Nikon SB-28 with F4

[jimi]

Will a SB-28 work well with my Nikon F4s? Can I use all of its

bells and whistles? Rear curtain sync, and slow shutter sync are my

main concerns

[ellis_vener_photography]

As I recall the rear curtain sync and slow curtain sync are camera body controlled on the SB-28.

[angel_o.]

Hi,<br><br>

I just checked my SB-28 manual and the F4's "bells and whistles" should work with it. <br><br>

Since I don't own an F4, it might be better that you check yourself the manual: <A

href="http://www.nikon-euro.com/nikoneuro2/download/download_manuals100.htm#Speedlights">here is the link to the manual</A>.<br><br>

Hope this helps.

[craig_bridge]

Yes.

[vgoklani]

NO!, You will need to use either an SB-24, 25, or 26 to make use of Rear Curtain Sync, Slow Shutter Sync, etc. Reason being, these features are built into the body on most newer cameras.

[berg_na]

No. Rear curtain sync is not supported in the SB-28. You'll need a SB-26 if you need rear curtain sync with the F4.

[ed_alban]

A copy of a post I made in a previous thread here about rear-sync flash:

 

The SB-24/25/26 series of Speedlights are said to be "rear-sync-smart". They have their own switch that you can slide to rear-sync mode. When mounted on a rear-sync-enabled Nikon camera, such as an F4, the camera would know that the flash trigger signal must be given at the end of exposure (rear-curtain). Although the F4 can do rear-sync, it requires a "smart" Speedlight to tell it when to fire on rear. Note: with the F4 in Aperture-Priority or Program modes, the rear-sync switch on the flash also activates slow-sync.

 

OTOH, the SB-28/80/DX/non-DX series are what you can call "rear-sync-dumb" units. They have no switch of their own, but given the signal from a "smart" camera like the F5, they can fire on rear-sync.

 

This means an F4 paired with an SB-28 cannot do rear-sync since both are "rear-sync-dumb". They both need to be told to fire on rear curtain but (big BUT) they have no such control to tell EACH OTHER. However, an F5 paired with an SB-24 can do rear-sync. Both have built-in controls but the SB-24's control takes precedence while the F5's rear-sync mode is ignored, i.e. you need to slide the SB-24 to rear-sync to make it work, while simply setting the F5 to rear does nothing. Some compatibility issues there, no doubt.

 

It was apparent with the advent of F90/N90 (the camera after the F4) that Nikon's trend was to move the rear-sync control from the flash to the camera. When the SB-25 and SB-26 came out, they still sported rear-sync slider switches, a fact that is testament to Nikon's support of backward compatibility. That's because at the time these two Speedlights came out, the F4 was still the flagship camera, and it made sense for Nikon to do this. However, the F5 replaced the F4 as the flagship and just like the F/N90, the F5 also had a built-in rear-sync control on its body. I believe at this point, Nikon felt no need to create the rear-sync control on new Speedlights that came out after the F5 (SB-28 and later).