Using studio strobes with the D70

[Eric Butler153574]

I'm new to flash photography. I've always used hotlights in the past years. They definitely have advantages. But, I'm planning on doing alot more events and family portraits and really want to learn to use studio strobes, as well as the Nikon CLS.

For weddings, etc...I plan on buying an SB800 as my event flash. I'd love to use it to control studio strobes, but I understand that there is an issue between the i-TTL and regular slaves....that is, the slaves screw with the metering or something.

Anyone using either the D70 and a combination of AC Strobes, or the D70, SB800, plus additional fill strobes?

Would a radio trigger help with this setup?

Recommendations?

Thanks for any input!

Eric

PS...I apologize if I missed a redundant thread....but my search didn't find any.

 

[danharperphotography.com]

Hey Eric,

I use the D70 with two White lightning 5000s (older strobes) and I connect them with a simple sync cable to the SB800 directly. Everything works great together. I haven't seen any problems. Other than the fact that I forget how hot the strobes are.

--
-Dan - BHOA
'Cameras don't take pictures, people do.'
http://www.danharper.com/
http://www.danharperphotography.com/
http://www.wpgphoto.com/

 

[Fredphototn]

I use my D70 with a mixture of studio strobes, some AC powered, some battery. The only Nikon strobe I have is the one in the camera.

I have successfully used a mixture of all of these devices without problem. All are capable of having manual output adjustments. I use these to balance the lighting ratios to get the effect I desire. Sometimes I use the cameras flash as a trigger to optical slaves on the other strobes. Other times I will trigger one of the studio strobes via a pc connector attached to an adapter in the camera’s hot shoe.

Controlling exposure is easy with the instant feedback in from the camera’s display and its histogram. I also have a flash meter that is a great asset to get ratios, and ambient vs. flash relationships right.

Quite frankly the quality of the light has a bigger impact on the final image than any other factor that I can think of.

Fred

 

[David H Lewis]

Eric, I have an older Novatron light kit with a trigger voltage way too high to risk on the Nikon. Based on a tip I got on this forum, here's what I do. In manual mode on the D70, set the flash output to 1/8 or so and use that to trigger an optical slave on the power pack, which I place near the subject (so it can see the pop-up flash) but, of course, out of the frame. Works great, and no wires (except for the ones snaking all over the room from the power pack to the strobes) and no concern about trigger voltage.

I use a hand-held flash meter, but with a little trial and error you can figure out a good exposure pretty quickly. I generally shoot around f11 with my flashes on the lowest output (120 w/s).

David

I'm new to flash photography. I've always used hotlights in the
past years. They definitely have advantages. But, I'm planning on
doing alot more events and family portraits and really want to
learn to use studio strobes, as well as the Nikon CLS.

For weddings, etc...I plan on buying an SB800 as my event flash.
I'd love to use it to control studio strobes, but I understand that
there is an issue between the i-TTL and regular slaves....that is,
the slaves screw with the metering or something.

Anyone using either the D70 and a combination of AC Strobes, or the
D70, SB800, plus additional fill strobes?

Would a radio trigger help with this setup?

Recommendations?

Thanks for any input!

Eric

PS...I apologize if I missed a redundant thread....but my search
didn't find any.

--
David in Arkansas
Proud FCAS Member, PBASE supporter
http://www.pbase.com/arkie5700

I know art. I just don't know what I like.

 

[Eric Butler153574]

Update...

Okay, so after reading everything I could find, it looks like the only way to get full TTL is to use SB800 and 600 combos. However, if anyone has a really great insight as to how to incorporate studio strobes into the TTL, I'd appreciate the input!

I'm new to flash photography. I've always used hotlights in the
past years. They definitely have advantages. But, I'm planning on
doing alot more events and family portraits and really want to
learn to use studio strobes, as well as the Nikon CLS.

For weddings, etc...I plan on buying an SB800 as my event flash.
I'd love to use it to control studio strobes, but I understand that
there is an issue between the i-TTL and regular slaves....that is,
the slaves screw with the metering or something.

