How to use a Manual flash on Nikon D300?

I have an older manual flash that connects via the PC Sync port (the trigger voltage is 6v so it is safe) so when I plug it in and take a photo, the flash does not fire. The test button fires the flash so I know the bulb is ok.

I have also tried the pc sync to hot shoe adapter on a couple of Nikon cameras and it still does not work.

Is there a menu setting on the camera that I need to set for manual flash mode? I know there's a setting for manual lenses is it the same for a flash?

Obviously the PC Sync cable may be the culprit, or either of the ports on the flash or the D300. Since you're ok with having a cord, you may want to try a SC-17 cord or a generic equivalent.

There should be no "settings" you have to make. PC sockets and cords are NOTORIOUSLY unreliable. They were hated even in the days when that was all there was, but now with wireless triggering, they are archaic. I agree with the other answer that a new cord is *probably* what you need, but I think what you really need is a remote wireless trigger, (they do NOT have to be super expensive), and / or a newer flash, … Again they do NOT have to be super expensive either.

You are trying to force an excellent modern camera to "play" with old technology.

Here's a silly question. Have you tried just using the hot shoe without the PC cord? If the flash works that way, then the cord is the culprit. If it still doesn't work, then toss the flash and find another one.

PC cords are horrible, always have been. The connections are always loose, the cables themselves break if you sneeze at them, and they stop working right when you need them most.

Test it in the hot shoe to verify it works that way, and find another PC cord if it does work in the hot shoe. Otherwise, just toss it.

Set the camera to Manual mode (M) and use a shutter speed of not more than 1/250s.

I don't know why… But SOMETHING tells me you haven't taken the time to read your camera's Instructions Manual… Hmm… I wonder why.

Most manual flashes have a thyristor that detects the amount of light reflecting off of your subject in towards the camera. These flashes will typically have one or two auto settings, each with a different working distance. For example, on my manual flash, I could use the auto setting for f/4 and it'll allow me to shoot further away. It can because at f/4, the aperture allows in a good amount of light. If I need more depth of field, say for a group shot, then I'd use the f/8 auto setting.

So lets say you set the ISO to 400 and in doing so, your flash auto switch as a setting for f/5.6 which allows you to shoot from 3'-12'. Set the flash to the sync speed, set the aperture to f5.6 and make sure that the ISO of the flash and camera are set to the same number, ISO 400 in this example. Now, just as long as you're within the 3'-12' range, the thyristor in the flash will adjust the light output as you move closer or further away from the subject.

This is how you'd use your flash indoors where you do not care about recording the ambient light. You can control how much of the ambient light is recorded when using flash by changing your shutter speed. The aperture setting controls the exposure for the flash. Since a flash typically fires around 1/5,000th of a second, regardless if you're at 1 second or 1,2000th, the exposure will be the same just for the light being emitted by the flash.

If you want to properly expose the ambient light too, then you need to figure out what the shutter speed should be if you were to use the same f/stop that you'd use with the flash on. In this example where you're using f/5.6, turn the flash off and determine the shutter speed. Just as long as it's not shorter (i.e. Faster) than the sync speed, the resulting image will have both the ambient light and those elements illuminated by the flash all properly exposed. If you just set to the shutter speed to the sync speed, then you risk the background being over, or more likely, underexposed.

There's a ton of YouTube videos showing you how to use a manual flash.