Flashes & lighting
Nikon Speedlight SB-11 User manual
User manual for Nikon Speedlight SB-11. 23 pages in English. Read the original PDF, download or print a copy without registration.
23 pagesEnglish2.2 MB PDF
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Document details
- Brand
- Nikon
- Model / document
- Nikon Speedlight SB-11
- Document type
- User manual
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 23
- File size
- 2.2 MB
- Category
- Flashes & lighting
- Document date
- Not specified in catalog
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Page 6 · Read text
l FOREWORD
Compotible with aII Nikon SLR cameras, the bracket-
mounting Nikon Speedlight SB-11 fieotures automatic
control of the Ilosh exposure to match the flash-to-subject
distance. By utilizing a silicon-controlled rectifier and
series circuitry, the speedliqht is also able to conserve its
excess energy for the nert shot when shooting subjects at
c/ose range thus reducing recyclinq time and increasing
the number of flashes per battery set. In addition, the
SB-11 has a tilting flosh head allowing you to bounce the
Iight ofI the ceiling or walls for more dilfused lighting-
a technique especially useful when taking portraits or
snapshots.
Even though the SB-11 is ertremely easy to use, you
should familiarize yourself with the unit's basic operation
as presented in the first section. For more detoiled in-
formation, please refer to Y;aONTROLS IN DETAIL." A
few minutes wisely invested now wiII poy oIf hater in
yeorc of rewarding photogrophic experiences.View original page 6Page 7 · Read text
/
bcrtterY iaD Attcrch the bracket $. Secure.the brcrcketl. Qn"tt,the cnclmber. mounting crdcrpter @ to mounting crdcpter.
Unscrewthe lid @ at the base of the the speedlight's hcndle @. Tighten the screws to secure the
handle and remove the battery clip. First, use the screwdriver provided adapter into place.
to loosen the two screws on the
bracket mounting adapter. Then,
slip the adapter onto the speedlight's
handle and slide it up about 2.5cm
(approx. one inch). Orient the adapt-
er so that its flat side is in the same
plane as the speedlight's exposure
calculator dial O. Make sure the
locking wheel @ is facing toward the
rear of the speedliqht.
www.orphancameras.comView original page 7Page 8 · Read text
Locrd the batteries. Instcrll the bcrttery clip. Close,the bcrttery{. $. $.
Insert eight AA-type penlight Insert the battery clip into the cnClmDer.
batteries following the + and battery chamber. Make sure the ter- Screw the battery lid back into place.
symbols on the inside of the battery minal end goes in first. Then line up
clip. the V-shaped notch on the end of the
clip with the white dot on the rim of
the battery chamber. Push the clip
until it drops into the fully seated
position.View original page 8Page 9 · Read text
-BASIC OPERATION- conrinued
Attcch the brcrcket @ to -'R Attcch the brcrcket to $. Ti.Shtenthe locking /.
thet ccrmerct. the speedlight. wheel completely.
Screw the bracket's attachment screw Insert the bracket mounting pin @
@ into the camera's tripod socket to into the hole in the bracket mounting
secure the two units together tightly. adapter with the two dots @ aligned;
rotate the camera forward.
IVote.' For ottochment to the MD-4 Motor
Drive, you must reposition the brocket's
otlochment screw lo the other slot@. For
detoils, reler lo poqe 13.
www.orphancameras.comView original page 9Page 10 · Read text
Attcch the sync cordO. t--tt Pluc in the sensor O. l()tLAa Rotcrte the flcrsh head @lQ. Screw the straight end of the with- th" "Nikon" name up, to the normal shooting SC-II Sync Cord into either of the push the Sensor Unit SU-2 into the position. speedlight's sync/multiple flash sensor socket @ until it click-locks sockets @; screw the angled end into into place. the camera's sync terminal.View original page 10
Page 11 · Read text
-BASIC - OPERATION conrinued
-l$.- - Set the ccrmerq'sshutter l{-- -' Set the exposure l$. Set the lens qperture speed Ior proper slmchro- c(rlculcrtoidicl @. ring to crnappropricrte
nizclion. Turn the dial until the ASA/ISO f/number.
