Nikon Speedlight SB - 12

[momo911]

I have found my grand-dad's old Nikon Speedlight SB - 12 flash and I was wondering if it would in any way be compatible with my Nikon D7000. My granddad used a Nikon F3.



If anyone has ANY idea, please help me out.


Many thanks.


M*

[OsmosisStudios]

Best info I could find is this: Speedlight SB-12 Specifications from Nikon Flash Guide

Might be able to e-mail Thom and just ask if it'd be compatible.

[inkista]

Should be kinda/sorta compatible (likely that you can only use it in Manual mode). But I'm not exactly sure how you mount it onto a regular hotshoe (although the specs say you can put it on an ISO hotshoe)--you might need an additional accessory (Nikon AS-6 hotshoe coupler, maybe?) for that. You're probably best off using it through the PC sync port.

Chances are good it's safe for your camera, though. All the Nikon SB units I've seen tested have had a sync voltage under 10V, and it's a smaller unit. But when using a vintage flash, it's always good to check the sync voltage and make sure it's within your camera's safety limit (with Nikon cameras, iirc, its 250V). Otherwise, you can run the risk of frying the camera's hotshoe (and possibly the camera). This is typically a danger with older vintage flashes and particularly the larger ones. The Vivitar 283, for instance, is notorious for having sync voltages in excess of 300V.

I've never seen an SB-12, and I shoot Canon. I'm going by the material I found on it on the mir website.

My take, actually, is that it's probably not worth it. It's a small unit, with a relativley small guide number (25m). It's underpowered, and finding the AS-6 thingie (or whatever) if you don't already have one, is probably going to be a PITA and cost as much as just grabbing a YN-560 off Amazon for off-camera Strobist use. If you want to use a flash on-camera, you really want one with tilt and swivel capability, as well as a decent level of flash power output. Saving up and getting a used SB-600, or even going 3rd party with a Nissin Di-622 or Yongnuo YN-468 is liable to get you far more usability.