Anyone using either the D70 and a combination of AC Strobes, or the
D70, SB800, plus additional fill strobes?

Would a radio trigger help with this setup?

Recommendations?

Thanks for any input!

Eric

PS...I apologize if I missed a redundant thread....but my search
didn't find any.

 

[CWilt]

I use one SB800 and three SB600's in studio with ease. They are great for portabillity and power is not bad. I shoot most at f9 and use large softbox (36" x 48") for fill, and medium softbox (24" x 36") for main. Plenty of power in these little flashes. If I had it to do over I would buy all SB800's though.

Update...

Okay, so after reading everything I could find, it looks like the
only way to get full TTL is to use SB800 and 600 combos. However,
if anyone has a really great insight as to how to incorporate
studio strobes into the TTL, I'd appreciate the input!

--
http://stakeman.smugmug.com

 

[rgloeckner]

few months ago I got some Multiblitz flashes with integrated flash sensor, so I need basically no cables.

Unfortunately triggering the flashes with the builtin flash was less than perfect, so I mounted an old SB-24, put the cable in and didn't switch it on. That works, but that cable was embarrasing.

My solution now is an infrared 'flash' on the camera. Works perfectly and without the risk to damage the camera with high voltages

--
D70, SB600, kit lens, 180/2.8AF, Kiron 105/2.8 Macro, some more glass

 

[Val Patel]

CWilt,

I really like your studio portrait. It is beautiful. I like to understand how you set up one softbox to fill and the other to main.

In my studio I have Alien Bee's DigiBee setup - 2 strobes mounted with umbrellas and I shoot with Canon 10D in M mode with aperture between 8 and 11, shutter speed 150 to 200 and ISO 100. I triggered the strobes with Metz 54-MZ3 flash mounted on 10D, set to AUTO and bounced straight up the ceiling.

I like to see if I can duplicate your fill and main settings in my set up.

Thanks,

Val

Update...

Okay, so after reading everything I could find, it looks like the
only way to get full TTL is to use SB800 and 600 combos. However,
if anyone has a really great insight as to how to incorporate
studio strobes into the TTL, I'd appreciate the input!

--
http://stakeman.smugmug.com

 

[Old Yeller]

I use a pair of Hensel monolights with a radio transmitter on the camera. I have a radio slave on one monolight and the other is set to optical slave. I set my camera to manual and usually shoot at about f/11 with the strobes set all the way down. It's nice to only have power cords to worry about.

Sometimes I use my SB-800 for a background light set to SU-4 slave.

The radio slave is really nice for architecture because my lights are spread out so much it's hard to reach them with a PC cord. I could use my onboard flash to trigger everything but sometimes the flash dosen't reach around corners very well. I also don't like the added refections in the windows to deal with. The less lights the better! The Hensel monolights are awsome! I can shoot full sunny 16 exposure indoors in a large room with my 1000w! That's some serious juice.

 

[CWilt]

Thank you. This was just a quick snap shot to test the softbox setup with the speedlights. I started with shoot thru and bounced umbrella's. It is very hard to control the light with those. I was able to get decent results from this setup, but it took longer to get the lighting where I wanted it. Here is one of those....



My setup is pretty simple with the softboxes for the image I posted previously.

Main is an SB600 with the medium softbox, camera left at about 45 degrees to subject. I have different modifiers for this but have not used them yet.

Fill is an SB800 in the large softbox, as close to camera as possible. Down about 1 to 1 and 1/2 stop from main. I didn't take the time to measure it.

The hair light is another SB600 with small softbox with grid above and slightly behind. Set about the same as fill. This depends on hair color and background.

Background was another SB600 on the floor behind the subject. This will be moved to above the subject so I can control the light spill better next time.

Subject is more than 6 feet in front of the background.

Here is a pic of the setup. Hope this helps.

CWilt,

I really like your studio portrait. It is beautiful. I like to
understand how you set up one softbox to fill and the other to main.

