off camera flash withTTl & softbox
- Thread starter coljun
- Start date
HoppyUK
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 23,200
- Name
- Richard
- Edit My Images
- No
The remote slave unit needs line of sight for the little red window to fire reliably. With most softboxes the flash sits outside with a mount you can rotate so it can get a good look at the master flash. It can sometimes be a bit limiting though.
Most people switch to manual for studio work anyway because the lights are static and once the exposure is set you want it to stay that way with no possibility of it changing if either you or the model moves a bit. You'll also want to spend a little time getting it all sorted, so manual isn't any impediment.
All in all most people use radio triggers, which you can put anywhere. Yongnuo RF-602 is favourite, and cheap from FlashInThePan on here (see advertisers section).
Most people switch to manual for studio work anyway because the lights are static and once the exposure is set you want it to stay that way with no possibility of it changing if either you or the model moves a bit. You'll also want to spend a little time getting it all sorted, so manual isn't any impediment.
All in all most people use radio triggers, which you can put anywhere. Yongnuo RF-602 is favourite, and cheap from FlashInThePan on here (see advertisers section).
thanks for the replys folks. What I had in mind is to use the softbox set up I described as a " fill flash " scenario outside in daylight . I currently use the sb800 on camera for fill utilising TTl & find it really good & was thinking of getting it off camera to improve the height & angle a little & maybe a bit softer utilising the softbox. I will be contacting fitp regarding the trigger & lead & give it all a try . thanks again colin.
HoppyUK
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 23,200
- Name
- Richard
- Edit My Images
- No
Sorry, I misread your question and was referring to a studio situation.
For shooting outdoors, iTTL on a dedicated cord is perfect. FITP sells longer ones. It will allow you to do everything you can with the flash on camera, with a remote softbox. No line of sight issues, no problems with bright sun, and no need to reduce the x-sync speed which you need to do with most radio triggers (say down to 1/200sec or 1/160sec possibly from the D300's normal 1/250sec). This could be important shooting in bright light.
You could also do it completely wirelessly by using the pop-up flash's commander mode, to trigger the softbox. Again with full iTTL, so long as the SB800 can see the camera. You might struggle to get reliable firing in direct bright sun, but maybe not if the camera-softbox distance is kept down to a few meters. Give it a try and see what kind of range you can get.
In this mode you can either use the pop-up to contribute to the overall light, as well as the commander pre-flash function, or switch it so that only the commander pre-flash is fired.
For shooting outdoors, iTTL on a dedicated cord is perfect. FITP sells longer ones. It will allow you to do everything you can with the flash on camera, with a remote softbox. No line of sight issues, no problems with bright sun, and no need to reduce the x-sync speed which you need to do with most radio triggers (say down to 1/200sec or 1/160sec possibly from the D300's normal 1/250sec). This could be important shooting in bright light.
You could also do it completely wirelessly by using the pop-up flash's commander mode, to trigger the softbox. Again with full iTTL, so long as the SB800 can see the camera. You might struggle to get reliable firing in direct bright sun, but maybe not if the camera-softbox distance is kept down to a few meters. Give it a try and see what kind of range you can get.
In this mode you can either use the pop-up to contribute to the overall light, as well as the commander pre-flash function, or switch it so that only the commander pre-flash is fired.
burrachaga
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 162
- Name
- colin
- Edit My Images
- Yes
I have been looking for exactly the same thing coljun.
I was watching a joe mcnally video where he was getting an assistant to handhold an sb800 with softbox (roughly 14" square) connected with a cord to his d700 and the results looked great with such a simple and light weight set up.
There are loads of good Mcnally videos on the net where he uses one or two sb800's and talks through his thoughts about each setup as the shoot progresses.
Let us know how you get on with FITP, cheers
I was watching a joe mcnally video where he was getting an assistant to handhold an sb800 with softbox (roughly 14" square) connected with a cord to his d700 and the results looked great with such a simple and light weight set up.
There are loads of good Mcnally videos on the net where he uses one or two sb800's and talks through his thoughts about each setup as the shoot progresses.
Let us know how you get on with FITP, cheers
Thank you for the info Richard & Colin I am sorry I did not make my self clear in the first place. However, the info you have provided is good news as it will do what I am after, I will look up the videos you mention with interest.
My understanding is that the iTTl only works whilst on camera or connected with a cord when off camera ie when not as a slave hence my requirment to get a lead from Fitp. Allso ,richard are you saying I would be able to use A fast shutter speed ( say 500sec ) whilst using the fill flash outdoors in sunlight . I am intreaged by this colin
My understanding is that the iTTl only works whilst on camera or connected with a cord when off camera ie when not as a slave hence my requirment to get a lead from Fitp. Allso ,richard are you saying I would be able to use A fast shutter speed ( say 500sec ) whilst using the fill flash outdoors in sunlight . I am intreaged by this colin
Yes you can shoot at 500th of a sec if you change to HSS but you can only do this via the hot shoe or the chord connecting to the hotshoe.
HoppyUK
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 23,200
- Name
- Richard
- Edit My Images
- No
Yes, iTTL needs a lot of data communication between the flash and the camera, which goes through all those contacts on the hot shoe. With remote iTTL, control of the slaves is done through a series of morse code like flash pulses (or by radio with some very expensive add-on units). This control data is sent at incredible speed as the flash pulses at up to 50,000 per second. This whole sequence of events happens so fast you can't detect what's happening visually and it just looks like one normal flash.
If you didn't already know, the basis of all auto-TTL flash systems is a two part process (though it's much more complex than that). When you press the shutter release, before anything else happens the camera fires a pre-flash which is then measured for exposure and balanced against the ambient light. The power level is then set and the shutter opens, then the main flash goes out. Like I say you can't actually see this happening but you need to know that it does if only because it causes no end of confusion if you want to get into multiple remote flash at any time.
This is amazing technology and a whole new world of picture taking awaits you
It really helps to understand how it all works, so google focal plane shutters for a start and check out x-sync speed which will explain the issues around max x-sync. Without going in to detail, yes you can use flash with any shutter speed you like by switching to FP Flash on the gun. This changes the way the gun fires to overcome the focal plane shutter problem, but the downside is that it uses a great deal of power so range is substantially reduced and the flash will usually be working flat out which increases the recycle time. However, when used at close-ish range for fill-in, it is fantastically useful.There's a great book by Joe McNally who has become something of a strobist God - The Hot Shoe Diaries, about £11 or something from Amazon. It's a very entertaining read with some inspirational pictures. He uses Nikon but it's not very technical; you'll learn plenty by having a go yourself and posting questions on here.
HSS is High Speed Sync in Canon speak, same as Nikon's for FP Flash.
And you can do it off-camera by wireless remote - you don't need a cord. You can't do second-curtain sync remotely without a cord, at least not with Canon. I think you maybe can with Nikon - perhaps someone will confirm that.
Last edited:
Thanks once again ,for your terrific explanation of this . I will order the book you mentioned tonight & look up the videos. I have a lot of info there to start into,& i am sure I will have more questions in the weeks ahead, regards colin