Budget flash decision

mpaulie

I wanted to get some opinions on choosing between a couple options for budget off camera flash with manual settings or ideas for other options. I think I narrowed down my two best options to either one SB-600 which goes for $180 or two Vivitar 285HVs and cheap IR triggers for about the same amount. I would want to use these primarily for portraits and macro (flowers, objects). I'm leaning towards the two 285HVs to get more bang for my buck.

Opinions, objections, other ideas? Thanks in advance!

Manfr3d

For macro work one flash with a little diffusor works. But for portraits and off camera stuff you probably need two and later three flashes. In this case I would go with two Vivitars or two used SB-24s (what I use). For macro work outside the studio however I prefer a fully automatic flash with off camera coord.

Shane422

That's a tough choice, but with your D90 you would have wireless TTL with the SB600. The D90 can use its pop up flash as a "commander". It works really well indoors. I haven't used it yet outdoors, but I bet for macro it would be fine since it would be close to the camera.

I have a Sb600 and an Sb28. I like have the ability to use one on camera sometimes when I have surfaces to bounce with or simply for fill. But I still have the ability to use it off camera with the wireless TTL or in manual mode with Radio triggers. So I would say get the Sb600 and add a cheaper flash later to your collection. This will make you more versitile.

gwales

Shane422 wrote:

I still have the ability to use it off camera with the wireless TTL or in manual mode with Radio triggers. So I would say get the Sb600 and add a cheaper flash later to your collection. This will make you more versitile.

How do you control mixed strobe setups?

I have an SB600 and would like to add to it in a way that gives me most bang for the buck, but is simple like CLS.

Do the PW's or whatever talk with the D90 'commander'?

ziggy53

gwales wrote:

How do you control mixed strobe setups?

I have an SB600 and would like to add to it in a way that gives me most bang for the buck, but is simple like CLS.

Do the PW's or whatever talk with the D90 'commander'?

Gwales, welcome to the Digital Grin.

Shane422

gwales wrote:

How do you control mixed strobe setups?
I have an SB600 and would like to add to it in a way that gives me most bang for the buck, but is simple like CLS.Do the PW's or whatever talk with the D90 'commander'?

PWs do not use any of the CLS settings and only fire the strobe, no power settings.

I use CLS when I'm indoors and radio triggers outside or over longer distances. You could possibly mix CLS and radio triggers, but I haven't done that. I do often mix in my speedlights and Monolights. But I set everything manually and trigger with the Elinchrom Skyport triggers.

gwales

ziggy53 wrote:

Gwales, welcome to the Digital Grin.

Thank you - I am very excited about lighting at the moment - getting great subject matter can be hard work, but creative lighting can make ordinary stuff dramatic.

As a complete newcomer to strobes, it sounds like buying another SB600 would be the easiest way to go, as it all come under CLS.

dancorder

Just to add something else to the mix, there is a family of wireless devices called Radio Poppers that can do CLS over wireless. They also seem to support all kinds of bizarre configurations but I don't own any so haven't tried to work it all out. They might be able to support CLS and non CLS lights in the same set-up though.

http://radiopopper.com/

gwales

Shane422 wrote:

PWs do not use any of the CLS settings and only fire the strobe, no power settings.

I use CLS when I'm indoors and radio triggers outside or over longer distances. You could possibly mix CLS and radio triggers, but I haven't done that. I do often mix in my speedlights and Monolights. But I set everything manually and trigger with the Elinchrom Skyport triggers.

Is it possible to turn the flash on the D90 off while I trigger the SB600 off-camera?

I haven't figured out if I can do this. The best I came up with was turning the D90 flash down to 1/128.

angevin1

gwales wrote:

Is it possible to turn the flash on the D90 off while I trigger the SB600 off-camera?

I haven't figured out if I can do this. The best I came up with was turning the D90 flash down to 1/128.

I've tried every setting and configuration, but the on cam flash still emits a visible signal along with the infrared signal to fire the off board flash. If the subject is close it could interfere, but other wise it typically will not interfere. You can adjust the ISO and such to reduce the interference. I typically just tape a piece of paper or cardboard over it and point the paper toward the slave so the light just follows a physical path to the slave. And thats only when I am shooting in a darkened room. If in a well lit room to begin with and have several slaves set up, I don't bother. I also typically have an SB800 on the cam aimed at a wall or ceiling and triggering the slaves.

cheers, tom

mpaulie

Great discussion everyone, I appreciate all the info and opinions. I looked up those Radio Poppers and they were pretty pricey. I'm tempted to be able to work with two flashes right away but the best thing to do is probably to get the sb-600. hmm

Terrence

I own two Vivitar 285HV heads and I am very happy with them. I trigger them with Elinchrom Skyports, which is a big step up from optical and the Cactus (a.k.a. eBay) triggers and not too shabby compared to PocketWizards. I picked mine up on eBay for dirt cheap, maybe $30 US each.

I'm a Canon shooter, but if I was Nikon, I'd go with all SBs. Those heads are feature packed compared to their Canon and Vivitar equivalents.

You can find a massive amount of flash info and heavy reviews of Nikon SBs and Vivitar 285s and Strobist. Hands down, Strobist is the place to learn lighting. Do some reading over there to help in your decision.