Set the shutter speed dial to the index @ is opposite the speed of the
highest synchronization speed for film in use. The color-coded lines
electronic flash (e.g. set the F3 to the underneath the f/stop scale@indicate
"X" setting). For other camera mod- the three usable f/stops for automatic
els, refer to the chart on page 21. operation, whereas the auto shooting
range indicators @ give you the
range of flash-to-subject distances.
For example, if you're using ASA/
ISO 100 film and select I/4, the auto-
matic shooting range is indicated by
an orange line. Thus you can shoot
any subject located between 0.6 and
9 meters (2 and 30 feet) from the
speedlight.
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l0View original page 11Page 12 · Read text
S"j the shooting mode the sPeedlisht. Watch the ready-light@. 17.16.- -- L"Tt Slide the ?t power switch @ to 18. As soon as the LED ready-liqht selectorO.
Turn the ring on the front of the sen- uncover the red mark. comes on, the speedlight is ready to
sor until the white index is opposite f ire.
the color corresponding to that of the
f/stop selected. This sets the speed-
light for automatic operation.
11View original page 12Page 13 · Read text
BASIC OPERATION- continued t
the picture. oII the speedlight.19.- Tgke 20. Jurn After the speedlight fires, if To conserve battery power be-
the ready-hght, does not blink, you tween shooting sessions, slide the
have a perfect flash exposure. power switch to the OFF position.
I
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t-zView original page 13Page 14 · Read text
CONTROTSIN DETAIT
Nikon FM/FE Motor Drive MD-4
Motor Drive Nikon F2/F3/EM,
MD- TT/MD-12 Motor Drive MD- I /MD -2IMD-E,
CordlessBatteryPackMB-I/MB-2
BrcrcketSK-[@ Bracket Mounting Adcrpter @
The Speedliqht SB- I l's bracket can be attached to various The release/locking wheel on the bracket mounting
camera and/or motor drive combinations. To change the adapter allows the speedliqht to be removed from the
attachment screw from one slot to another, slide it to the bracket for off-camera flash operation. To detach the
threaded end of the slot and unscrew it; then screw it speedliqht, loosen the release/locking wheel completely.
back into the threaded end of the other slot. Once screw- Then tip the speedlight forward until the two white dots
ed in, the attachment screw can be moved freely to any are aligned and pull the speedliqht away from the bracket.
position along the slot. The diagram indicates the recom-
mended position of the attachment screw for all Nikon IVote: The speedlight's hondle eontains a tripod/light stond soc.kef @ for
SLR cameras and motor drives. mounting of the speedlight on o tripod or light stond for more eonvenient
off-comero operotion.
IVote: The brocket contoins o tripod socke/ @ fo. direct ottochment of
the comero ond speedlight to o tripod.
13View original page 14Page 16 · Read text
tffide-Flcsh Adcrpter SW-3 O The angle of illumination of the SB-ll by itself is 56o IVole: 7o deloch the Wide-Flosh Adapter SW-3, first rotote the tilting horizontally and 40o vertically-wide enough for use flosh head to other thon the horizontol position. Then lilt up the cotch ot with a 35mm wideangle lens. When the Wide-Flash the top oI the SW-3 to remove it. Adapter is clipped onto the front of the flash head, it in- creases the illumination to 67" horizontally and 48o ver- tically providing just the right amount of coverage when a 28mm lens is used. With the SW-3 attached, the liqht output of the speedlight is reduced resulting in a decrease in guide number from 36 (ASA/ISO 100 and meters) to 25. The ASA/ISO 25 and feet guide number is reduced from 60lo 42.View original page 16
Page 17 · Read text
-CONTROLS IN DETAlT-continued
Exposure Calculcrtor Dicrl @
For Automctic Operqtion Conversely, if you choose a small aperture, the depth of
The SB-ll's exposure calculator dial helps you select the field will be greater, but the recycling time will be longer
usable range of f/stops for the speed of the film in use and and the maximum shooting distance is less. Therefore, in
the flash-to-subject distance. On the dial, there are three choosing an appropriate f/stop, you should take all these
f/stops to choose from. Each f/stop determines the usable factors-depth of field, recycling time, and maximum
distance range in which you can obtain the correct auto- shooting distance-into consideration.
matic exposure. The automatic shooting ranges for the The following examples explain how to use the exposure
three f/stops are indicated by a set of curved color-coded calculator dial:
lines near the center of the dial.
