camera adapter. This is very useful with my 21.

[ralph_barker]

Stefan - I'm not following your logic in your comment, ". . . you

would probably pretty soon run out of flash power, as the light

fall-off due to the angle between the lens and the flash would be

rather big. "

 

<p>

 

With the flash off the camera, the flash-to-subject distance is not

necessarily changed - simply the angle, usually giving better lighting

and shadow placement. And, except in the case of a fully polarized

person ( ;-) ), the returning light is going to be reflected at all

angles. Thus, the amount of light available from the flash, the

exposure wouldn't change (unless the flash-to-subject distance was

actually increased through the use of the cord).

[stefan www.randlkofer.co]

ralph, what i meant was that if you mount the sf20 on the camera, a

guidenumber of 20 is sufficient enough for most purposes. but if you

use that flash to illuminate an object from the side or even bounce

the light against a surface like the ceiling, the reach of that flash

will be very limited.