Nissin Di866 off camera

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driver_wedge

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Shane
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Hi all

I'm not sure if this should be in the equipment section but felt it was more specialist to lighting talk.

Anyway, I have a Nissin Di866 for Canon. I want to experiment with some off camera flash and wondered what you would recommend?

I know I can buy a shoe cord, and my first question focuses on this. The Nissin branded cord is the SC-01 and costs about £50. Could I simply buy any Canon compatible cord to work with the Nissin flashgun or will I have to for the Nissin one?

Second question. Would I simply be better off going with wireless triggers from the off?

Is there a place for both options?
 
Any cord made for Canon will do.

Radio triggers are great, but strictly manual only unless you're prepared to spend £400-plus. Manual is fine, even preferable, if you're setting up stands and brollies etc, but E-TTL is great if you just want to pop a remote gun in the corner of a room or something and fire away. You should get good exposure straight off without any faffing.

I think your Nissin is a master controller as well as a flash gun, so given that as a starting point I would get another E-TTL gun to go with it - like a 430EX or similar - and also a set or radio triggers like the Yongnuo RF-602. Only another £40 for a transmitter and two receivers and then you've got all options covered with two guns to play with.
 
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Thanks Richard. This is new territory for me - but just like taking an interest in photography to begin with, it's an enjoyable learning curve. I've had the gun a few months but only now am I knuckling down to learn the basics of flash photography. For example, I wondered by I was getting such long shutter speeds whilst in AV mode in a dark(ish) room and why I was getting a maxed out aperature and shallow depth of field in TV mode with a faster ss. That caused me a bit of confusion for a while.

What mode would you usually use when using the flashgun in a similar situation - i.e. indoor party?

Also, I normally bounce the flash when this is an option as the Di866 had a useful secondary fill-in flash below the main head.
 
driver_wedge said:
Thanks Richard. This is new territory for me - but just like taking an interest in photography to begin with, it's an enjoyable learning curve. I've had the gun a few months but only now am I knuckling down to learn the basics of flash photography. For example, I wondered by I was getting such long shutter speeds whilst in AV mode in a dark(ish) room and why I was getting a maxed out aperature and shallow depth of field in TV mode with a faster ss. That caused me a bit of confusion for a while.

What mode would you usually use when using the flashgun in a similar situation - i.e. indoor party?

Also, I normally bounce the flash when this is an option as the Di866 had a useful secondary fill-in flash below the main head.
Click to expand...

You're welcome bud :)

If you want to learn about how Canon flash works, and how to use it, this excellent new book by N K Guy is very readable and £19 well spent http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Canon-EOS-Flash-Photography/dp/193395244X

Your big Nissin is great for parties, exactly how you are using it. Put the camera on Av, flash in E-TTL, and the camera will balance the ambient light exposure (with shutter speed) and the flash (with power output).

PS Re my reply above, if you want to try off camera flash with just one gun, the cheapest way by far is to get an RF-602 trigger set.
 
Richard,

I bought that book from Amazon. It should be with me in a few days.

In terms of using Av mode - the biggest problem I seem to have in poorly lit situations is that the shutter speed can be as long as half a second unless I increase ISO quite a bit or increase the aperature size. I guess this is just how it works, exposing for ambient light rather than the flash. I have read up a bit online and have got an ever-growing (bit still limited) understanding of getting the right mix of ambient light and flash - so I have some grasp of this. Obviously I won't have this problem outside in daylight where I only want some fill flash. I've also noticed how colour temperature changes as the shutter speed is slowed and more ambient light is exposed.

I'm not quite sure what I'm trying to say here - basically, that I'm gaining an understanding of flash photography through reading up and experimentation and am beginning to get encouraging results.

Thanks for your input anyway, both on this thread and on others I have read :thumbs:
 
Yes, if the ambient light is low then the shutter speed is going to get long. As you say, you can minimise that by raising the ISO and/or using a lower f/number, but that also has its downsides. The problem is of course that there isn't much light, and sometimes it's better just to accept that and let the background go dark - or you can put some more light in it. This is where your second remote flash comes in - pop it in the corner on its little stand and point it at the ceiling and it will light up the far end of a big room. Well that's one way, I'm sure you get the idea, I hide it behind flower pots and things. E-TTL sorts the exposure if you have a compatible slave gun.

The way to correct the colour balance is to gel the flash - it's usually a light orange 'CTO' gel you want, that will match with tungsten room light. Stick it over the flash tube with velcro or blu-tack or something. Lumiquest make a little holder thing, but it's not really necessary. Also get a greenish gel for balancing fluorescent light.

Glad you're getting some good results from flash. Once you've acquired a little understanding a perhaps a couple of guns, you can do extraordinary things :thumbs: If you're into books, The Hot Shoe Diaries by Joe McNally is pretty much the strobists' bible. The perfect compliment to N K Guy's more technical book you've just got, McNally's style is very entertaining and his pictures just amazing. He uses Nikon but the technology is identical to Canon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hot-Shoe-Diaries-Creative-Applications/dp/0321580141
 
Thanks again Richard. The gel trick and also lighting the background with an additional flashgun has certainly started me thinking. I'll have to start thinking about acquiring these extra bits before long and start experimenting. I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the book and have no doubt I'll be along with further questions shortly.

:thumbs:
 
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