D70 external Speedlight problem

[Redfield]

Hi all. First post here

I'm VERY new to DSLR cameras or any SLR cameras for that matter, so I apologise beforehand if I sound noobish with my questions

Anyway, I have a D70 and a Vivitar 729AFNi Speedlight. My problem is, when i try to attach the flash to my camera, I can't take any pictures. It gives me an error which is represented by a Flashing Flash symbol.

I've referred to the back of the manual in the troubleshooting section, and it says the problem is the speedlight doesn't support i-TTL flash control attached and set to TTL. The solution being :- Change flash mode on optional speedlight.

Problem is, my speedlight doesn't seem to have any manual controls. Just an on/off swith and a test fire button. That's it.

Could someone please help me out? Thanks

[Glen]

Welcome Redfield. I am no flash expert, but to get it to work I would go to the menu, then to Custom Settings Menu 19 (called flash made from memory) and change from ttl to manual. This should probably be a starting point but should get your flash to fire. Good luck

[Redfield]

Thanks for the suggeestion Glen, but I probably should of mentioned I have already played around with the flash settings in the menu. I've tried changing it to manual and also Commander mode, but it still doesn't seem to work.

The only way i can get it to work is to fire off a test flash on the speedlight then I can proceed to take picture with the flash, but that only lasts for like 2-3 seconds, then it reverts back to the flashing flash symbol.

[gstark]

Hi Redfield, and welcome.

Please include your location in your profile; it helps us to help you more than you can begin to imagine.

What settings are you using on your camera? If you're using the default PHD settings, it's unlikely that the external strobe will work.

What happens if you switch your camera to manual, 1/250, f/5.6, and use continuous focus mode?

[gstark]

One other thing - how old is the flash, and is its shoe setup to talk to Nikon cameras?

[Redfield]

Hi gstark.

PHD settings? I've changed a few settings in the menu including sharpness e.t.c and I've also tried the different flash settings in the menu but it's doesn't seem to want to fire.

The flash is about 4 months old (I've only just recenlty got my hands on it), and the shoe seems to fit the Nikon fine. I haven't been able to fine much info about this speedlight on google and such.

With camera set to maual, 1/250, f/5.6, and use continuous focus mode, it's still the same. I.e it doesn't flash until I manualy fire off a test flash on the speedlight. And it still gives me the flashing error

[birddog114]

some old or odd flash won't work with the Nikon D70 in M or A or P or S mode, cos the flashshoe on DSLR is difference in voltage and setup, sometime it burns the onboard flash.
Make sure to get the one support it, otherwise use the onboard flash instead of.

[gstark]

Hi gstark.

PHD settings?

Yep: Push Here, Dummy.

Just to make sure that we're all on the same page ... use the dial to the left of the viewfinder and on the top of the camera, and set it to M.

That's manual exposure, as distinct from manual focusing (I wasn't as clear as I might have been earlier)

I wouldn't expect a third party flash to work in PHD mode.

The flash is about 4 months old (I've only just recenlty got my hands on it), and the shoe seems to fit the Nikon fine.

Fitting of the shoe is only a part of the story. In the good ole days of filum photography, there were only two contacts on a hotshoe.

If you look at the D70, you'll see about ... 5 ??? My camar's hiding at the moment ...

Look at the bottom of your strobe's shoe - how many contacts does it have, and how do they look like they might align with the ones on the camera?

If it looks as if there will be good alignment on more than just the primary and ground connectors, but the strobe wasn't made for a Nikon, then you'd need to exercise a great deal of caution, because those extra contacts might not be carrying the sort of voltages and signals that the Nikon is expecting to see.

That would certainly explain the behaviour that you're seeing ...

As to documentation for the flash ... do you have a manual for it? If not, is there perhaps one you can download from the manufacturer's website?