Mike:
The English language is so full of terms that mean multiple things, and the
translated-from-Japanese manuals of most camera equipment don't make
figuring out what something means any easier.
My question to you is this: are you trying to fill flash a spot (i.e., use
flash only on a small area of the picture), or are you trying to use spot
metering with fill flash on? If the former, you do it by manually zooming
the flash head (it requires some guesstimating on your part, obviously). I
do this all the time, and it works pretty well. If the latter (what Nikon
refers to as "spot fill flash"), then the SB-26 manual is correct; the F4
and F5 don't allow this combination with the SB-26.
Unfortunately, marketing and engineering types conspired to make Nikon's
flash nomenclature and usage a baffling mix of confusing buzzwords
(marketing) and interdependent settings (engineering). I've yet to see a
great explanation, with examples, of just what Nikon flashes can do (which
is a lot).
Thom Hogan
Executive Editor, BACKPACKER Magazine
author, The Nikon Field Guide (Silver Pixel Press)
www.bythom.com
