Digital camera accessories

[smabrito]

I have a Nikon P6000 digital camera. It has a built in flash. The camera has a manual mode in which can be set the isa, aperture(from f2.7 to f7.2) & shutter speed.
I also have a sunpak flash I've used for many moons with Minolta film slr's. This flash has been used as a slave flash using a Wein Products slave hotshoe adapter which slips on the flash's hotshoe.
Can this flash & slave adapter be used with good result with my Nikon & it's built in flash? I've experimented with it using various settings on the camera -both manual & automatic AND settings on the flash but haven't hit the magic combination of settings yet.
As the old saying goes-"is there a doctoer in the audience"? or rather anyone that can help with this situation?
Thanks

[ShutterbugGail]

Hi smabrito and welcome to the forum!

Since your slave flash it old, it may not be compatible with your digital camera.

Slave flashes typically fire on a first flash. Since many digital cameras emit a series of pre-flashes before the main flash goes off, the pre-flashes can trigger a slave unit prematurely for it to be useful.

Try shutting off the pre-flash to see if you have better results. If not, call Nikon or Sunpack for suggestions.

If you use a slave flash a lot, you may want to consider investing in a new one. Manufactures make slave units specifically designed for digital cameras, which fire on the second flash. Some also have a learning mode that profiles a camera. The learning mode teaches the slave unit the number of pre-flashes for a given digital camera.

As you know, there are also regular flashes that can be used as a slave flash.

[tomtaror]

A slave flash is an external flash unit that provides extra lighting when it is triggered by a built-in camera flash, or any other flash for that matter.
A slave unit is particularly useful for those who want a more powerful flash but don’t have a hot shoe on their digital camera. An external flash that has a wireless transmitter lets it also function as a slave flash.

A slave flash has a built-in sensor that senses when the camera flash goes off. When the flash goes off, it triggers the slave flash, often within milliseconds.

A slave flash often comes with a bracket that has a hot shoe at one end. The bracket is screwed into the tripod mount on the bottom of a camera, then the flash is mounted on the bracket hot shoe. The flash requires no cable.

Source: http://www.digicamhelp.com/accessories/external-flashes/slave-flash/