SB-800 Wireless Commander mode doesn't work properly :(

[capecodchris]

I have a D70 and a SB-800 flash and I am trying to make use of the "remote Commander" mode of this combo. I have custom setting 19 set to TTL commander -> TTL and I have my sb-800 set to "remote". The exposure is perfect, but I am getting fill from the camera flash which is confirmed by taking a picture in a mirror. For some reason, the on camera flash contributes to the lighting as well. This is really useless and terrible. I am trying to take some pictures of some shiny objects and am getting horrible hot spots and I do not have my sc-29 remote cord so I am screwed. Am I doing anything wrong that anyone knows about or is this a malfunction?

Chris

 

[daniel.soh]

Set camera flash to TTL (not commander mode), SB-800 to SU-4 mode.

That way, when the SB-800 is detacted from camera, you'll see 'remote' on the display.

When you shoot with the on-board flash up, the SB-800 will fire when it detects the flash. This way, you can use both on-board flash and the SB-800.

Hope this helps.

 

[Peter Finlayson]

I have never noticed this problem, but then I haven't done any stuff where it is critical that the on board flash not contribute. What I have done when just playing around is use the flash cover that came with my SU4 (which I use with an SB28 flash) to cover the on board flash when firing the SB 800. It works fine. I remember reading somewhere that you can use some exposed film as an infra red filter (anyone know about this?), in which case you could cover the on board flash with a strip and your SB 800 will fire OK without any contribution from the camera.
--
Pistol Pete

 

[good-ham]

I think you misunderstood (or I did). I believe he is saying he does not want the on camera flash contributing. I have the same setup and have the same issue, though it hasn't been as much of a problem for me. I've had a few whots screwed up by the shadow of the lens, though. All the tech stuff says it isn't supposed to contribute, but I have seen different as well.

Set camera flash to TTL (not commander mode), SB-800 to SU-4 mode.
That way, when the SB-800 is detacted from camera, you'll see
'remote' on the display.
When you shoot with the on-board flash up, the SB-800 will fire
when it detects the flash. This way, you can use both on-board
flash and the SB-800.

Hope this helps.

 

[Duncan C]

You should be able to tape a scrap of unexposed, developed slide film in front of the window on your onboard flash and have it block the visible light, but let enough IR through for the slaved SB-800 to fire. That seems like a hack, though.

I'm a visitor here, so I don't know the ins and outs of the D70. (I shoot with a D1X, and am limited to the rather primitive DTTL.) When in commander mode, don't you set the light level of the different flashes separately? I'd expect that setting the onboard flash to commander mode would not automatically turn off it's contribution to the scene, but that you'd set it's output as a separate step.

Duncan C
---

I have never noticed this problem, but then I haven't done any
stuff where it is critical that the on board flash not contribute.
What I have done when just playing around is use the flash cover
that came with my SU4 (which I use with an SB28 flash) to cover the
on board flash when firing the SB 800. It works fine. I remember
reading somewhere that you can use some exposed film as an infra
red filter (anyone know about this?), in which case you could cover
the on board flash with a strip and your SB 800 will fire OK
without any contribution from the camera.
--
Pistol Pete

--
dpreview and PBase supporter.



http://www.pbase.com/duncanc

 

[Hooligans Imagery]

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1034&message=9741007

I recall similar results. In commander mode it still needs to give commands. These are not significant except for very close up work I guess, and then the answer is to cover the on board flash. Someone said they use their finger to diffuse it. For a longer distance I think it's not signficant.

I'm a visitor here, so I don't know the ins and outs of the D70. (I
shoot with a D1X, and am limited to the rather primitive DTTL.)
When in commander mode, don't you set the light level of the
different flashes separately? I'd expect that setting the onboard
flash to commander mode would not automatically turn off it's
contribution to the scene, but that you'd set it's output as a
separate step.

Duncan C
---

I have never noticed this problem, but then I haven't done any
stuff where it is critical that the on board flash not contribute.
What I have done when just playing around is use the flash cover
that came with my SU4 (which I use with an SB28 flash) to cover the
on board flash when firing the SB 800. It works fine. I remember
reading somewhere that you can use some exposed film as an infra
red filter (anyone know about this?), in which case you could cover
the on board flash with a strip and your SB 800 will fire OK
without any contribution from the camera.
--
Pistol Pete

--
dpreview and PBase supporter.



http://www.pbase.com/duncanc

--
Stinson

http://www.StinsonsTerra.NikonD70Gallery.photoshare.co.nz
http://www.StinsonsTerra.StinsonsC750Gallery.PhotoShare.co.nz
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=64739
ViewExif at http://ak.no-ip.com/EXIF/

 

[daniel.soh]

I misunderstood what he wanted. I believe Stinson had a very good writeup on this in this thread below.

Set camera flash to TTL (not commander mode), SB-800 to SU-4 mode.
That way, when the SB-800 is detacted from camera, you'll see
'remote' on the display.
When you shoot with the on-board flash up, the SB-800 will fire
when it detects the flash. This way, you can use both on-board
flash and the SB-800.

