Just got a Nikon D50 SLR kit.

I think about 5 years old but is as new and I do appreciate it will be a
basic early model, way back in the days of real film I used an Olympus SLR
and most accessories, but since advent of digital have used compact digital
cameras but came upon this Nikon D50 so giving it a go.
Going through my cupboard to see what I had by way of anything I could use
with it, eg. filter, lens hoods etc. I came across a Nikon Speedlight SB-E
flash unit no idea how I come to have it, but can I use it and how with this
D50 digital?
Of course I have Googled the question and a couple of results say yes, a
good step forward.
Anyone here, I hope this is the right NG by the way, use this Old flash unit
in a digital SLR?
Hints as to how to use it appreciated, and is it automatic, and do I use the
setting FE/FM or EM on the unit?
I assume I just use camera on Auto and the pop-up flash is by passed.


Going back to the old Olympus stuff the flash there is a Olmpus T32 which
says Auto by OM-2 on it, is this of use or dedicated to Olympus cameras?

In with the Olympus stuff there are filters on the lens of the Skylight/UV
type I recall we were encouraged to fit them with film and a second use was
to protect the lens from damage, is it a good idea to use with digital
today?

Thanks for help
David

On 2011-07-25 07:07:21 -0400, David said:

I think about 5 years old but is as new and I do appreciate it will be
a basic early model, way back in the days of real film I used an
Olympus SLR and most accessories, but since advent of digital have used
compact digital cameras but came upon this Nikon D50 so giving it a go.
Going through my cupboard to see what I had by way of anything I could
use with it, eg. filter, lens hoods etc. I came across a Nikon
Speedlight SB-E flash unit no idea how I come to have it, but can I use
it and how with this D50 digital?
Of course I have Googled the question and a couple of results say yes,
a good step forward.
Anyone here, I hope this is the right NG by the way, use this Old flash
unit in a digital SLR?
Hints as to how to use it appreciated, and is it automatic, and do I
use the setting FE/FM or EM on the unit?
I assume I just use camera on Auto and the pop-up flash is by passed.


Going back to the old Olympus stuff the flash there is a Olmpus T32
which says Auto by OM-2 on it, is this of use or dedicated to Olympus
cameras?

In with the Olympus stuff there are filters on the lens of the
Skylight/UV type I recall we were encouraged to fit them with film and
a second use was to protect the lens from damage, is it a good idea to
use with digital today?

Thanks for help
David

The T32 works with the OM series. I doubt it will work with the Nikon
DSLR. I have a D5000 and bought a speedlight 600 for it. If the flash
will mount and fire, try it out. One of the advantages of Digital is
that you can try things and see if they work without 1) costing you
film and 2) waiting to see how it went. I would doubt that it will work
in many integrated modes, but it might work somewhat. Does the D50 have
a popup flash? If so, that can get you by in a pinch. I use mine more
than I should when I'm too lazy to mount the speedlight or forgot to
bring it along.
--
Michael

On 7/25/2011 7:07 AM, David wrote:
I think about 5 years old but is as new and I do appreciate it will be a
basic early model, way back in the days of real film I used an Olympus
SLR and most accessories, but since advent of digital have used compact
digital cameras but came upon this Nikon D50 so giving it a go.

Congratulations!

Going through my cupboard to see what I had by way of anything I could
use with it, eg. filter, lens hoods etc. I came across a Nikon
Speedlight SB-E flash unit no idea how I come to have it, but can I use
it and how with this D50 digital?

I believe you can use it in manual or non-TTL auto modes, although the
D50 manual does not list any non-TTL speedlights. I'm pretty sure the
same is true of your Olympus T32 flash, although (not surprisingly)
Nikon does not recommend the use of non-Nikon electronic flashes with
any of their cameras.

Hints as to how to use it appreciated, and is it automatic, and do I use
the setting FE/FM or EM on the unit?
I assume I just use camera on Auto and the pop-up flash is by passed.

Leave the pop-up flash down, set the flash to manual or non-TTL
Auto, attach the flash, turn on the flash and the camera, make sure
your shutter speed is 1/250th of a second or slower, and shoot.

