help a newbie with the SB800

[Z-man]

Okay, I just can't seem to get it, so I thought I would ask the pro's for some help. I am a novice D70 user, still getting used to the thing. I can't seem to get the on board flash to act as a commander and the SB800 to act as the remote. I have concluded two possible reasons for this: One, I don't know what the hell I am doing, or two, it doesn't work that way. If it is possible, then what am I missing? If it is not possible, then am I going to have to buy another SB800 to use as a remote flash, with my existing SB800 as the commander? Or are there other, less expensive alternatives. Further, i want to take some shots with two flashes positioned at the right and left of my subject, and the camera in the middle. I don't want to fire a flash from the camera. Can I do this wirelessly? or am I going to need some cables. Last question. I have a friend who has some umbrella flashes which connect via a hot shoe cable. Are there compatibility issues with certain peices of equipment? or can any flash work? I have been getting conflicting answers.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[christiand]

Hi,

is your onboard flash ok ? (does it work ?)
(my onboard flash died a while ago and I cannot use the D70 to trigger the SB-800, but another flash that I have will.)

Cheers
CD

[kipper]

Hope you're getting the onboard repaired under warranty
Or was the death self inflicted?

[Onyx]

hi Z-man, sit back, relax, and absorb...

Using the SB800 wirelessly: Let's start with the camera settings first.
In the custom menu, scroll down to option 19 - flash mode. Select commander TTL.

On the SB800:
Press and hold the 'Sel' button (middle of the 4-way directional arrow pad) for two seconds. You'll come to a different set of menus, having icons on the left and words on the right of the flash's LCD screen. Navigate to the top, rightmost option - which is an icon with a squiggly arrow going towards a flash, as well as a squiggle arrow going away from one. Press 'Sel' and down arrow (minus button) "REMOTE" and select it. Confirm that there is a left arrow next to "REMOTE", then press and hold down 'sel' once again for two seconds.

It should present you with screen with REMOTE in the centre, CH - 1 2 3 4 box at the top left, and a Group A B C box at the bottom right. Press 'sel' and 'CH' should be highlighted. Press up/down (plus/minus) until the digit 3 is bigger than the rest. Press 'sel' and GROUP should now be highlighted. Confirm that A is biggest letter you see.

You're ready to fire away.

Pop up the D70's built-in flash (use P, S, A or M modes, don't use the "idiot modes"), and hit the shutter. By default there should be a series of beeps from the SB800 confirming it has fired.

The light that makes it to the image recorded is entirely from the SB800. The D70's built in flash, although it flashes, does NOT contribute to the final image. It merely flashes to tell the SB800 to fire.

[gstark]

Z-Man,

Okay, I just can't seem to get it, so I thought I would ask the pro's for some help. I am a novice D70 user, still getting used to the thing. I can't seem to get the on board flash to act as a commander and the SB800 to act as the remote. I have concluded two possible reasons for this: One, I don't know what the hell I am doing, or two, it doesn't work that way.

Your forgot option 3: all of the above.

You need to set up your channels on the SB800. I don't have this information readily at hand, but you need to set up something like channel C and group 2.

Look through the index of your manuals for "channel", and you'll probably find what you need.

You also need to set the flash, in the camera, to commander mode. That's in your camera's menu system somewhere.

Further, i want to take some shots with two flashes positioned at the right and left of my subject, and the camera in the middle. I don't want to fire a flash from the camera. Can I do this wirelessly? or am I going to need some cables. Last question. I have a friend who has some umbrella flashes which connect via a hot shoe cable. Are there compatibility issues with certain peices of equipment? or can any flash work? I have been getting conflicting answers.

Ok ... you can use multiple SB800s or one SB800 with multiple SB600s wirelessly.

Otherwise, you can connect other types of flash units using a pc synch cable.

I'm not sure about the SB800, but if you're connecting a flash unit to the hotshoe of the D70 you need to be wary of the trip voltage; exceed the specified value (I'd need to find this for you) at your peril.

Of course, other units can be triggered by a light sensor too, such as in studio strobe units.

Look also for last week's thread on the Vivitar (IIRC) 120 and 150 (I think) flash slaves.

[gstark]

Onyx,

Thanx.

[Z-man]

That was some good info and fast. I will give it a try in the morning since it is way past the bed time.

Quick question, since it seems I will be able to use the SB800 remotely and off camera, then I should buy an SB600 as a second flash to use wirelessly, correct? All other types of flashs will require sync cables, correct?

[Matt. K]

Everybody knows something. Almost nobody knows everything. This forum is of unrivalled quality. Information is given with humble grace in the hope that it promotes skill and confidence in those who are still learning. The only reward hoped for is to see your imagery grow in beauty.

[Onyx]

With regards to your other questions Z-man, here's one I prepared earlier:


This shot was taken with 2x SB800's, 1 left and 1 right of the camera. Both fired remotely. Because I was using the D70's built in to command them, I could not individually adjust flash output levels, hence that lop-sided shadow I couldn't get rid of or balance out.

If you had a separate SB800 mounted on the camera and two external units on either side, you could then control the output levels of the two independently using only the camera mounted flash unit.

The maximum trigger voltage for the D70 hotshoe is quoted to be 250V. The industry standard these days (ISO standard) is 12V. You can measure the trigger voltage of a flash unit by using a multimeter. Positive probe to the centre pin on the hotshoe, negative probe to any of the surrounding metal; and have the unit fire one shot.

[Z-man]

I am assuming if you used a camera mounted 800 to control two others, then you would set the camera mounted one not to fire, or to fire very low.

the expense of buying one more 800 is alot, much less two. If I am not worried about controlling the output as much, I can use a 600 as a wireless remote, right? Or should I spend the extra $100 and get another 800?

