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Andysnap

Andysnap

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Andy Grant
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Hi folks,

I've got a few questions. Firstly, do I need wireless triggers? and secondly if I get them will they fire an SB600 and an SB400 at the same time?

Sorry, I know nothing......

Next, I want to buy a background support and at least one backdrop, probably 1 black and 1 white. I have about £100 any recomendations?

I really want to do some portrait work, will the above, along with a softbox and reflective white umbrella which I already have, be a good place to start?

Cheers

Andy
 
Im not a Nikon man so not 100% sure...

But a flash trigger should fire the SB600 and SB400 together...
You will need one transmitter and 2 receivers...

Use the softbox and umbrella that you already have but you will need light stands...

See flash in the pans thread in the advertisers section for:
Trigger set(1TX+2RX).
2x Ball head adaptors.

Light stands can be purchased from Amazon.co.uk "Konig" pair of stands for about £25...

For background what about one of these... not used one but looks good...
large-heavy-duty-blackwhite-background-with-long-train

:thumbs:
 
D90's built-in flash is a master control unit isn't it? That should both trigger and control the remote guns, and with iTTL control as well. It's a brilliant system :thumbs:
 
Ste Manns gave me a bloody brilliant idea as a background support. Take two lightstands from ebay or 7dayshop for about 24 quid a pair. By a length of copper pipe and bolt it to the stands. Drape a sheet over and Robert's your mums brother!
 
The23rdman said:
Ste Manns gave me a bloody brilliant idea as a background support. Take two lightstands from ebay or 7dayshop for about 24 quid a pair. By a length of copper pipe and bolt it to the stands. Drape a sheet over and Robert's your mums brother!
Click to expand...

I can say, this works a treat. You need to use 22mm copper tube (15mm is too thin and will bend)

You will also need two 1/4 male to 3/8 female spigot adaptors - very cheap, Jessops/Jackobs etc should carry stock, and enough clamps/pegs for the sheet.

Screw the adaptors to the light stands, this makes the male 1/4 thread into a female 3/8 thread. Drill two holes through the copper tube - one each end, I went for a 10mm drill to give me a bit of leeway if I was slightly out in lining the two holes up.

Aquire two 3/8" setscrews/bolts of sufficient length to go through the copper pipe and screw into the adaptors, and screw down tight (ish) ( I had these already, if you're struggling to find some you should have success with your local nut and bolt type supplier, honestly its a very common thread, and you're talking peanuts here...)

You can guess the rest. One background support system, for less than £20, not including the cost of the lightstands. I am using a black and a white cotton kingsize sheet from Asda, price £6 each. You can make the copper tube as long as you desire, I think its available in 3 mtr lengths. I made mine 2.5 mtrs.

Have fun :thumbs:
 
The advantage of commercial croos-poles is they are adjustable/collapsible. So they will go up to a full 3m width, or reduce down for smaller sizes, and slip into a bag for transport.
 
Ste, I've been thinking about making the pole collapsible by adding a spigot half way.

richard, can you point us in the right direction for commercial ones, please?
 
The23rdman said:
Ste, I've been thinking about making the pole collapsible by adding a spigot half way.

richard, can you point us in the right direction for commercial ones, please?
Click to expand...

All the lighting manufacturers make them. Fitting is standard spigot on either end so will fit any stands. Telescoping is nice but 3-section prolly just as good in practice. Full width paper backgrounds are 9ft wide 2.74m.

Here's a nice telesoping one from Lastolite £62. http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-lastolite-telescopic-crossbar/p1009047 Lots more on that Warehouse Express website.
 
Thanks folks

lots of good stuff for me to think about there. I've had a word with FITP and will probably get some triggers etc from him and I've seen a nice, lightweight, collapsible support on the Lencarta site.
The DIY idea is very interesting but I would like a more transportable version.

Cheers

Andy
 
Andysnap said:
Thanks folks

lots of good stuff for me to think about there. I've had a word with FITP and will probably get some triggers etc from him and I've seen a nice, lightweight, collapsible support on the Lencarta site.
The DIY idea is very interesting but I would like a more transportable version.

Cheers

Andy
Click to expand...

FITP sells good stuff, but why do you need radio triggers? You already have a brilliant system built in, with iTTL control or manual if you prefer. Radio triggers are manual only.
 
The23rdman said:
Ste Manns gave me a bloody brilliant idea as a background support. Take two lightstands from ebay or 7dayshop for about 24 quid a pair. By a length of copper pipe and bolt it to the stands. Drape a sheet over and Robert's your mums brother!
Click to expand...