In with the Olympus stuff there are filters on the lens of the
Skylight/UV type I recall we were encouraged to fit them with film and a
second use was to protect the lens from damage, is it a good idea to use
with digital today?

Believe it or no, you're asking a question that's controversial beyond
any reason. Remember, I'm just a random internet poster; others will
disagree with most of this.

The slight warming effect of a Skylight filter is pretty much a waste
on a dSLR. You're typically better off either using the white balance
features of your camera or correcting the color with digital post-
processing.

Your D50 is relatively insensitive to UV light, and modern lens coatings
and element cements also block UV. As a result, UV filtration is rarely
required for dSLR's, and hasn't been necessary for most film users for
over 20 years. Any true UV filter blocks a small amount of visible
light in the violet range as well.

Any filter, no matter how good, will cause some light losses to
reflection and increase the likelihood of flare. How bad these effects
are depends mainly on coating technology. The typical consumer-grade
filter sold in the film era had no coatings at all and could easily
cost you 10% of your incoming light. A modern multicoated filter takes
that figure down to 1-2% and is less likely to cause flare. Naturally,
multicoated filters are more expensive than lesser filters.

But what does a protective filter actually protect you against? Well,
it stops almost all dust from reaching your front element, but a dusty
front element is fairly easy to clean and it does nothing to prevent
dust from entering the interior of the lens in various ways. It also
prevents the front element from collecting fingerprints, salt spray or
airborne grease during a shoot.

The filter will also absorb _some_ energy from a trauma such as a drop
or a projectile, typically breaking in the process. But it takes a
lot less energy to break a filter than to dent a filter ring or
crack a front lens element, so it's not correct to claim that a
broken filter equates to a saved lens.

Personally, I don't believe that a filter offers a lot of trauma
protection. What I do believe it can do, however, is protect against
_cosmetic_ damage to the front element. A small "ding" or mark in
the coatings typically only has a trivial impact on optical performance,
but a large impact on resale value. Even worse, insurance companies (at
least in the U.S.) consider such minor flaws uncovered "normal wear and
tear."

So in the end, it's your gear, your money and your choice. My own
choice is to use protective filters only under adverse environmental
conditions. But if you elect to use a full-time protective filter,
I recommend buying a multicoated clear protector such as the Hoya Pro1
Digital Protector, Nikon NC, B+W #007 MRC, or Marumi DHG protector.

--
Mike Benveniste -- (Clarification Required)
Its name is Public opinion. It is held in reverence. It settles
everything. Some think it is the voice of God. -- Mark Twain

David wrote:
I think about 5 years old but is as new and I do appreciate it will
be a basic early model, way back in the days of real film I used an
Olympus SLR and most accessories, but since advent of digital have
used compact digital cameras but came upon this Nikon D50 so giving
it a go. Going through my cupboard to see what I had by way of anything I
could use with it, eg. filter, lens hoods etc. I came across a Nikon
Speedlight SB-E flash unit no idea how I come to have it, but can I
use it and how with this D50 digital?
Of course I have Googled the question and a couple of results say
yes, a good step forward.
Anyone here, I hope this is the right NG by the way, use this Old
flash unit in a digital SLR?

If it's a *very* old flash unit it might be a good idea to check the voltage
of the triggering circuit before using it. Some popular old flash units like
the Vivitar 283 have been called "camera killers" because of high voltage
across the terminals. You could check this with an ordinary multimeter.
Nikon warns against using flash units with more than 250 V across the
triggering circuit in their digital SLRs. Any newer flash should be OK
(including Vivitar 283s made over the last decade or so), but I'd be
suspicious of any really old unit.

Hints as to how to use it appreciated, and is it automatic, and do I
use the setting FE/FM or EM on the unit?
I assume I just use camera on Auto and the pop-up flash is by passed.


Going back to the old Olympus stuff the flash there is a Olmpus T32
which says Auto by OM-2 on it, is this of use or dedicated to Olympus
cameras?

