Remote Cord - D3300 + SB-400

I have a dinky SB-400 flash I want to attach to a D3300 mounted on a Stroboframe bracket. Nikon's SC-28 TTL Coiled Remote Cord = £60 which, for a piece of wire with two connectors, seems a tad overpriced to me. Can anyone recommend a UK sourced cheaper alternative, please? Thanks!

A company named Vello sells cables that do what you want, on Amazon... I don't know what you consider UK sources, sorry...

Glevum Owl said:

I have a dinky SB-400 flash I want to attach to a D3300 mounted on a Stroboframe bracket. Nikon's SC-28 TTL Coiled Remote Cord = £60 which, for a piece of wire with two connectors, seems a tad overpriced to me. Can anyone recommend a UK sourced cheaper alternative, please? Thanks!

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Look on Ebay for a used older Nikon SC-17 cord, which are plentiful. It is the previous version, exactly same thing except for the hole for the new pin lock in the shoe. But the pin is spring loaded, and you can still simply lower the pin anyway, and it will stay very secure, not going anywhere.

All I have is two older SC-17, and they still work fine.

Thanks for the quick replies. I'll hunt around for an old SC-17 on eBay.

The SC-17 and SC-28 are the same, but these cords are a bit awkward on a flash bracket - because the cords are too long, so we have to wrap them around the bracket, etc, and they get in the way. Still, about the only solution.

There is maybe the slightest possibility you might rarely find a SC-17 on Ebay that has been shortened for flash bracket use. I found one there once, but better bid it up, as they will be 2x or 3x usual price if you do magically find one.

Al Jacobs used to have a web site page with detailed instructions to shorten a SC-17 cable but he has removed it, and now says this: * SHORTEN SC-17, SC-28, SC-29, NIKON CABLES | www.ALJACOBS.COM | Alan Jacobson

Glevum Owl said:

..Nikon's SC-28 TTL Coiled Remote Cord = £60 which, for a piece of wire with two connectors, seems a tad overpriced to me...

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Not to be pedantic, but that is not simply "a piece of wire with two connectors" If you look at the number of contact pins on the camera's hot shoe and the bottom of the SB-400 foot, you'll see 5 contact points. The modern camera's "hot shoe" is not just an on-off switch - it's really a data port for the camera to communicate with the speed light. The camera sends data about it's current settings like F-stop, shutter speed, zoom focal length and ISO info to the speed light which use the info to determine the amount of power to engage when it fires the flash of light. Just want to make sure that speedlight sync cables get some respect around here

yauman said:

Not to be pedantic, but that is not simply "a piece of wire with two connectors" If you look at the number of contact pins on the camera's hot shoe and the bottom of the SB-400 foot, you'll see 5 contact points. The modern camera's "hot shoe" is not just an on-off switch - it's really a data port for the camera to communicate with the speed light. The camera sends data about it's current settings like F-stop, shutter speed, zoom focal length and ISO info to the speed light which use the info to determine the amount of power to engage when it fires the flash of light. Just want to make sure that speedlight sync cables get some respect around here

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I know, I know. I used to have a multiple 580/430 flash set up in my Canon days and learnt about dodgy cables the hard way. My original comment was an exaggeration to emphasise my annoyance at the high prices charged for branded accessories.

Happy to report I've found a 45cm (coiled) cable on Amazon which, with a few well placed cable ties, should do the job nicely with my old Stroboframe bracket.

Glad you were able to find something. When using the cord on the Stroboframe bracket, be aware of one possible problem. I used to have the first version of the coiled Nikon cord and wrapped it around the handle of the Stroboframe bracket as WayneF mentioned. When switching from vertical to horizontal, I needed to flip part of my bracket (with the flash attached) so keep the flash above the camera. When returning the bracket to the horizontal position, the bracket would catch the edge of the coiled cord and cut into it. One day the cord stopped working because of this (the wires were exposed) so I had to buy a new coiled Nikon cord. I don't know if there is a trick to prevent the cord from getting caught when switching from vertical to horizontal...or it may have to do with how my particular Stroboframe bracket is designed.

The newer coiled Nikon cord uses a different locking mechanism to keep it attached to the bracket. The first one was a wheel that got rotated similar to the command dial on a camera body. The newer cord has a flip switch to lock the cord. They both worked well, but I prefer the newer cord's design.