Nikon SB-26 Instruction Manual - Page 54

Flash Exposure Compensation - To Make Flash-Illuminated Subject The SB-26 allows you to manually adjust the amount of flash light in a range from -3 to +1 EV. This feature is particularly useful for "balanced" fill-flash where flash illumination is sufficient to brighten the subject to almost the brightness of the background. Sometimes, you may want to use a little more or less flash to make the subject a little brighter or not quite so bright. Your choice may be based on desired aesthetic qualities, or may be forced by extremes in lighting. Generally speaking, you don't want to make the subject too bright; you just want to brighten shadows. To achieve a subtle fill-flash effect, you may want to use some manually selected "minus" compensation. However, when the background is extremely bright, and the subject is in deep shadows, you will probably want to use some "plus" compensation. Although the SB-26 is quite powerful, when using it for fill-flash, it is competing with the sun's brightness - very strong competition. With Standard TTL Flash you can manually compensate exposure by adjusting the flash output level. You can also adjust flash output level for Matrix Balanced Fill-Flash, Center-Weighted Fill-Flash or Spot Fill-Flash, in combination with the computer's automatic compensation. Before proceeding: E ATTACH SPEEDLIGHT TO CAMERA. E TURN ON BOTH SPEEDLIGHT AND CAMERA. E USE SINGLE-SERVO AUTOFOCUS (S or A) OR MAN- UAL FOCUS (M). E USE SINGLE-FRAME SHOOTING (S) FILM ADVANCE MODE. APPLICABLE NIKON SLR MODELS F5 E F-601M/N6000 E FE2 F90X/N90s E F50-Series/N50 FG F90-Series/N90 E F-401x/N5005 Nikonos V F70-Series/N70 E F-501/N2020 F3-Series F4-Series E F-301/N2000 F2-Series F-801/N8008 E F-401/N4004 FM2 F-801s/N8008s E F-401s/N4004s FG-20 F-601/N6006 E FA 106 For F-601/N6006 and F-601M/N6000 users Make settings on the camera to control the SB-26's flash exposure compensation; the SB-26 will works as set on the camera. The SB-26's control buttons and LCD panel cannot be used for setting. Lighter or Darker Set Up and Practice Chapter 4 4 Press the ◊ button again to complete setting. The the value indicator will automatically stop blinking in eight seconds unless you press the ◊ button. In this case, the last figure indicated will be set in the SB-26. The exposure compensation value remains in the LCD panel. 5 To cancel, readjust compensation value to 0 (steps 1 and 2), then press ◊ button or leave it more than eight seconds so the indication disappears. 1 Choose p position (flash mode selector). Confirm H in the LCD panel. This feature is available only in TTL Auto Flash mode. 2 Press the ◊ button. Confirm the L indicator appears and 0.0 (zero exposure compensation value) blinks in the LCD panel. 3 Press Ç ˛ buttons for value adjustment. Adjustment can be made while the value indicator is blinking. Simultaneously, the shooting indicator bars / change. Exposure compensation on the camera You can make additional compensation for background by using the camera's exposure compensation dial. For example, with compensation of -2 on the SB-26 and -1 on the camera body, the total compensated value for flash output level is -3, and the compensated value for the background will be -1. Note that the SB-26's LCD panel shows only the compensated value of the SB-26. For further information, see "Exposure Compensation with Camera's Dial - To Make Background Lighter or Darker," pages 108 and 109. 107