Hi Andy

Instead of lighting stands you should consider a couple of adjustable Builders/DIY support poles instead, as they are stronger, more versatile, take up less floor space and offer much more stability than lighting stands, which often need sandbag to ensure they don’t fall over when supporting stuff like backdrops etc. and especially if there are kids running around. These supports are pretty much like the old ‘Polecat’ photographic system that was very popular when they were available some years ago.

And as luck would have it, Aldi currently have them as a special this week, and at only £5.99 each.

Sam-D
 
HoppyUK said:
All the lighting manufacturers make them. Fitting is standard spigot on either end so will fit any stands. Telescoping is nice but 3-section prolly just as good in practice. Full width paper backgrounds are 9ft wide 2.74m.

Here's a nice telesoping one from Lastolite £62. http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-lastolite-telescopic-crossbar/p1009047 Lots more on that Warehouse Express website.
Click to expand...

Sam-D said:
Hi Andy

Instead of lighting stands you should consider a couple of adjustable Builders/DIY support poles instead, as they are stronger, more versatile, take up less floor space and offer much more stability than lighting stands, which often need sandbag to ensure they don’t fall over when supporting stuff like backdrops etc. and especially if there are kids running around. These supports are pretty much like the old ‘Polecat’ photographic system that was very popular when they were available some years ago.

And as luck would have it, Aldi currently have them as a special this week, and at only £5.99 each.

Sam-D
Click to expand...

Thank you both!
 
HoppyUK said:
FITP sells good stuff, but why do you need radio triggers? You already have a brilliant system built in, with iTTL control or manual if you prefer. Radio triggers are manual only.
Click to expand...

Thanks Hoppy, but I can't seem to find a way of firing my SB400 using iTTL. It works fine with my SB600 though so I thought a radio trigger would be the answer.

Sam-D said:
Hi Andy

Instead of lighting stands you should consider a couple of adjustable Builders/DIY support poles instead, as they are stronger, more versatile, take up less floor space and offer much more stability than lighting stands, which often need sandbag to ensure they don’t fall over when supporting stuff like backdrops etc. and especially if there are kids running around. These supports are pretty much like the old ‘Polecat’ photographic system that was very popular when they were available some years ago.

And as luck would have it, Aldi currently have them as a special this week, and at only £5.99 each.

Sam-D
Click to expand...

Thanks Sam, I saw the thread about the Aldi stands but they don't have any in my local store :thumbsdown:

Andy
 
I don't believe the sb400 will work as a slave flash with CLS. Might be worth getting an optical trigger for it, but I don't think you can manually adjust the power on it either can you, making it not a lot of use for off camera work?
 
Munchkinn said:
I don't believe the sb400 will work as a slave flash with CLS. Might be worth getting an optical trigger for it, but I don't think you can manually adjust the power on it either can you, making it not a lot of use for off camera work?
Click to expand...

Mmm, thats what I thought. I was just going to use it to light the background rather than the subject, would that work?

Andy
 
i dont know about the flashes but i can help witht the background question

have you considered them collapsible portable backgrounds, they dont need a stand and work just like the pop up reflectors. calumet make a version less than £100 and it has a black and white side.
 
mastertrinity said:
i dont know about the flashes but i can help witht the background question

have you considered them collapsible portable backgrounds, they dont need a stand and work just like the pop up reflectors. calumet make a version less than £100 and it has a black and white side.
Click to expand...

Cheers Luke, I'll give them a look at later.

Andy
 
Andysnap said:
Thanks Hoppy, but I can't seem to find a way of firing my SB400 using iTTL. It works fine with my SB600 though so I thought a radio trigger would be the answer.

<snip>

Andy
Click to expand...

SB400 is fully compatible with Nikon's iTTL auto exposure system. No reason why it should not work perfectly in fully auto mode - I'm not a Nikon user but pretty sure of this. What it won't do is any form of manual firing - it just doesn't have any external manual controls.

I'm guessing that you can probably get it to fire manually if you fit a separate trigger, either a simple optical slave or radio trigger, but it will probably be only on full power. It's really a bit of a non-starter for manual.

My advice is to sort out your iTTL system and get the two guns working as I believe they should. If you then want to work in manual for whatever reason, then get another Nikon-compatible gun that has manual controls to replace the SB-400. Control and fire it all off the camera's pop-up commander flash.

The only potential problem here is that if you want to work outside in bright light, you might run out of range. In which case, radio triggers are the way to go.
 
Thanks Hoppy, I'll have a go later and see if I can figure out how it all works, may have to resort to reading the manual.

Andy
 
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