T2i and Nikon SB-24

[jcskeeter]

Hey there. Lovin the T2i a ton so far. So at my work I stumbled upon an old flash that still works. Nikon Speedlight SB-24.
So it's obviously old, back in the film days I believe? But it's straps onto the T2i just fine. I know that because it's old it's not gonna jive real well a brand new camera, Canon or Nikon. I'm having trouble using it though.
My first question pertains to Canon vs. Nikon flash "mechanics". Do Canon and Nikon use different ways of "talking" to the flash? The T2i fires the flash but I pretty much have to guess on everything? Keep in mind I'm self taught, for the most part, in the photo world so I might be asking a lot. But if anyone could help me out with a link to a flash tutorial or something like that I would appreciate it. Thanks for any help.

 

[Zissou]

first check hotshoe voltages to make sure it wont fry the camera, and i would guess you will have AT BEST manual control.

Canon sucks for speedlight/flashes; i shoot a lot of track/action work photog wise and have used nikons, the little work ive done with canon gear i was not impressed. nikon seems to get flashwork right, canon obviously doesnt think much of it. IF you can get it to work, you'd still be using manual modes, which is no better than canon manual modes, so why bother?

eBay it and buy a Canon flash.

i use almost exclusively nikon gear for shoots, and i recommend ANY nikon flash over any canon equivalent for nikon gear, for your canon situation i would say go 3rd party or canon. i shoot all field work (track/roadside etc where the best i can hope to be able to set up is a few bounced/diffused small speedlights, esp. at F1 events). I recommend most nikon flashes EXCEPTING the SB-900, of which ive had 2 fail with less than 500 actuations/flashes per unit, so i tend to use and buy used SB-800's; and though the issues seem to be resolved, i wont use -900's again (randomly decide to NOT turn on without a solid smack to the flash head; NOT confidence building or a testament to reliability; ive had to '*****-slap' them multiple times, ON THE FLASH HEAD, to get them to turn on, and as such i dont consider them reliable and hence no longer use them.)