In my studio I have Alien Bee's DigiBee setup - 2 strobes mounted
with umbrellas and I shoot with Canon 10D in M mode with aperture
between 8 and 11, shutter speed 150 to 200 and ISO 100. I
triggered the strobes with Metz 54-MZ3 flash mounted on 10D, set to
AUTO and bounced straight up the ceiling.

I like to see if I can duplicate your fill and main settings in my
set up.

Thanks,

Val

--
http://stakeman.smugmug.com

 

[dayv]

Thank you. This was just a quick snap shot to test the softbox
setup with the speedlights. I started with shoot thru and bounced
umbrella's. It is very hard to control the light with those. I was
able to get decent results from this setup, but it took longer to
get the lighting where I wanted it. Here is one of those....



My setup is pretty simple with the softboxes for the image I posted
previously.
Main is an SB600 with the medium softbox, camera left at about 45
degrees to subject. I have different modifiers for this but have
not used them yet.

Fill is an SB800 in the large softbox, as close to camera as
possible. Down about 1 to 1 and 1/2 stop from main. I didn't take
the time to measure it.

The hair light is another SB600 with small softbox with grid above
and slightly behind. Set about the same as fill. This depends on
hair color and background.

Background was another SB600 on the floor behind the subject. This
will be moved to above the subject so I can control the light spill
better next time.

Subject is more than 6 feet in front of the background.

Here is a pic of the setup. Hope this helps.



--
http://stakeman.smugmug.com

hi cwilt, thanks for the helpful explanation. just asking normally how strong is your main sb600 in terms of flash compensation? i just would like to know how much power does the softbox needs.

lastly, do you set your fill light and hair light to ttl? or manual?

thanks again.

--
regards, dayv
http://www.pbase.com/dayv

 

[CWilt]

I am currently using manual on all the flashes. The 600's are set to remote and with the 800 on the stand next me to it is easy to adjust. The main is usually at 1/2 power and the fill at 1/4. Sometimes I am to lazy to meter everything and just go by my gut feeling.

As a side note. The SB600's do have a modeling light. Select the proper channel for the light you want to model on the 800 and hit the 800's modeling light button. The selected 600 will give you a modeling light for a few seconds. Enough to see where the shadows will be.

hi cwilt, thanks for the helpful explanation. just asking normally
how strong is your main sb600 in terms of flash compensation? i
just would like to know how much power does the softbox needs.

lastly, do you set your fill light and hair light to ttl? or manual?

thanks again.

--
regards, dayv
http://www.pbase.com/dayv

--
http://stakeman.smugmug.com

 

[dayv]

As a side note. The SB600's do have a modeling light. Select the
proper channel for the light you want to model on the 800 and hit
the 800's modeling light button. The selected 600 will give you a
modeling light for a few seconds. Enough to see where the shadows
will be.

hi cwilt, thanks for the helpful explanation. just asking normally
how strong is your main sb600 in terms of flash compensation? i
just would like to know how much power does the softbox needs.

lastly, do you set your fill light and hair light to ttl? or manual?

thanks again.

--
regards, dayv
http://www.pbase.com/dayv

--
http://stakeman.smugmug.com

--
regards, dayv
http://www.pbase.com/dayv

 

[DaveB_UK]

Nice set up, can you post a link to the softboxes you use (where to get them) please? I use SB800's with umbrella's & as you said you don't get the same control as a softbox so would like to try one on mine.

I take it they come with a speedring also??

Cheers

Dave

My setup is pretty simple with the softboxes for the image I posted
previously.
Main is an SB600 with the medium softbox, camera left at about 45
degrees to subject. I have different modifiers for this but have
not used them yet.

Fill is an SB800 in the large softbox, as close to camera as
possible. Down about 1 to 1 and 1/2 stop from main. I didn't take
the time to measure it.

The hair light is another SB600 with small softbox with grid above
and slightly behind. Set about the same as fill. This depends on
hair color and background.

Background was another SB600 on the floor behind the subject. This
will be moved to above the subject so I can control the light spill
better next time.

Subject is more than 6 feet in front of the background.

