What is digital preflash and why can't I use

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Big Sky Dave

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Do digital cameras send out some sort of preflash that would prevent using a Nikonos 105 strobe with them? Can you get around that?
 
Not sure, but alot of times the preflash sets off a slave strobe at the wrong time (i.e. before the REAL flash goes off) and the strobe doesn't have enough time to recycle (re-charge).
 
Digital pre-flash is is a flash that the camera uses to gets it's focus before the main flash fires to illuminate the shot. Many digital cameras do not have a hardwired external flash connection so strobes made for these cameras use an optical cable which senses the camera flash and allows the external strobe to fire in synch. If the pre-flash is turned on it will cause these strobes to fire too early. The way around this is to turn off the pre-flash which you can normally do by using a slave strobe setting.
The Nikonos 105 connects directly to the camera and therefore doesn't synch optically. Wether it would be possible to use it with a digital camera you would have to check - you'd need a camera with the correct sockets and circuitry that recognises the Nikonos strobe - i.e. sends signals of the correct type and voltage. I don't know if any such camera exists or not.
 
I'm considering a Canon S5 in a CanonWP-DC40 housing. I already have a new 105 strobe.

Sure appreciate your insights!
 
Kim:
Digital pre-flash is is a flash that the camera uses to gets it's focus before the main flash fires to illuminate the shot.
In consumer/prosumer grade cameras, the ones with a single pre-flash, it is used to calculate the flash exposure. The camera uses the amount of light from the pre-flash reflected from the scene to determine the main flash's brightness.

Big Sky Dave:
Do digital cameras send out some sort of preflash that would prevent using a Nikonos 105 strobe with them? Can you get around that?
Get in touch with Matthias Heinrich (matthias at muenster.de) web: http://www.muenster.de/~matthias/blitz/strobes.htm or Michael Finger (Germany, info at mike-dive.de) web: http://www.mike-dive.de and ask about the Digital Adapter. They should be able to help you out with the SB-105. The Digital Adapter may be able control the SB-105 by mimicking your camera's internal TTL flash.

If you want to do a hack yourself then the SB-105 has a slave sensor and can be triggered optically with a fibre-optical cable. However, the SB-105 has no pre-flash canceling circuit, and will only work with a camera that can fire a flash trigger without a pre-flash, like the Olympus 5050/5060 or even a Canon S50.
Also, this strobe only has full, 1/4 and 1/16 power settings and will require changing strobe positions to fine tune the strobe exposure.
 
Hi Dave, well looks like Reye R has answered your question pretty well. I can't add anything to that. I would go with his suggestion of the adapters rather than buying a new strobe, as the 105 is a great compact strobe with good power and angle.
 

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