Complete Newbie off camera flash question....

[Joshua James]

Hi All,

I'm completely novice when it comes to flash and need your guidance.

I currently only use an SB400 flash with my Nikon D40x.

I am interested in some off camera flash and have some questions regarding 'Slave' Flashes and triggering.

Can I trigger any flash, off camera simply by it reacting to the physical flash of the SB400 on hotshoe? By this I mean the off camera flash reacting to the SB400 as it fires, thus firing itself?

I appreciate there would be disadvantages to firing this way in comparison to using radio / infrared triggering, but is this an option? If so do I need anything to make it work other than the two flashes?

I've kinda got this impression from a couple of sites I've looked at but I wanted confirmation from the experts!

If this is the case then surely this would work with unlimited flashes? Are there distance / field of view limitations?

 

[Dave Pickett]

This:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=390031640829

Will allow you to use an on camera flash to fire one off camera. You might want to think about using the less powerful built in flash to trigger the SB400 off camera? I dont think you can reduce the power of the built in flash on the D40 (you cant on the D60, I looked last night) but you could put something like tracing paper over it to reduce its impact.

 

[specialman]

Josh,

If you buy something like a PT-04 trigger off ebay (just type 'PT-04' into google or ebay) then this will activate any flash attached to the receiver if you use the transmitter unit on top of the camera. This won't do metered flash (so will always fire on full power) and I believe the SB-400 doesn't have any manual settings so you an adjust the power output.

The other way, which is what I do for magazine work, is to buy an old flash unit that has manual mode (I bought a Nikon SB-26 for £25) and set it to SLAVE mode, which means it reacts to the flash on your camera as it's fired. Something like a SB24, 25, 26 or 28 (or a Canon 550EX) will work regardless of the camera make. It must have a manual setting so you can change the power output because otherwise, like with the SB400, you'll always be firing at full power. I fire the SB26 via an SB800 or the in-built flash depending on light conditions and the effect I want to achieve. you need to amke sure the external flash's light sensor is not obscured and facing towards the flash on top of the camera for maximum range. This works up to about five or six metres with ease. After that then radio triggers like Skyports are the best bet, but expensive.

Lighting-wise I'm happy but as shots for the cover a mag they just didn't work because of other factors, namely the skanky trees, not ieal for an April cover.

The SB26 was on (If I remember rightly) 1/8th power set on a tripod about four feet away from the angler, at a right angle to my shooting position. I was about four metres away with the on-camera flash set to something like 1/4 power so it activaed the external flash but didn't overpower the side light and put too many highlights on the guy's pole. All shot in manual and handheld - I don't remember the settings but it was horribly cloudy and dull.

I always find when shoting manual you do have to make a lot of test shots to get it right and in changng light it's not perfect, so maybe shoot in PROGRAM so the camera is judging the light better. Indoors it's no problem.