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Off Camera Flash Question

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Daniel Brannon

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Hello,

I just have a question about off camera lighting. I have 2 SB600 flash units. I use a Nikon D90 and a 70-200 . I want to buy a two umbrella kit from B&H. My question is is there anything else out there you would recomend other than the pocket wizard to trigger the two flashes in the umbrellas. I do not want to use my pop up flash in commander mode to trigger them. Basically i would like to know if i can get any other slave that would work. Thanks so much for your help. Its greatly appreciated.
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Daniel L. Brannon
 
There are lots of options. I recommend that you try the YongNuo RF602 wireless kits. They are available for cheap on eBay and function reliably for me and many others. They also make excellent wireless shutter triggers.

--

A warming of several degrees, Melted ice and raised oceans and seas. The Army was finished, the Air Force diminished, but the Navy was quietly pleased.
 
I also suggest you look into softboxes for your flash units instead of umbrellas. Softboxes don't scatter light all over the place like umbrellas, and stray light can be a problem if you run into colored walls or ceilings. I think they use your light more efficiently too, and they aren't that much more expensive.
 
Depends on your budget. When I bought my first wireles triggers low price was everything, so I bought a Cactus Trigger V4 transmitter and receiver set for only $39.00. They have worked so well for me that I now have 3 transmitters (one for each camera) and 6 receivers (one for any or all of my 6 flashes and/or strobes).

Since they are multi channel I can adjust different setups to different channels so only the selected lights fire for a given camera. So if I know I want certain lights on the far side of the room I'll set them to trigger on the camera with the long lens, then set the lights for up close to trigger on the shorter lens.

They do NOT do i-TTL though. Manual only. But if your light conditions won't change after initial setup this is a nonissue. You can make adjustments at the camera to deal with some changes too.
 
I'd go with the Phottix Strato if you are OK with using manual mode only with your flashes.

The Strato work to the full flash sync speed of Nikon cameras (1/250s), whereas the Yongnuo flash reportedly only work up to (1/200s).

The Strato also support pass-thru on the hot shoe. Put a transmitter in the camera hot shoe and then put a commander flash in the transmitter hot shoe. Allows you to mix CLS with radio triggering.

The Strato also don't use any brand specific cable, comes with all standard cables. Can also be used as a remote camera trigger.

More expensive than Yongnuo, but much cheaper than PW.

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Mike Dawson
 
michaeladawson said:
I'd go with the Phottix Strato if you are OK with using manual mode only with your flashes.

The Strato work to the full flash sync speed of Nikon cameras (1/250s), whereas the Yongnuo flash reportedly only work up to (1/200s).

The Strato also support pass-thru on the hot shoe. Put a transmitter in the camera hot shoe and then put a commander flash in the transmitter hot shoe. Allows you to mix CLS with radio triggering.

The Strato also don't use any brand specific cable, comes with all standard cables. Can also be used as a remote camera trigger.

More expensive than Yongnuo, but much cheaper than PW.

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Mike Dawson
Click to expand...
Wow. That pass through sounds way cool. I'm gonna' have to check that out!
 
Daniel Brannon said:
My question is is there anything else out there you would recomend other than the pocket wizard to trigger the two flashes in the umbrellas. I do not want to use my pop up flash in commander mode to trigger them. Basically i would like to know if i can get any other slave that would work.
Click to expand...
The simplest and least expensive way is to get a hot-shoe to pc adapter for your camera and trigger one flash using a pc-sync cord and set the other flash to slave mode. If your flash doesn't have a slave mode, then get a hot-shoe optical slave sensor for it. I use this setup all the time -- total cost shouldn't be more than $50, and it's very reliable.

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Darrell
 
He specifically stated he did not want to use the pop up flash.
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Mike Dawson
 
michaeladawson said:
He specifically stated he did not want to use the pop up flash.
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Mike Dawson
Click to expand...
Well, is he saying that because he doesn't want the light fired from the popup to affect his exposure? Because if that's the case he can shut that off and still use Commander/Remote with all the same capabilities.

OP, of you already know that then disregard, but if you don't then let me know and I can walk you through the menu selections.
 
Thanks so much so far for all the help. It is greatly appreciated. I always thought you had to fire the pop up flash. If there is a way to turn the flash off hell yeah let me know for now i will try it. I just always thought you had to fire it
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Daniel L. Brannon
 
Daniel Brannon said:
Thanks so much so far for all the help. It is greatly appreciated. I always thought you had to fire the pop up flash. If there is a way to turn the flash off hell yeah let me know for now i will try it. I just always thought you had to fire it
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Daniel L. Brannon
Click to expand...
Okay, D90 right?