Hope this helps.

 

[PhotoLeon1935]

The commander mode puts out 5 flashes to instruct the slave. The fifth flash is the GO signal and is the only one that happens when the shutter is open. When you are close up it will contribute a small amount to the image. When you are farther away you will not see any light from the camera. If you are pointing towards a mirror you will see the 5th flash which is less than 1/64 power. If the flash is actually in the picture taken because of a mirror you will see it but it is not the one that fills the room like the SB600. Did you set the remote to channel A3?

--
TANSTAAFL - There aint no such thing as a free lunch.
If it sounds too good to be true it just might be so.
D70 Owner

 

[joefri]

Ok, I don't know what you guys are doing, but I just tried the same setup you explained and my D70 onboard speedlight does NOT contribute to the exposure using the SB-800 in Remote mode.

Here's another test you can try turn off your SB-800, put your D70 in commander mode -TTL. and take a picture in a dark room I'm pretty sure you'll have a very dark exposure, you may see something but that's the preflashes causing whatever exposure you have. Now turn off commander mode and take the same picture. You will see big difference.

Conclusion the on board flash regardless of what flash you are using 600 or 800 does not contribute to exposure in commander mode unless you have the 800 and it is in SU-4 mode.

 

[Hooligans Imagery]

The commander mode puts out 5 flashes to instruct the slave. The
fifth flash is the GO signal and is the only one that happens when
the shutter is open. When you are close up it will contribute a
small amount to the image. When you are farther away you will not
see any light from the camera. If you are pointing towards a mirror
you will see the 5th flash which is less than 1/64 power.

This 5th flash is what I think some people are having issues with on close ups.

If the

flash is actually in the picture taken because of a mirror you will
see it but it is not the one that fills the room like the SB600.
Did you set the remote to channel A3?

--
TANSTAAFL - There aint no such thing as a free lunch.
If it sounds too good to be true it just might be so.
D70 Owner

--
Stinson

http://www.StinsonsTerra.NikonD70Gallery.photoshare.co.nz
http://www.StinsonsTerra.StinsonsC750Gallery.PhotoShare.co.nz
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=64739
ViewExif at http://ak.no-ip.com/EXIF/

 

[joefri]

It's not likely that the 5th flash would cause this , you may just have your remote to close to the subject.

 

[joefri]

It's not likely that the 5th flash would cause this , you may just
have your remote to close to the subject.

I should add to this that it is possible if your camera is way too close to your subject that's why the made ring flashes for close up work. They diffuse the light more at close distances.

 

[Brad Morris]

Unless you are doing close up shots the light will not contribute to the overall exposure due physics of light drop off. The same principal applies it you try to use you SB-800 and take an image at a night football match. All you will get is the crowds heads and a black image of the field cause the flash is not powerful enough to illuminate the whole stadium

There are some exceptions to this. like when you are shooting highly reflective objects such as mirrors which will simple reflect you and all the flash lights back to the camera, underexposing the rest of your shot.

The camera does use the flash in low power mode to trigger the SB-800 so it does fire and you cannot stop this. What you can do though, is losely cover the front of the flash unit with some paper or cardboard so that the slight can spill around the sides of the card but the main flash is blocked from the subject that you are taking the shot of. The spill should be enough to still trigger the flash without adding catch lights to the subject

I have a D70 and a SB-800 flash and I am trying to make use of the
"remote Commander" mode of this combo. I have custom setting 19
set to TTL commander -> TTL and I have my sb-800 set to "remote".
The exposure is perfect, but I am getting fill from the camera
flash which is confirmed by taking a picture in a mirror. For some
reason, the on camera flash contributes to the lighting as well.
This is really useless and terrible. I am trying to take some
pictures of some shiny objects and am getting horrible hot spots
and I do not have my sc-29 remote cord so I am screwed. Am I doing
anything wrong that anyone knows about or is this a malfunction?

Chris

--
http://bradm.photopoints.com ,
http://www.usefilm.com/browse.php?mode=port&data=13628

 

[capecodchris]

I am taking a picture of a circuit board with my 35mm lens and I am about 3 feet away. I have the SB-800 on channel 3a and the D70 is set to Commander mode. I agree that the flash that the D70 contributes is VERY small, but when you are taking a picture of a circuit board, which has shiny lead traces, they reflect any little bit of light. A ring flash would make this problem a LOT worse unfortunately. What you have to do is use 1 or 2 speedlights at a 45 degree angle to prevent this problem. How I ended up fixing this problem was to take the picture off plane which removed the reflection and used the "perspective" command in Photoshop to make the circuit board "square" again. I really miss my sc-29 sync cable and am disappointed in Nikon for the bug.

Chris

 

[capecodchris]

Brad:

Good idea, I am going to try a piece of cardboard to spread the lighting.

Chris

There are some exceptions to this. like when you are shooting
highly reflective objects such as mirrors which will simple reflect
you and all the flash lights back to the camera, underexposing the
rest of your shot.