[gstark]

I am assuming if you used a camera mounted 800 to control two others, then you would set the camera mounted one not to fire, or to fire very low.

the expense of buying one more 800 is alot, much less two. If I am not worried about controlling the output as much, I can use a 600 as a wireless remote, right? Or should I spend the extra $100 and get another 800?

You can certainly use a 600 as a wireless slave, controlled by the 800.

[gstark]

Onyx,

This shot was taken with 2x SB800's, 1 left and 1 right of the camera. Both fired remotely. Because I was using the D70's built in to command them, I could not individually adjust flash output levels, hence that lop-sided shadow I couldn't get rid of or balance out.

You can always relocate one of the flash heads so that they're closer (or further away) from the subjet matter.

And, of course, you can also use something like an SC29 mounted on-camera and connected to an off-camera 800.

[dooda]

I was flipping through a magazine recently and they were doing a review on some new lighting lamps that gave high quality, for a reasonable price. Unfortunatly I have nothing more specific as I sort of glanced it over and thought to myself, "not now but maybe someday I'll actually need something like this". This might be something worth checking out if you do a lot of this kind of thing.

[Onyx]

Onyx,

You can always relocate one of the flash heads so that they're closer (or further away) from the subjet matter.

And, of course, you can also use something like an SC29 mounted on-camera and connected to an off-camera 800.

Yes, yes I could have... and I had the cables on hand too - my brain must have been malfunctioning that day due to the weather.

[Z-man]

In your guys opinion, is there any advantage to me in buying a second sb800 vs. sb600? I will be using the second flash for wireless stuff.

[Charandane]

Z-man,
You may also try the option of using a Nikon SU-4 wireless slave adapter. I don't know what the price might be in Australia but I recently bought one for less than S60.00 CDN. I use this in wireless mode with older Nikon Speedlights, SB26 and SB15 which are quite adequate and a lot cheaper than an SB600. I also use the SB800. All of these can be triggered by the onboard flash on the D70.

http://www.pbase.com/charandane/image/24979971

It's certainly worth a couple of phone calls to see if the're available.

[sirhc55]

This was posted awhile ago - might be helpful.

http://forum.d70users.com/viewtopic.php?t=1044

Cheers

Chris

[gooseberry]

You don't need an SU-4 wireless adapter as the SB-800 has in built SU-4 mode. As a side note, in SU-4 mode, you lose the advantages of CLS and TTL flash capabilities.

[Charandane]

Yes I realize you don't need th SU-4 with the SB800 but you do need it with the older Speedlights. I know you lose CLS and TTL but you can still use those flashes in wireless mode, that is why I said it was an option that Z-man might want to consider.
To my knowledge the only flashes that work in perfect harmony with the D70 are the 800 and 600.

[Z-man]

hi Z-man, sit back, relax, and absorb...

Using the SB800 wirelessly: Let's start with the camera settings first.
In the custom menu, scroll down to option 19 - flash mode. Select commander TTL.

On the SB800:
Press and hold the 'Sel' button (middle of the 4-way directional arrow pad) for two seconds. You'll come to a different set of menus, having icons on the left and words on the right of the flash's LCD screen. Navigate to the top, rightmost option - which is an icon with a squiggly arrow going towards a flash, as well as a squiggle arrow going away from one. Press 'Sel' and down arrow (minus button) "REMOTE" and select it. Confirm that there is a left arrow next to "REMOTE", then press and hold down 'sel' once again for two seconds.

It should present you with screen with REMOTE in the centre, CH - 1 2 3 4 box at the top left, and a Group A B C box at the bottom right. Press 'sel' and 'CH' should be highlighted. Press up/down (plus/minus) until the digit 3 is bigger than the rest. Press 'sel' and GROUP should now be highlighted. Confirm that A is biggest letter you see.

You're ready to fire away.

Pop up the D70's built-in flash (use P, S, A or M modes, don't use the "idiot modes"), and hit the shutter. By default there should be a series of beeps from the SB800 confirming it has fired.

The light that makes it to the image recorded is entirely from the SB800. The D70's built in flash, although it flashes, does NOT contribute to the final image. It merely flashes to tell the SB800 to fire.

Works like a charm! Thanks a bunch for the help.

Next question. I think I am going to buy a sb600 to use as a 2nd wireless flash. Same settings as the 800?

[Onyx]

Yep, same channel 3 group A on the 600 - if you're controlling with the D70's built-in flash. If you have the 800 mounted to camera, just match the channel (number) setting. You can independently set group A,B or C to do flashy things...

[Z-man]

do you know if it is possible to fire the built in on board flash while using the 800 as a remote.

[gooseberry]

do you know if it is possible to fire the built in on board flash while using the 800 as a remote.

Yes, you can, but you won't have TTL and will need to control the power of the SB-800 manually.

You'll have to put the SB-800 in SU-4 mode.

If you have the internal flash set to manual (ie. no TTL as well), just set it up and fire away.

If you want TTL for the internal flash (SB-800 will still be manual), then, you will need to have the SB-800 turned off initially, use flash value lock and fire a pre-flash with the internal.

After the pre-flash, you turn on the SB-800 and take the shot.

You need to do this because in SU-4 mode the SB-800 will flash whenever it sees another flash. The pre-flash of the internal flash will trigger the SB-800 before the real flash is taken.

[Raydar]

One thing I love about the 800 is the off cam possibility’s on offer.

Try hand holding the thing & placing it in strange places when doing macros.
You can get some awesome effects by doing this.

Have a go you will be surprised what turns out.

Also you can get some strange looks if you’re in a public place when doing this

Cheers
Ray