How many contacts in the flash shoe? If there's only the central contact
plus the metal edges on the sides, then it is almost certainly a
non-dedicated unit. If there are extra contacts then it probably is
dedicated to that particular make of camera in some way. It would likely
fire anyway on your D50, since the central and side contacts are all that's
needed to complete the circuit, but would not be exchanging information with
the camera body so there's no telling what the results would be.

Even with older *Nikon* flash units that do have the extra contacts it might
or might not work properly, since Nikon changed the flash scheme to their
Creative Lighting System when the D70 came out in 2002. (That preceded your
D50, which is basically a lower-priced version of the D70.) You can't tell
by looking at the contacts, either, because Nikon kept exactly the same
arrangement of contacts with their new CLS flash units -- but Nikon units
prior to the SB-800 and SB-600 probably will not work on your D50 except in
manual mode.

If I were you I'd forget about the older flash units you have, and look for
something you're sure will work properly with Nikon CLS. There must be loads
of such flash units (including other makes than Nikon) selling on eBay, but
be sure to do the research before you buy anything. You definitely want
something that will support CLS, in any external flash you buy.


In with the Olympus stuff there are filters on the lens of the
Skylight/UV type I recall we were encouraged to fit them with film
and a second use was to protect the lens from damage, is it a good
idea to use with digital today?

First, a Skylight or UV filter will do nothing useful for your D50 as far as
UV or other filtration is concerned, since all the filtration that's needed
is already built into the camera. As to using "a filter to protect the
lens," the line that camera-store salesman traditionally used to sell a
high-markup item like a filter, some photographers favor doing that and
others do not. Personally I have never used a filter "to protect the lens"
in 60 years of photography, and have never had a lens damaged as a result. I
use a filter when I actually need it to filter the light in some way, which
is very rarely nowadays since almost all of that can easily be done in
software. Putting a filter you don't need on the front of a lens just adds
two more glass/air surfaces to collect dust, and may add internal
reflections you don't want. So I never do that. But others do, and insist it
safeguards their equipment.

"Neil Harrington" wrote in message
...
David wrote:
I think about 5 years old but is as new and I do appreciate it will
be a basic early model, way back in the days of real film I used an
Olympus SLR and most accessories, but since advent of digital have
used compact digital cameras but came upon this Nikon D50 so giving
it a go. Going through my cupboard to see what I had by way of anything I
could use with it, eg. filter, lens hoods etc. I came across a Nikon
Speedlight SB-E flash unit no idea how I come to have it, but can I
use it and how with this D50 digital?
Of course I have Googled the question and a couple of results say
yes, a good step forward.
Anyone here, I hope this is the right NG by the way, use this Old
flash unit in a digital SLR?

If it's a *very* old flash unit it might be a good idea to check the
voltage of the triggering circuit before using it. Some popular old flash
units like the Vivitar 283 have been called "camera killers" because of
high voltage across the terminals. You could check this with an ordinary
multimeter. Nikon warns against using flash units with more than 250 V
across the triggering circuit in their digital SLRs. Any newer flash
should be OK (including Vivitar 283s made over the last decade or so), but
I'd be suspicious of any really old unit.

Hints as to how to use it appreciated, and is it automatic, and do I
use the setting FE/FM or EM on the unit?
I assume I just use camera on Auto and the pop-up flash is by passed.


Going back to the old Olympus stuff the flash there is a Olmpus T32
which says Auto by OM-2 on it, is this of use or dedicated to Olympus
cameras?

How many contacts in the flash shoe? If there's only the central contact
plus the metal edges on the sides, then it is almost certainly a
non-dedicated unit. If there are extra contacts then it probably is
dedicated to that particular make of camera in some way. It would likely
fire anyway on your D50, since the central and side contacts are all
that's needed to complete the circuit, but would not be exchanging
information with the camera body so there's no telling what the results
would be.

Even with older *Nikon* flash units that do have the extra contacts it
might or might not work properly, since Nikon changed the flash scheme to
their Creative Lighting System when the D70 came out in 2002. (That
preceded your D50, which is basically a lower-priced version of the D70.)
You can't tell by looking at the contacts, either, because Nikon kept
exactly the same arrangement of contacts with their new CLS flash units --
but Nikon units prior to the SB-800 and SB-600 probably will not work on
your D50 except in manual mode.


