What does a Nikon sync terminal adapter do?
Asked 9/5/2013
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I saw Nikon’s AS-15 Sync Terminal Adapter and I’m confused about its purpose. What is a sync terminal adapter used for, and does “PC” here mean connecting the camera to a computer?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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It's for cameras that do not have a PC sync port so that they're able to fire strobes that do have one, common in professional lighting equipment. So, in this realm, the PC means "Prontor/Compur" and that is (becoming "was") the standard port used by cameras to trigger off-camera strobes over a cabled connection. This has, slowly, started to be replaced by 3.5mm jack, when cabled, but it is still quite common and the port can be found on most professional and semi-professional cameras today.
However, for cameras that fall into the more amateur mode, the sync terminal adapter you linked to above is designed to provide the same feature via the hotshoe of the camera. Comes in handy from time to time, though less and less so as time goes by. I'd rather use radio triggering myself.
Wikipedia has a handy article on flash synchronization that has more detail.
Originally by user472. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user472
12y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
A sync terminal adapter lets a camera without a built-in PC sync port trigger external flash or studio strobes through a wired sync connection.
In this context, “PC” does not mean personal computer. It refers to the older Prontor/Compur sync connector standard used to fire off-camera flashes and studio lighting.
The Nikon AS-15 fits into the camera’s hot shoe and provides a PC sync socket, so you can connect the camera to strobes or other lighting gear that uses that cable type. It’s mainly useful with studio or professional lighting equipment.
These adapters are less essential now because many photographers use radio triggers, and some wired systems use 3.5mm connectors instead, but PC sync is still common enough on many lighting setups.
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