Metz 48 + nikon d40?

[amymnc]

Hey guys! I am coming here to beg for your help. I've never ventured away from the Nikon brand and today I finally did- which looks like a big mistake.
Bought the metz 48 af-1 speedlight at a local camera store. Read the manual, googled, checked camera and flash settings, even got hubby working on it.... It's not displaying ISO, shutter speed, etc...A few settings are there and in the bottom right corner it just says 5.6 and 18MM underneath, which I still haven't found an explanation for in the manual. I'm not using an 18mm lens so um, yeah. Guessing 5.6 is for aperture, but earlier when I changed the aperture on the camera that number would change with it- now it won't. D40 set on manual is my camera, which I am cursing for the first time in its trusty little life.

firmware on the flash is 1.0, off to update and see if that will help

Help! Not going to cry or scream tonight. Nope. not yet. Thank you in advance!

[RLucas]

Which lens are you using?

[amymnc]

couldn't get the firmware update to work.
used an 18-55 af-s and a 55-200 af-s VR lens on there. didn't dare attempt it with my 50 mm AF yet. Regardless of the lens it just stays at 18mm on the screen.
Also changed the meter mode from spot to matrix and center weighted.
thanks

[RLucas]

Hmm? I did some searching myself, and ended up with nothing, except that there may be problems like this when a lens is used that's not chipped. I did read somewhere in DPReview that Metz's customer service is very good if you shoot them an email regarding your problem. Sorry I couldn't be of any more help!

[LoveDSLR]

Originally Posted by amymnc

It's not displaying ISO, shutter speed, etc...A few settings are there and in the bottom right corner it just says 5.6 and 18MM underneath, which I still haven't found an explanation for in the manual. I'm not using an 18mm lens so um, yeah. Guessing 5.6 is for aperture, but earlier when I changed the aperture on the camera that number would change with it- now it won't. D40 set on manual is my camera, which I am cursing for the first time in its trusty little life.

If you are referring to the flash LCD then it is normal to display aperture, flash lens angle (e.g., 18mm with the integrated wide-angle diffuser) and distance range only when it is in TTL/iTTL mode. 18mm isn't your lens' exact focal length but the flash zoom setting (18,24,..,105mm).



Refer to page 75 of Metz manual, set the flash to "TTL" or "TTL BL", then page 77 to reset/set it to Auto zoom.

Set your D40 to A or S mode and try again.

BTW, don't expect more setting display from some of the Nikon flashes. SB-400 only has a ready light and SB-600 displays flash lens angle information only.

[Raoul Isidro]

The last time I used a Metz was a very long time ago with the Metz 45 system. I got it because I could use it on any of my cameras (Nikons, Canons, Pentax, Bronica, etc) just by getting an adapter. It was always off camera. That was over 15 years ago. A lot of great things have advanced since digital and now I always use the same brands of flash on DSLRs. Unless you have a very special reason for choosing a different brand of flash for your camera, I would recommend same brands. Cheers

[amymnc]

Thanks so much for your help. Maybe one day I'll actually know what I'm doing and can give back a little more around here
Hubby, the non photographer figured it out. Imagine how stupid I feel to find that it was a simple little thing. Pull the bounce card out and it stays on 18mm in the corner. Leave it in there, it displays the correct zoom. See the chart LoveDSLR so kindly posted for me and explained in Layman's terms and it makes more sense now.
Putting my dunce hat on now and going to sit in the corner! LOL!