Here is a pic of the setup. Hope this helps.

CWilt,

I really like your studio portrait. It is beautiful. I like to
understand how you set up one softbox to fill and the other to main.

In my studio I have Alien Bee's DigiBee setup - 2 strobes mounted
with umbrellas and I shoot with Canon 10D in M mode with aperture
between 8 and 11, shutter speed 150 to 200 and ISO 100. I
triggered the strobes with Metz 54-MZ3 flash mounted on 10D, set to
AUTO and bounced straight up the ceiling.

I like to see if I can duplicate your fill and main settings in my
set up.

Thanks,

Val

--
http://stakeman.smugmug.com

--
http://www.dbphotographic.smugmug.com

 

[Val Patel]

CWit,

Thank you for sharing the details on your setup. It is very informative and helpful. Your setup is great and the results are outstanding.

Regards,

Val

My setup is pretty simple with the softboxes for the image I posted
previously.
Main is an SB600 with the medium softbox, camera left at about 45
degrees to subject. I have different modifiers for this but have
not used them yet.

Fill is an SB800 in the large softbox, as close to camera as
possible. Down about 1 to 1 and 1/2 stop from main. I didn't take
the time to measure it.

The hair light is another SB600 with small softbox with grid above
and slightly behind. Set about the same as fill. This depends on
hair color and background.

Background was another SB600 on the floor behind the subject. This
will be moved to above the subject so I can control the light spill
better next time.

Subject is more than 6 feet in front of the background.

Here is a pic of the setup. Hope this helps.

CWilt,

I really like your studio portrait. It is beautiful. I like to
understand how you set up one softbox to fill and the other to main.

In my studio I have Alien Bee's DigiBee setup - 2 strobes mounted
with umbrellas and I shoot with Canon 10D in M mode with aperture
between 8 and 11, shutter speed 150 to 200 and ISO 100. I
triggered the strobes with Metz 54-MZ3 flash mounted on 10D, set to
AUTO and bounced straight up the ceiling.

I like to see if I can duplicate your fill and main settings in my
set up.

Thanks,

Val

--
http://stakeman.smugmug.com

 

[CWilt]

Nice set up, can you post a link to the softboxes you use (where to
get them) please? I use SB800's with umbrella's & as you said you
don't get the same control as a softbox so would like to try one on
mine.

I take it they come with a speedring also??

Cheers

Dave

Large Softbox..

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=138243&is=REG

Speedring...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=13778&is=REG

Flashmount...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=52772&is=REG

I used the flashmount because the stands that come with the SB's with tripod mount are to wide to fit on the speedring adapter.

I liked the photoflex because the diffusers are removeable which could add 1 stop of light. I bought 1 each of, large, medium, and small. I have no idea what I am going to do with the background light yet.

Hope this helps.

--
http://stakeman.smugmug.com

 

[Bartman01]

In a studio type setting, why in the world would you want TTL metering? You have an ideal situation with a known light source and intensity - why risk losing even one shot because the TLL system got confused? Just set everything to manual and leave it.

 

[CWilt]

Manual is great, if you have a light meter to adjust your lighting ratios. This can be done by trial and error by using the histogram but you still won't be able to set a precise ratio.

In a studio type setting, why in the world would you want TTL
metering? You have an ideal situation with a known light source
and intensity - why risk losing even one shot because the TLL
system got confused? Just set everything to manual and leave it.

--
http://stakeman.smugmug.com

 

[DaveB_UK]

Thanks for all the input guys, much appreciated.

 

[Andy Taylor]

Update...

Okay, so after reading everything I could find, it looks like the
only way to get full TTL is to use SB800 and 600 combos. However,
if anyone has a really great insight as to how to incorporate
studio strobes into the TTL, I'd appreciate the input!

You've got it dead right there, to get TTL you have to use a compatible flashgun. Studio lighting is designed to be used with manual settings and preferably a flash meter, although you can get away without one with digital.

--
Andy
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=196258
http://ajtaylor.smugmug.com