CLS and SB-26 Not Working

I have an SU-800 and 2 sb-800 - works great. I now am adding an older sb-26 to the mix using it as an optical slave. It's firing fine, but not contributing at all to the exposure. I have the setting on the sb-26 on "S" for simultaneous and it is triggering but seems to be late. The setting on the sb-26 are:

S (not D or off) on the front switch
M manual mode
Normal
50 mm zoom
f11

on the SU-800 I am controlling channels A and B (both are the SB-800).

My camera settings are reg flash (have also tried rear sync)

What am I doing wrong?
Thanks.
David

My guess is that the SB-26 triggers off the initial burst of flashes from the CLS - the controller has the remote flashes fire a shot so it can judge the lightning TTL - all this light would probably trigger the SB-26 too, and then it wouldn't have any chance to recharge before the main "command" is given.

Don't think it's that since the SU-800 uses IR instead of pre-flashes.

The SU-800 performs its commander functions exactly the same way as an SB-800 or an in-camera flash. It just uses infrared light instead of visible light. To use a non-CLS flash, you have to run everything in manual mode, or the pre-flashes will trigger the non-CLS flash.

I just tested with my D80 and the onboard flash (so no IR) - but I'm pretty sure that it would work using the FV Lock - line up stuff as you would like it, let the camera measure the flash, and then take the real shot when you're sure the SB-26 is recharged - it seems to me like it only fires once. You'll have to decide for yourself if it's worth the wait.

The FV Lock supposedly works with all CLS-flashes, so I assume it works with the SU-800 too.

The SU-800 uses IR but the SB-800's are still firing pre flash. To see it take a picture of your flash and you will see if fire through the view finder.
You will also see your SB-26 firing off the preflash.

Davidkl said:

Don't think it's that since the SU-800 uses IR instead of pre-flashes.

Click to expand...

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Everything happens for a reason. #1 reason: poor planning

I use 2x Sb 800 and have 2x Sb26 in case I need more power, the Sb-26 fire prematurely due to the Sb-800's pre flashes, whether set to 'slave' or used on SU-4's. So I set everything to manual, get more predictable results. It is a bit more work, but well worth the effort.