There are 3 contacts on the SB-E flash hot shoe same as the camera, from the
units manual.

Taking what I think is your center as at 12 oclock that is - hot-shoe
contact
At 9 oclock is Nikon EM electrical contact
At 3 oclock is Ready light contact

The D50 manual says.
Use SB-series Speedlights.
Including SB-800, 600, 80DX, 28DX, 28, 27, 23, 225 and 295.

Regards
David

But what does a protective filter actually protect you against? Well,
it stops almost all dust from reaching your front element, but a dusty
front element is fairly easy to clean and it does nothing to prevent
dust from entering the interior of the lens in various ways. It also
prevents the front element from collecting fingerprints, salt spray or
airborne grease during a shoot.

The filter will also absorb _some_ energy from a trauma such as a drop
or a projectile, typically breaking in the process. But it takes a
lot less energy to break a filter than to dent a filter ring or
crack a front lens element, so it's not correct to claim that a
broken filter equates to a saved lens.

Personally, I don't believe that a filter offers a lot of trauma
protection. What I do believe it can do, however, is protect against
_cosmetic_ damage to the front element. A small "ding" or mark in
the coatings typically only has a trivial impact on optical performance,
but a large impact on resale value. Even worse, insurance companies (at
least in the U.S.) consider such minor flaws uncovered "normal wear and
tear."


I like to use a lens hood to protect the front element of the lens - it also
reduces the chance of flare and may well increase contast.

John

On 7/25/2011 3:04 PM, eatmorepies wrote:

I like to use a lens hood to protect the front element of the lens - it also
reduces the chance of flare and may well increase contast.

Excellent point. A lens hood provides different but overlapping
protection than a filter, but unlike a filter there is no optical
downside to using a properly chosen and mounted lens hood.

The only times I don't use a lens hood outdoors are for
macro photography out of laziness when using a polarizer
or Cokin P-system filters.

--
Mike Benveniste -- (Clarification Required)
Its name is Public opinion. It is held in reverence. It settles
everything. Some think it is the voice of God. -- Mark Twain

David wrote:
"Neil Harrington" wrote in message
...
David wrote:
I think about 5 years old but is as new and I do appreciate it will
be a basic early model, way back in the days of real film I used an
Olympus SLR and most accessories, but since advent of digital have
used compact digital cameras but came upon this Nikon D50 so giving
it a go. Going through my cupboard to see what I had by way of
anything I could use with it, eg. filter, lens hoods etc. I came
across a Nikon Speedlight SB-E flash unit no idea how I come to
have it, but can I use it and how with this D50 digital?
Of course I have Googled the question and a couple of results say
yes, a good step forward.
Anyone here, I hope this is the right NG by the way, use this Old
flash unit in a digital SLR?

If it's a *very* old flash unit it might be a good idea to check the
voltage of the triggering circuit before using it. Some popular old
flash units like the Vivitar 283 have been called "camera killers"
because of high voltage across the terminals. You could check this
with an ordinary multimeter. Nikon warns against using flash units
with more than 250 V across the triggering circuit in their digital
SLRs. Any newer flash should be OK (including Vivitar 283s made over
the last decade or so), but I'd be suspicious of any really old unit.

Hints as to how to use it appreciated, and is it automatic, and do I
use the setting FE/FM or EM on the unit?
I assume I just use camera on Auto and the pop-up flash is by
passed. Going back to the old Olympus stuff the flash there is a Olmpus
T32
which says Auto by OM-2 on it, is this of use or dedicated to
Olympus cameras?

How many contacts in the flash shoe? If there's only the central
contact plus the metal edges on the sides, then it is almost
certainly a non-dedicated unit. If there are extra contacts then it
probably is dedicated to that particular make of camera in some way.
It would likely fire anyway on your D50, since the central and side
contacts are all that's needed to complete the circuit, but would
not be exchanging information with the camera body so there's no
telling what the results would be.

