Novice question re PC adapter

capitoljayhawk

My wife and I are taking a studio portraiture photo course. My wife is shooting a D90, and it lacks a socket for a PC cord connection to the flashes we will be using.

I think this is the piece I need, but am not completely sure.

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Camera-flash-connection-black/dp/B00007EDY5/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296353902&sr=8-1

The warnings about frying the camera are freaking me out. :cry

Do I need to worry about how we use the D90 in this class? We will definitely be hooking up to powerful flashes.

ziggy53

You can either use a Wein SafeSync or purchase a radio transmitter/slave set that gives even more complete isolation.

http://www.adorama.com/WNSSHSHS.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/245292-REG/Wein_W990560_Safe_Sync_Hot_Shoe_to.html

capitoljayhawk

ziggy53 wrote: »

You can either use a Wein SafeSync or purchase a radio transmitter/slave set that gives even more complete isolation.

http://www.adorama.com/WNSSHSHS.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/245292-REG/Wein_W990560_Safe_Sync_Hot_Shoe_to.html

Awesome. Thanks for the recommendation. I take it that I have nothing to worry about with plugging a PC cord directly into my D700, right?

run_kmc

capitoljayhawk wrote: »

Awesome. Thanks for the recommendation. I take it that I have nothing to worry about with plugging a PC cord directly into my D700, right?

Well… probably not.

I don't want to scare you or anyone else unnecessarily, but I've heard of cameras getting fried under what should be normal circumstances. You could have completely safe studio lights plugged into the wall, and all it takes is some bad wiring in the building to blow everything, camera included.

Odds are really, really good that nothing will ever go wrong with using a sync cord. You can reduce those odds to zero by using remote triggers.

ziggy53

capitoljayhawk wrote: »

Awesome. Thanks for the recommendation. I take it that I have nothing to worry about with plugging a PC cord directly into my D700, right?

The Wein Safe-Sync gives you electrical isolation up to 400 volts. Above that a radio transmitter/slave combination is the preferred combination. (It does put the transmitter at risk however.)

Here is a link to a suitable 16 channel wireless unit which should work with a studio flash with a PC connector cord. (I use units visually identical to these for my own studio flash units, as well as for old flashes that have a PC connector cord.)

http://www.cowboystudio.com/product/c14/p140703-01.php

capitoljayhawk

ziggy53 wrote: »

The Wein Safe-Sync gives you electrical isolation up to 400 volts. Above that a radio transmitter/slave combination is the preferred combination. (It does put the transmitter at risk however.)

Here is a link to a suitable 16 channel wireless unit which should work with a studio flash with a PC connector cord. (I use units visually identical to these for my own studio flash units, as well as for old flashes that have a PC connector cord.)

http://www.cowboystudio.com/product/c14/p140703-01.php

Wow. Those are inexpensive. How come so cheap?

ziggy53

capitoljayhawk wrote: »

Wow. Those are inexpensive. How come so cheap?

I've had mine for around 3 years now and before you could buy individual transmitters or slaves. (You could only buy complete transmitter and slave sets at the time.)

Of the 3 sets that I purchased, 1 transmitter was DOA, 1 had limited range (fortunately it appears to have been a bad battery and a new battery cured the issue) and only 1 transmitter worked as advertised.

All 3 receivers worked fine.

Obviously quality control was an issue. Otherwise I have been very happy with the sets.