Third party speedlight works sporadically F5 + Yongnuo YN685

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That8BitMan

New member
Hey everybody,

I just bought a Nikon F5 from eBay and it seems to work like new except for when I attach my Yongnuo YN685 speedlight that I've been using with with my D7100 for a while now. When I use it with my DSLR, it functions perfectly with full TTL metering (incl. showing ISO and focal length on the screen of the speedlight) but when I attach it to my F5 it only triggers in MULTI (stroboscopic) mode but not in manual or i-TTL modes and fails to show ISO and focal length. Sometimes if I leave both units turned on and let them sit there for a few minutes then the flash will fire in all modes but won't meter. I haven't had the chance to try another speedlight yet but I was wondering if I've done anything wrong.

I've tried removing/reattaching the speedlight, cleaning the hotshoe contacts with methylated spirits, cleaning the diopter contacts with metho and I've gone through all the custom settings to make sure I haven't missed anything.

Is the F5 picky about what speedlights it works with?

I'll try and get my hands on another speedlight (hopefully Nikon instead of third party) to see if that works but if anyone has any suggestions then they're welcome.
 
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RocketCowboy

Senior Member
Howdy and welcome to Nikonites!!!

I'm not sure what capabilities the Nikon film cameras provide through the hotshoe, but it could be that details like ISO and focal length weren't available ... since ISO would be a property of the film in particular. I wasn't into using flash when I shot film, so can't say for sure from first hand experience.
 
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Bikerbrent

Senior Member
Welcome aboard. Enjoy the ride.
We look forward to seeing more posts and samples of your work.

Sorry I can't help as Yongnuo flashes did NOT exist when I shot film.
 
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That8BitMan

New member
So after looking a bit more deeply, I found out that Nikon used different TTL standards throughout the years and the F5 only supports the earlier standards. The fun part is that my flash only supports the latest standard so I think what the flash tries to do is communicate using iTTL for a while but then after it realises that the camera doesn't support it, it goes into a dumb mode that only looks for the trigger signal which is why it works after a few minutes
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
That8BitMan said:
So after looking a bit more deeply, I found out that Nikon used different TTL standards throughout the years and the F5 only supports the earlier standards. The fun part is that my flash only supports the latest standard so I think what the flash tries to do is communicate using iTTL for a while but then after it realises that the camera doesn't support it, it goes into a dumb mode that only looks for the trigger signal which is why it works after a few minutes
Click to expand...
Yep... You need something like a Nikon SB-600 for your F5.
 
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Mako1969

Senior Member
I can't comment about the D5, but I use a D4s and a Metz 64 AF-1, and they work GREAT! The Metz auto-zooms with my 24-70 2.8, and has a guide number much higher than anything Nikon makes. If you want a Nikon flash, consider the SB800, SB910, or the SB5000.
 
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