SB-26 battery leak

[Dornfield]

Hi All,

This is a new account on this forum: hopefully someone can give me some advice.

I have an SB-26 which has not been used for many years, and now when going through older equipment I find that I did not remove the 4 AA batteries from the battery housing, and (predictably) they have leaked badly, corroding the terminals at least. Both the easily accessible terminals on the battery housing door and also the very much harder to access terminals at the 'bottom' of the battery compartment appear to be surface corroded at least. My question to you is, is this likely to be something that can be repaired and (given that everything is probably repairable for a price), would it be worth repairing? This was quite an expensive flash in its day, paired with my F90X Pro analogue camera body. But its day was several decades ago. If I could bring it back, it would possibly be a useful addition to my current (but still aged) digital body, which is a D7000.

Thanks for any pointers, even if only to tell me to learn from the oversight and to put the camera flash into small electricals recycling!

 

[BF Hammer]

Try cleaning with Q-tips soaked in white vinegar. It's a mild acid that will react with the residue. Water soaked Q-tips after to help neutralize the chemicals.

That flash will only be useful in manual power settings. Your D7000 is iTTL which means SB-28 or newer. Film TTL on the SB-26 will fire before the shutter and will not be on during the exposure.

 

[Dornfield]

Thanks! I'll give it a go over the next few days/ weeks, and hopefully report back.

 

[Dornfield]

Well, after a bit of vinegar cleaning, and scrubbing with fine wire wool, I have managed to resurrect the SB26 flash! I'm amazed, and delighted. It is a shame to read that the SB26 won't work with the D7000, but to be honest I never really got to grips with the capabilities of the flash when mounted on the F90X Pro body, so I'd be unlikely to use it with the digital camera. I still use the F90X Pro for transparency work.
One thing I am keen to learn is super macro photography, and I imagine that requires a ring flash. I have purchased a ring to reverse moutn a lens onto the body of the D7000, and then a slider to mount the camera on to allow me to change the distance to the subject (insect heads, I think) as the 'autofocus' will be lost by reverse mounting the lens on the body. Is there a fourum that might support me in this endeavour? And suggest a ring flash? Preferably second hand, as this might go nowhere!
Thank you for your advice.

 

[Clovishound]

I bought, and briefly used a reversing ring back in my film days. It's been a long time ago, but I do remember I wasn't overly happy with the results. I ended up with a set of extension tubes. Fast forward several decades and I'm back into macro work. I briefly started with extension tubes for my Z5. It worked well, but had several downsides. I ended up purchasing a Nikkor Z 105mm micro. It wasn't cheap, but it is a very sharp lens. I still use the extension tubes with the macro lens on occasions when I need a little more magnification. Still, I'm only at 1.25:1 or so.

If you are looking for magnification much over 1:1, there are several options.

Extension tubes are relatively inexpensive, retain original sharpness of the lens used well, and preserve control of aperture and autofocus. Caveat: I almost never use autofocus for macro work, and if you are going much beyond 1:1, I doubt you will have much success with AF.

Macro lenses are probably the most common route for macro. They are optimized for sharpness at close focusing distances and good ones may minimize diffusion at the smaller apertures commonly used to maximize depth of field. The downside is their cost. A new Nikon Z 105mm will run a little over $1000. Buying used, or 3rd party brings the cost down, but you are unlikely to get a decent macro lens for a couple hundred dollars.

Bellows are more expensive than extension tubes, and work the same way, except you can adjust the amount of distance between the lens and camera without adding and removing tubes. A bellows unit will typically give you a lot more distance, and thus magnification, than a normal set of extension tubes, although extension tubes can be stacked to most any length desired, as long as you have enough tubes. Like tubes, they can be used in conjunction with a macro lens to give additional magnification.

As to ring flashes, most macro shooters use standard on camera flashes with diffusers. As opposed to ring flashes, this gives a little more directional quality to the light, which is often more aesthetically pleasing. Ring flashes tend to be rather expensive compared to on camera flashes. (which you already have, so no need to buy something else)

One big question I have is how much magnification you want. Most true macro lenses will provide 1:1 magnification, with some going to 2:1. If you want more than this, you will have to go to other means to get there. I have no experience with anything much beyond that.

Here is a shot done at around 1:1. It was shot handheld with my Z 105mm micro lens, Godox TT685 on camera flash, and an AK macro flash diffuser.

 

[BF Hammer]

Soft box on a normal flash will be the most versatile option. There are LED ring lights also that illuminate constantly. They are a bit easier to use for macro, no sync cord needed. No guessing power levels either.