If the subject distance remains the same, the wider the Excrmple I
aperture you select, the faster the recycling time of the If you are using ASA/ISO I00 film, you can shoot subjects
speedlight and the greater the maximum shooting dis- at distancesfrom 0.6-9m (2-30ft) atI/4,0.6-6.4m (2-
tance, but the less depth of field in the final photograph. 2l ft) at I/5.6, and 0.6-4.5m (2-l5ft) atI/8.
www.orphancameras.comView original page 17Page 18 · Read text
Example2 Example3
Excmple 2 For Mcrnucl Opercrtion
With ASA/ISO I00 and a subject three meters (10 feet) Simply read off the f/number which appears directly
away, you can shoot at either f./4, I/5.6, or f./8. If a short above the flash-to-subjectdistance@; then set this aper-
recycling time is preferable, use f'/4. If greater depth of ture on your lens.
field is desired, use {/8.
Once you've selected an appropriate f/stop {or the film in Excmple 3
use and the flash-to-subject distance, set this f/number on At ASA/ISO 100, if the subject is three meters (10 feet)
your lens and fire away. Your pictures will come out away, you should setthe aperture ring on your lens to f/l I .
properly exposed.
17View original page 18Page 19 · Read text
CONTROTS IN DETAlT-continued
Sensor Unit SU-z@
The pluq-in Sensor Unit SU-2 controls the operation of Modulite Remote Control Unit ML-l (which is set to
the SB-11 Speedlighi. It has five settings to choose from. Channel 2), while the SB-11 Speedliqht acts as the
transmitter.
At the Auto Positions
To shoot on Auto, lift up and turn the knurled ring on the At the M (Mcnucl) Position
outside of the sensor to one of the three positions (orange, Set the SU-2 to the M setting and the SB-ll operates
yellow, or blue) which are color-coded for use with the manually at its maximum light output regardless of the
exposure calculator dial. At these settings, the SB-ll is flash-to-subject distance. In this case, you have to calcu-
able to vary its light ouiput automatically to match the late the exposure manually by referring to the exposure
flash-to-subject distance. calculator dial. See page 17 for more information.
At the S (Slave) Posirion
At this setting, the SB-ll emits a modulated burst of liqht
which can trigger a second electronic flash. The remote
flash unit is attached to the receiver portion of the optional
www.orphancameras.com1BView original page 19Page 20 · Read text
Recdy-Light @ Open-FlcrshButton @
Built into the back of the SB-ll's flash head is a ready- The red open-flash button is used to fire the speedlight
light which comes on as soon as the speedlight is recycled manually without having to trip the camera's shutter. In
and ready to fire. As an additional feature, the ready- this manner, you can create multiple-exposure "strobo-
liqht blinks if the speedlight fires at its maximum output scopic" effects or paint the scene with liqht by firing the
indicating that the liqht miqht be insufficient for correct speedlight repeatedly with the camera set to "B" or "T."
exposure on Automatic. The warning blinks last for The open-flash button is also used in conjunction with the
approximately two seconds. ready-light to cietermine if you can get the correct expo-
sure when shooting on Automatic. This is especially
useful when doing bounce flash. After setting up the shot,
push the open-flash button. If the ready-light does not
blink, you can take the picture. If it does blink, try moving
the speedlight closer to the subject or bounce sur{ace, or
reset the Sensor Unii SU-2 to a color-coded position
calling for a wider aperture.
19View original page 20Page 21 · Read text
CONTROTS IN DETAlT-continued
External Power Terminal @ Sync/Multiple FlcrshSockets@
This terminal is for connection of a separate battery pack. Two standard Nikon screw-in type terminals are provided
on the SB-li Speedliqht. Either terminal can be used to
attach the Sync Cord SC-l l, while the other is provided
for connecting the SB-l I with another speedlight in series
for multiple flash operation.
www.orphancameras.com20View original page 21From the M. Butkus archive. Original publisher and archive notices are retained.
Check the model and edition against your equipment.
PDF verified 2026-10-10.