The camera does use the flash in low power mode to trigger the
SB-800 so it does fire and you cannot stop this. What you can do
though, is losely cover the front of the flash unit with some paper
or cardboard so that the slight can spill around the sides of the
card but the main flash is blocked from the subject that you are
taking the shot of. The spill should be enough to still trigger the
flash without adding catch lights to the subject

I have a D70 and a SB-800 flash and I am trying to make use of the
"remote Commander" mode of this combo. I have custom setting 19
set to TTL commander -> TTL and I have my sb-800 set to "remote".
The exposure is perfect, but I am getting fill from the camera
flash which is confirmed by taking a picture in a mirror. For some
reason, the on camera flash contributes to the lighting as well.
This is really useless and terrible. I am trying to take some
pictures of some shiny objects and am getting horrible hot spots
and I do not have my sc-29 remote cord so I am screwed. Am I doing
anything wrong that anyone knows about or is this a malfunction?

Chris

--
http://bradm.photopoints.com ,
http://www.usefilm.com/browse.php?mode=port&data=13628

 

[capecodchris]

Take a picture of a mirror and you will see that it does contribute. If the system was working properly, according to me, you would see the flash of the sb-800 and you would not see ANY light from the onboard speedlight. This is not the case therefore I think it is broken, obviously my opinion of course.

Chris

Ok, I don't know what you guys are doing, but I just tried the same
setup you explained and my D70 onboard speedlight does NOT
contribute to the exposure using the SB-800 in Remote mode.

Here's another test you can try turn off your SB-800, put your D70
in commander mode -TTL. and take a picture in a dark room I'm
pretty sure you'll have a very dark exposure, you may see something
but that's the preflashes causing whatever exposure you have. Now
turn off commander mode and take the same picture. You will see big
difference.

Conclusion the on board flash regardless of what flash you are
using 600 or 800 does not contribute to exposure in commander mode
unless you have the 800 and it is in SU-4 mode.

 

[Ilja]

I usually block the on-board flash with my index finger...not THE solution, but it's simple and works for me.
--
gallery's @ http://www.illdesign.nl

 

[arek daniel]

Unless you are doing close up shots the light will not contribute

 

[Duncan C]

You should be able to tape a scrap of unexposed, developed slide film in front of the window on your onboard flash and have it block the visible light, but let enough IR through for the slaved SB-800 to fire. You should be able to get a black scrap of slide film from any photo lab, since they cut off and throw away the leaders and trailers from every roll they develop.

You could also make a little "deflector" out of a scrap of aluminum foil, posterboard and tape that would bounce the light from the onboard flash up to the ceiling or into a wall.

Duncan C
---

Good idea, I am going to try a piece of cardboard to spread the
lighting.

Chris

There are some exceptions to this. like when you are shooting
highly reflective objects such as mirrors which will simple reflect
you and all the flash lights back to the camera, underexposing the
rest of your shot.

The camera does use the flash in low power mode to trigger the
SB-800 so it does fire and you cannot stop this. What you can do
though, is losely cover the front of the flash unit with some paper
or cardboard so that the slight can spill around the sides of the
card but the main flash is blocked from the subject that you are
taking the shot of. The spill should be enough to still trigger the
flash without adding catch lights to the subject

I have a D70 and a SB-800 flash and I am trying to make use of the
"remote Commander" mode of this combo. I have custom setting 19
set to TTL commander -> TTL and I have my sb-800 set to "remote".
The exposure is perfect, but I am getting fill from the camera
flash which is confirmed by taking a picture in a mirror. For some
reason, the on camera flash contributes to the lighting as well.
This is really useless and terrible. I am trying to take some
pictures of some shiny objects and am getting horrible hot spots
and I do not have my sc-29 remote cord so I am screwed. Am I doing
anything wrong that anyone knows about or is this a malfunction?

Chris

--
http://bradm.photopoints.com ,
http://www.usefilm.com/browse.php?mode=port&data=13628

--
dpreview and PBase supporter.



http://www.pbase.com/duncanc

 

[Hooligans Imagery]

the do good things in the garden, and they allow for wireless flash use. Unfortunately for you its an issue, but it does allow the wireless use overall.

I am taking a picture of a circuit board with my 35mm lens and I am
about 3 feet away. I have the SB-800 on channel 3a and the D70 is
set to Commander mode. I agree that the flash that the D70
contributes is VERY small, but when you are taking a picture of a
circuit board, which has shiny lead traces, they reflect any little
bit of light. A ring flash would make this problem a LOT worse
unfortunately. What you have to do is use 1 or 2 speedlights at a
45 degree angle to prevent this problem. How I ended up fixing
this problem was to take the picture off plane which removed the
reflection and used the "perspective" command in Photoshop to make
the circuit board "square" again. I really miss my sc-29 sync
cable and am disappointed in Nikon for the bug.

Chris

--
Stinson

http://www.StinsonsTerra.NikonD70Gallery.photoshare.co.nz
http://www.StinsonsTerra.StinsonsC750Gallery.PhotoShare.co.nz
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=64739
ViewExif at http://ak.no-ip.com/EXIF/