[robiles]

Hi, today i had the luck of running into a Nikon sb 25 flash while visiting a friend. He lend me the flash, and i would like to use it with my Pentax k 3. Has anybody here used this combination, or know if it is safe to use them together.

I intend to use them with a Pentax F 50 1.4 and the 35 Macro, shooting mostly family and friends.

Thanks in advance for your help

[UncleVanya]

The SB-24, 25, 26, 28 are all featured on the strobist page. I have not used them but what I read made them sound rational to use - trigger value (4v) good selection of power levels (full stops from 1/1 to 1/64) easy to understand and use controls...

Nikon SB-25 Strobist Review | Speedlights.net

It should work great with the YN-603N trigger or maybe the Cactus V6 or V6ii triggers or just mounted directly on the camera. The v6 pages indicate that manual profiles can be built for this flash - see here: http://www.cactus-image.com/community/discussion/61/flash-models-compatible-for-profiling

[robiles]

Wow, that was fast. I will study everything carefully while the batteries are charging, and give it a try. First i will try it on my old k100d for safety, then bring out the big boys. Apreciate the help

[swanlefitte]

I remember reading those strobist and there are different voltages that are higher that can hurt the camera. I have 2 sb 28s but always use them off camera. Would be good to know if they work on camera since my 360az (?) will optical slave and the sb 28's can't.

[MPrince]

It is perfectly safe to use on your camera in either manual or auto mode.

[BrianR]

I remember reading those strobist and there are different voltages that are higher that can hurt the camera. I have 2 sb 28s but always use them off camera. Would be good to know if they work on camera since my 360az (?) will optical slave and the sb 28's can't.

Yes, the sb-28 is also fine on camera, I've used one for years on a k100d or k5iis (usually fired by wireless triggers, but it makes on-camera appearances now and then). Manual or auto-thyristor modes as mentioned. The Stroboscopic mode also works. The sb-28 is noticeably smaller than the earlier sb-24/25/26, but all are built to last and available at reasonable prices. The SB-24 usually the cheapest and also least desirable, it only goes down to 1/16 power in full stops, but it's a workhorse. The sb-26 has a built in optical slave so is usually a bit more money.

[robiles]

Yes, the sb-28 is also fine on camera, I've used one for years on a k100d or k5iis (usually fired by wireless triggers, but it makes on-camera appearances now and then). Manual or auto-thyristor modes as mentioned. The Stroboscopic mode also works. The sb-28 is noticeably smaller than the earlier sb-24/25/26, but all are built to last and available at reasonable prices. The SB-24 usually the cheapest and also least desirable, it only goes down to 1/16 power in full stops, but it's a workhorse. The sb-26 has a built in optical slave so is usually a bit more money.

I do not know what a built in optical slave is, nor how to use it. I already tried it on my k100 and k3, and seems to work just fine. Looking forward to an ocasion to test it more thoroughly.

Thank you all for your help

[MPrince]

A flash with an optical slave will fire when it "sees" another flash fire. It doesn't need to be on camera, attached to the camera with a sync cable, or triggered by a radio transmitter.

[Theov39]

That is a great flash to use on a digital Pentax body. I have a stack of Nikon flashes left over from my Nikon days and have used them all of them that have AUTO mode with great success on my K-50 and K-7. I actually find them BETTER then the Pentax flashes in P-TTL. The exposure is much more consistent and even.

The best ones on Pentax bodies I think are the SB24, 25, 26, 28 (back then Nikon's top of the range flashes equivalent to the Pentax AF540FGZ) and the earlier SB-20 (smaller and cheaper) but a great everyday compact alternative for the Pentax K3ii that has no no built-in flash would be the Nikon SB-30.



These all have an AUTO setting that unfortunately was removed from the later Nikon flashes. You can use MANUAL of course but using them in that mode becomes more complex.

The setting I generally use is to set the camera in manual mode on 125-160 shutter speed and the aperture on f4 or f5.6, then set in the flash on AUTO mode and match the camera aperture setting on the flash and shoot away.

One thing I miss from my Nikon days is their flash system. It is vastly superior to Pentax flash system in every way.