Even with older *Nikon* flash units that do have the extra contacts
it might or might not work properly, since Nikon changed the flash
scheme to their Creative Lighting System when the D70 came out in
2002. (That preceded your D50, which is basically a lower-priced
version of the D70.) You can't tell by looking at the contacts,
either, because Nikon kept exactly the same arrangement of contacts
with their new CLS flash units -- but Nikon units prior to the
SB-800 and SB-600 probably will not work on your D50 except in
manual mode.

There are 3 contacts on the SB-E flash hot shoe same as the camera,
from the units manual.

Taking what I think is your center as at 12 oclock that is - hot-shoe
contact
At 9 oclock is Nikon EM electrical contact
At 3 oclock is Ready light contact

I don't think we're on the same page here. :-)

I am looking at the hot shoe from a point above the camera, with the camera
pointing away from me, i.e. the lens to the front.

The hot shoe has a central contact (the big one right in the middle) plus
the metal rails on the sides which comprise the second contact. Those are
the only ones needed to fire a flash unit and they are found in any hot
shoe.

The *extra* contacts on any Nikon DSLR are at the 1 o'clock, 5 o'clock and 7
o'clock positions (from the big central contact). They exchange certain
information between the camera body and the mounted flash unit.

However, several earlier (pre-CLS) Nikon cameras had the same extra
contacts, in the same positions, but they did *not* exchange the same
information. The very first one of these was the contact in the 7 o'clock
position, which appeared on the Nikon FE of 1978. All that one did was tell
the camera when a mounted flash unit (the SB-10 was designed expressly for
this) was charged and ready to fire, which lit a small red light in the
viewfinder.

By the time of the FE2 five years later, the two additional contacts (1
o'clock and 5 o'clock) were added. Now if you look at the hot shoe on an FE2
you'll see that all the contacts are in exactly the same positions as they
are on the latest Nikon DSLR. But the new cameras do *not* exchange the same
information as the earlier hot shoes.

For example, the Nikon SB-400 compact flash unit, which still has exactly
the same arrangement of contacts, *requires* a Nikon that supports CLS. Put
it on an earlier Nikon that doesn't have CLS, and the SB-400 won't work --
it will just blink an error signal.


The D50 manual says.
Use SB-series Speedlights.
Including SB-800, 600, 80DX, 28DX, 28, 27, 23, 225 and 295.

But only the SB-800 and -600 (at the time the D50 was introduced) supported
CLS. The other flash units mentioned could only be used in *manual* mode
(which few users would want to be stuck with) or non-TTL auto. Presumably
any other non-dedicated units could be used in the same modes, but giving up
CLS is not something most people would want to do.

Michael Benveniste wrote:
On 7/25/2011 3:04 PM, eatmorepies wrote:

I like to use a lens hood to protect the front element of the lens -
it also reduces the chance of flare and may well increase contast.

Excellent point. A lens hood provides different but overlapping
protection than a filter, but unlike a filter there is no optical
downside to using a properly chosen and mounted lens hood.

The only times I don't use a lens hood outdoors are for
macro photography out of laziness when using a polarizer
or Cokin P-system filters.

I agree. Actually I use lens hoods indoors too, unless I'm using the
camera's built-in flash when the hood is likely to get at least partially in
the way. Indoors they're not needed to shade the lens but do provide some
physical protection.

On 7/25/2011 4:01 PM, Michael Benveniste wrote:
On 7/25/2011 3:04 PM, eatmorepies wrote:

I like to use a lens hood to protect the front element of the lens -
it also
reduces the chance of flare and may well increase contast.

Excellent point. A lens hood provides different but overlapping
protection than a filter, but unlike a filter there is no optical
downside to using a properly chosen and mounted lens hood.

The only times I don't use a lens hood outdoors are for
macro photography out of laziness when using a polarizer
or Cokin P-system filters.


True, but a lens hood that mounts on the front element of the lens, as
on the Nikon 18 - 200, can increase the risk of damage through an
inadvertent tap.


--
Peter