Flash sync problem using commander mode

I

itchyfeet

Suspended / Banned
Messages
12
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi All,

Wondered if anybody could answer a tech problem that I've got:

I've recently started a studio photography course at a local college and working with a basic 3 light setup. I'm shooting with a D700 and a sync cable which successfully fires off the setup exactly how I want it. The D700 is mine, and the studio lighting equipment is the colleges. With the sync cable, they all communicate as they should. Great so far!

Now the problem I have is firing the flashes remotely using my on camera commander mode: The flash sync is way off! That is, the commander is firing the studio flashes milliseconds after I've taken the photo.

Things to consider:
  • I have no problems firing flashes when using the sync cable, the problem is using on camera commander
  • I have an SB-900 Speedlight at home, and have no problems using remote / commander with this - the problem is with the college studio equipment
  • Other students don't have this problem and they're all shooting with Pentax, Nikons and Canons. It's just me!
  • So far, I've adjusted the shutter sync speed but no joy but I doubt this is the problem - like I said, using the sync cable is fine!

Grateful for any help as this is bugging the hell out of me!
 
Have you tried using your SB900 as the command flash when on top of the camera? and see if that triggers the studio lights better.

Realspeed
 
Last edited:
Are you trying to use commander mode on your D700 to trigger optical slaves on studio heads?

If so, change your pop up to manual and turn it right down so it doesn't contribute to the exposure of the frame, this should trigger the optical slaves on the studio heads ok. If not, then resort to radio triggers,which I would recommend for ease and reliability

Hope that helps
Danny
 
Thanks for suggestions so far:
Danny - Yes, I'm trying to trigger slaves on the optical heads. I'll try manual and see if that works. I normally set the commander built in flash mode to 'off' so that my on board flash doesn't contribute to the exposure. Like I said, it does fire the studio flashes, but milliseconds after!

Realspeed - I'll give that a go, but it doesn't resolve the fact that it 'should' work, using just the onboard commander.

Flash in the Pan - I didn't have red eye reduction enabled. Just normal sync. Are you suggesting I should have it on?
 
Ok, could you go through all of the settings you are using for the onboard flash, because it sounds as if, if it's not red eye reduction, than you've got it sending out a ttl pre-flash which is triggering the lights a fraction of a second before the shutter opens...
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Ok, could you go through all of the settings you are using for the onboard flash, because it sounds as if, if it's not red eye reduction, than you've got it sending out a ttl pre-flash which is triggering the lights a fraction of a second before the shutter opens...
Click to expand...

That's what I was getting at, the burst of preflashes will not help the cause here. Commander mode is for CLS, its not intended for triggering optical slaves (however di622 hot shoe flashes seem to work up to 1/320 strangely enough)

Get an IR trigger for your camera or use skyports or pocket wizards. Or just use a sync cable to one, and slaves on the others.
 
Last edited:
itchyfeet said:
Thanks for suggestions so far:
Danny - Yes, I'm trying to trigger slaves on the optical heads. I'll try manual and see if that works. I normally set the commander built in flash mode to 'off' so that my on board flash doesn't contribute to the exposure. Like I said, it does fire the studio flashes, but milliseconds after...
Click to expand...

In commander mode, your D700 fires pre flashes to communicate with a cls compatible flash gun, THEN the shutter opens, and the programmed SBs flash to contribute their metered light to the exposure.

An optical slave is a dumb sensor. It can and will recognise any flashes as "go go go" your pre flashes are probably setting it off.

It shouldn't "work" in commander mode, commander mode is for wireless ittl metered flash with compatible nikon flash head units. If you get a flash to work with it,then its luck rather than compatibility.
 
Thanks for the clear explanation. I'll give it a go with manual and hopefully it'll work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top