SB-700 off camera

kabalman

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I own a Nikon D3000 and I got a SB-700 second hand a few months ago. Having great fun with the flash so far, but now I am thinking to taking some creative photos by taking the flash off-camera. Of course my camera can't trigger the flash as the SB-700 does not work in the slave mode with my camera. So I think I have 2 options that are relatively less expensive -
1. Buying a TTL cord for the flash
2. Buy a remote flash trigger, not a controller like the SU-800 which are way out of my price range

Will they work under the TTL mode or will they only work in the manual mode?

I'm not thinking to spend more than £25-£30, so which of these options would be viable, and any recommendations?

Thanks for your input.
 
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Cord will work as TTL if it's something like an SC-28 (or equivalent)

Wireless triggers like the Phottix Strato and RF-603 are non-TTL, so you need to shoot with the camera in manual and the flash power set manually

I'd go for a cheap trigger option - try the Strato clones that you can from Calumet... brilliant build quality, you get a pair for £50 or so. Worth it IMO.
 
Using a TTL cord would allow full iTTL use of the flash, and it would behave the same as if on camera (except for the results!). You can get extremely long TTL cords too.

The only remote flash triggers you are likely to get in that price range would be manual triggers and receivers. An example of which would be the likes of the Yongnuo RF603 or RF602 etc. This would mean you would need to set your flash output manually.
 
Thanks for your advise. I read somewhere that the D3000 can act as an optical trigger, not sure what that means. Firstly, is that true, and if so, does that mean that I can use that to fire the speedlight remotely, albeit in a non-TTL mode? Or am I just talking nonsense, and that a trigger is absolutely essential to fire the flash remotely?
 
An optical trigger just means firing a flash that triggers an optical receiver.
Your SB700 has a photocell mode, or optical receiver which you can trigger by using your popup flash.
Using an optical system isn't really that reliable, especially outdoors and in sunlight. Radio triggers are far more reliable.
 
Thanks Michael. I will try firing the flash optically first, just because I can do it straightaway. Is it as simple as setting the speedlight on manual and clicking away, after turning the on camera flash on?
 
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