With your display on press Menu,

then scroll to the Pencil button on the left hand side,

then press the button to move your cursor to the right to access those submenus,

then scroll down to Bracketing/Flash and press OK,

then scroll down to e2 (Flash cntrol for built in flash) and press OK,

then scroll down to Commander Mode and press OK. There you will se a menu where you can set the popup flash as well as other flashes.

Use your left and right keys to select different boxes for each flash, then use the up and down keys to change the settings. The "---" means that flash will NOT fire, however the built in flash will still control your other lights. It does give off a preflash that the other lights use for exposure, but it happens just before exposure so won't affect you pictures.

You can put each of your flashes on 1 channel but on different groups (A or B for example) so you can control each of them independently of each other. You will need to set this in the flash units as well. Set one for A and one for B, then use the camera to control the lights. You won't have to move. You can also use i-TTL, Manual, Aperture Priority, too!

If you want to call me on the phone I will talk you through it too: 734 560 7226.

Dennis
 
Daniel Brannon said:
Thanks so much so far for all the help. It is greatly appreciated. I always thought you had to fire the pop up flash. If there is a way to turn the flash off hell yeah let me know for now i will try it. I just always thought you had to fire it
Click to expand...
The Flash Commander (custom setting e2) has a Mode setting for the built-in flash. Set this to "--". That will turn off the built-in flash. Please note that the built-in flash always fires. That’s how the camera talks to the remote flash units. When you set the mode to "--" you’re simply telling the flash not to contribute any light to the exposure.

The built-in will still contribute a tiny amount of light. This is because the “go” signal is sent when the shutter has fully opened. The lower your ISO, the less noticeable it is. This light will also create tiny catch lights in the eyes of people. You can just Photoshop those out if you don’t like them.

If you need to eliminate light from the built-in completely (photographing wine bottles, for example,) then try using Auto FP mode. With your D90, enable Auto FP (custom setting e5) and set your shutter speed to 1/250. You want to slowest shutter so that you can have the most flash power available (auto FP sucks up a lot of flash power.) With Auto FP, the “go” signal is sent just before the shutter opens. That’s why there’s no light contribution from the built-in.

.
 
Dennis,

Thank you. Very clear instructions and i got it all figured out. You guys on this forum are awesome and thanks so much again for the help. I really appreciate it
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Daniel L. Brannon
 
Do you guys think soft boxes would be better than umbrellas. I shoot mostly high school seniors outdoors. I also like to find old building and use the inside of them. Let me know what you guys think about the umbrellas verses softboxes
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Daniel L. Brannon
 
Daniel Brannon said:
Do you guys think soft boxes would be better than umbrellas. I shoot mostly high school seniors outdoors. I also like to find old building and use the inside of them. Let me know what you guys think about the umbrellas verses softboxes
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Daniel L. Brannon
Click to expand...
I bought umbrellas and they work well, but had I a few more bucks to spend at the time I would have purchased soft boxes. As other posters explain, they don't waste light, which gives you quicker recycle time and longer battery life, and there's no fly away, so light only goes where you want it. Light bouncing all around the room can sometimes create undesireable issues.
 
Sailor Blue said:
I also suggest you look into softboxes for your flash units instead of umbrellas.
Click to expand...
I'm in sort of in the same boat as the OP, except that I'm using Canon. And have no intention of buying anything like a Pocket Wizard--I will be using Canon optical triggering for the foreseeable future.

I was also ready to buy an umbrella kit from B&H until I saw your post. My problem is that I don't know what to order. In terms of mounting hardware. B&H's lighting section is set up assuming that you know what you need and know where to find it. I don't, so I am totally baffled in knowing what combination of softboxes, light stands, and mounting hardware I should order.

Mounting hardware such that the flash optical sensors won't be covered, because I'm using Canon optical triggering and need to maintain line-of-sight between my camera and the optical sensors on the flashes.

And which softboxes are easy to work with and which softboxes would make me wish I was dead every time I assembled them.

FWIW, I have a 550EX and a 420EX and will be controlling them with my 60D's built in wireless controller (AKA the pop-up flash.) The 420EX can't be controlled manually, so I need to maintain E-TTL.

Wayne
 
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