Nikon speedlight help.

[DrMoab]

My wonderful wife bought me an SB-600 speedlight for Christmas.

I was under the impression that I could use this flash wirelessly using the IR features of my D80 but for the life of me I can't get it to work. I have both the flash and the camera set to the same channel and the same group. No matter what I do I can't seem to get them to work together. It will flash using the pop up flash as a trigger but that seems to be all I can get it to do.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[Michael Slade]

I am a Nikon nerd, and a Speedlight freak, but I don't know anything that can help you.

Can you get it to work normally ON the camera, in various modes? If so, then maybe it's just an incomplete understanding of the instructions. If not, I would wonder about the unit.

Good luck! I am in Logan tomorrow if you want a little help...Monday, Tuesday as well.

 

[DrMoab]

I am a Nikon nerd, and a Speedlight freak, but I don't know anything that can help you.

Can you get it to work normally ON the camera, in various modes? If so, then maybe it's just an incomplete understanding of the instructions. If not, I would wonder about the unit.

Good luck! I am in Logan tomorrow if you want a little help...Monday, Tuesday as well.

Yep, it works fine in every mode, works fine as a slave, just won't work without the on camera flash being up and firing...if it's off the camera. On the camera it works great.

 

[PNWDad]

All the Nikon built in flashes use the IR of the on camera flash to trigger the speedlights. I used to shoot with a D80, 2 sb600s, and a sb800. I usually used all three off camera triggered by the D80. You can access the menu option of the D80 to turn the on camera flash to manual, trigger only, or TTL(normal mode). You can also set the off camera flashes to TTL mode metered by your cameras sensor IIRC.

If it bothers you Nikon sells this: http://shop.nikonusa.com/store/niko...=TRad0goBAlcAAGDleVQAAAAl&rests=1293327824396

or you can spend LOTS of money buying the sb28, and all that fancy stuff to do the same thing you have built in.

 

[Frank]

The built in remote flash feature on a nikon is horrible. I have a d90 and a sb600. Tried it a few times (got it to work within 5ft) and it sucks as you have found out. I purchased a set of chineese remote flash triggers (cactus v2) and they are hit or miss. They get rave reviews on various blogs, mine turned out to be junk. I purchased a set of alien bees remote flash triggers and have been using them with great results.

My recommendations...buy alien bees if you want to remote trigger a flash.

 

[DrMoab]

I was under the impression that the D80 had a separate ir sensor that allowed you to trigger the flash without popping up the on camera flash. Am I wrong about this?

 

[PNWDad]

The camera only has the flash that pops up, sends out multiple flashes of light to the slave lights in commander mode. This flash doesnt contribute to the exposure unless you want it to. See links below for more info.

I too was just as confused at first with my D80. Exact same situation! Dont worry, just learn how to use the menu. It works great for line of sight(ish) shots. Anything more and you need more gear that costs more then the camera! I still use this same setup on my D300s almost every day. It works great when you learn the little tricks.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/ittlslave.htm
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d80/users-guide/menus-custom.htm number 21

 

[Frank]

I'm still set on my feelings....almost every "Amateur" camera nikon came out with, post d90, is just that...nikon expects you to use kit lenses and very few features past the presets....

 

[off-roader]

It's called the 'Commander Mode'. If you look that up in your manual it should cover it.

...Anything more and you need more gear that costs more then the camera! I still use this same setup on my D300s almost every day. It works great when you learn the little tricks...

LOL. Yup, remote triggers can be expensive but it's pretty amazing the shots you can get with the small nikon speed lites. If your curious check out shots by Joe Mcnally. Hes also written a pretty good book about shooting amazing shots with his speedlights called the hot shoe diaries. I have a copy because it's the next area I am hoping to learn more about.

As for pricing... In general i find it amazing how many people have such mis-set expectations. The body is actually probably the most disposable part of your camera system. The lenses and in some degree flashes can be used for years if not decades with future Nikon bodies, hence the reason for their prices being so high.

 

[Frank]

As for pricing... In general i find it amazing how many people have such mis-set expectations. The body is actually probably the most disposable part of your camera system. The lenses and in some degree flashes can be used for years if not decades with future Nikon bodies, hence the reason for their prices being so high.

agreed

 

[off-roader]

Frank, unless the d90/80 flash system is dramatically different than my d300, it should work well past 5'.

I just used the commander mode for the first time. It took ~5 min to get it working and I tested it out to 10ft.

 

[DrMoab]

I took mine out tonight and it worked great 20-30 feet away.

 

[Michael Slade]

I took mine out tonight and it worked great 20-30 feet away.

Sweet. Was it just practice you needed?

 

[DrMoab]

Sweet. Was it just practice you needed?

No. Just a case of the retards. I honestly didn't know that the pop up flash triggered the speedlight. I was under the impression there was another IR trigger on the body. This thread solved it for me.

Thanks everyone for the replies. It was what I needed.

 

[off-roader]

No. Just a case of the retards. I honestly didn't know that the pop up flash triggered the speedlight. I was under the impression there was another IR trigger on the body. This thread solved it for me.

Thanks everyone for the replies. It was what I needed.

no, no... thats ignorance. retards aka stupidity is when you know but ****** it up anyway.:Wow1::ylsmoke: