What am I doing wrong off-camera with my SB700?

N

nawest

Suspended / Banned
Messages
7
Edit My Images
No
Using Nikon D90 in manual mode and SB700 as a TTL remote.

The SB700 is new to me and although everything appears to be working okay from an exposure point of view, I am having a few problems:

1. The on-camera flash is appearing in some photos with two sets of highlights appearing in subject's eyes. I was under the impression the on-camera flash was only visible as a trigger for the SB700.

2. When shooting high speed action shots of martial artists, I was able to shoot certain shots at exactly the right time using just the camera and continuous lighting, but when I started using the SB700, the image always showed the action a fraction of a second after I had pressed the shutter. Do you have to pre-empt the action when shooting off-camera?

3. Somehow my daughter is able to squint from the on-camera flash before the off-camera flash exposes the photo. I did this several times in a row, and every time she is squinting, which would indicate that she is able to respond to the first flash before the second one fires.

So, in conclusion, I appear to have a problem where the SB700 fires too soon after the trigger (1), and too late (2 & 3). I realise it will be a setting as opposed to something wrong with the flash, but what setting(s) have I got wrong?
 
I shoot Canon so you will need to check some more but you probably need to switch the pop up flash to trigger only, it sounds like it is working as a flash as well, (this is what my Canon 7D does as default).

Not sure about 2, not a problem I've found.

With 3, it is possible for someone to respond to the pre flash, that being the case, just fire off 2 shots, or get the subject to close their eyes and then open when you say, at that point take the shot and you are probably fine.
 
Re 1 - you need to set the D700's built in flash to Commander mode. It's in menu e3 - set to C.
 
Thanks mark1616, I'd not thought of firing two shots - I'll try that.

Ozei, I assume you mean the D90's commander mode, it's in e2, and it IS set to C, BUT the built-in flash is set to TTL - is this correct?
 
nawest said:
Ozei, I assume you mean the D90's commander mode, it's in e2, and it IS set to C, BUT the built-in flash is set to TTL - is this correct?
Click to expand...

Sorry I misread it and thought you had a D700 - silly me!

On the D90, set e2 to C, then set commander mode option to - - (double dash). See page 188 in D90 manual.
 
Re 3 - don't quote me but I think the only way to stop this is to use an SG3IR which blocks visible light from the pre-flash when in commander mode. See page 90 of manual.
 
Thanks Ozei

I'd being doing some research whilst awaiting replies and found a few other people with the same problem. It appears that you're right with the -- setting - that definitely helps, but the pre-flash still appears in reflective surfaces, so I might invest in the IR filter to counter that effect. Thanks again. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top