SB600 - off camera firing Q.

D'Buggs · May 8, 2009

How do I set this up to pop using only my mono's???

I've fiddled with this for what seems to be an eternity, but can only get it to fire when using the built in camera flash - which isn't an option because of the sync protect thats tied to the mono from the hot shoe. I'd like to incorpoate it as a 3rd light source, somehow.

Thx.

nxthree · May 8, 2009

I believe the SB-600 can only be a slave to the SB-800/900, SU-800, and the on-camera flash of some Dxx and Dxxx series Nikons.

If you're using the hotshoe for you mono's, I don't know of a way to fire the SB-600.

D'Buggs · May 8, 2009

nxthree wrote:

I believe the SB-600 can only be a slave to the SB-800/900, SU-800, and the on-camera flash of some Dxx and Dxxx series Nikons.

If you're using the hotshoe for you mono's, I don't know of a way to fire the SB-600.

'Fraid of that. :cry

The only thing I can think of is setting the built-in flash to its lowest setting so that it doesn't over power the light of the mono's, triggering the SB600 to fire (as a kicker light), which in turn *should* fire the 2 mono's via their photocells (key and fill).... I just came up with that.

*IF* it works, I'd be totally wireless! Thad be COOL - If it works.

Tim Kamppinen · May 8, 2009

D'Buggs wrote:

'Fraid of that. :cry

The only thing I can think of is setting the built-in flash to its lowest setting so that it doesn't over power the light of the mono's, triggering the SB600 to fire (as a kicker light), which in turn *should* fire the 2 mono's via their photocells (key and fill).... I just came up with that.

*IF* it works, I'd be totally wireless! Thad be COOL - If it works.

You're talking about firing the sb600 via CLS right? You may have trouble with the preflashes from the popup triggering the monolights before the actual exposure. Even in manual mode, there is a preflash that tells the remote SB's to fire, and this can set off optical slaves before the shutter opens. They go off and you think you're set until you look at the image on the LCD and realize that they didn't do anything.

One option that may or may not work is to get an SG-3IR for your popup flash. This is a filter that Nikon makes that will block the visible light from the popup and only allow the infrared signal (that actually fires the remote SB's) to pass through. This would prevent the premature firing of the monolights as well as still firing the 600. The monolights would have to be setup so that the SB600 could trigger their optical slaves, and then everything would go off together. The problem is that some optical slaves are sensative to infrared, so they'll still go off. I don't know how to tell except just trying it to see if it works. The SG-3IR is $12 at B&H so you might as well get one to try. If it works then you can manually control the SB600 from the camera, which is a bonus.

Another option would be to get an optical slave for the 600 and fire all three lights via the popup flash at the the lowest manual power setting. This should work fine indoors with plenty of surfaces to bounce the light off, but might not work outdoors.

The most surefire way to do it is to just get some radio triggers. One transmitter and three receivers of your choice. Your options range from ebay triggers, maybe $60 for the whole set, to cybersyncs which are $60-$70 for each unit, to pocket wizards which are close to $200 for each transceiver, with reliability and range improving as you spend more.

I'd personally try the $12 option first to see if it worked, and if not you'd still have a handy device if you ever wanted to shoot with just your 600 off camera and avoid preflashes (they make people blink sometimes).

D'Buggs · May 8, 2009

Tim Kamppinen wrote:

You're talking about firing the sb600 via CLS right? You may have trouble with the preflashes from the popup triggering the monolights before the actual exposure. Even in manual mode, there is a preflash that tells the remote SB's to fire, and this can set off optical slaves before the shutter opens. They go off and you think you're set until you look at the image on the LCD and realize that they didn't do anything.

One option that may or may not work is to get an SG-3IR for your popup flash. This is a filter that Nikon makes that will block the visible light from the popup and only allow the infrared signal (that actually fires the remote SB's) to pass through. This would prevent the premature firing of the monolights as well as still firing the 600. The monolights would have to be setup so that the SB600 could trigger their optical slaves, and then everything would go off together. The problem is that some optical slaves are sensative to infrared, so they'll still go off. I don't know how to tell except just trying it to see if it works. The SG-3IR is $12 at B&H so you might as well get one to try. If it works then you can manually control the SB600 from the camera, which is a bonus.

Another option would be to get an optical slave for the 600 and fire all three lights via the popup flash at the the lowest manual power setting. This should work fine indoors with plenty of surfaces to bounce the light off, but might not work outdoors.

The most surefire way to do it is to just get some radio triggers. One transmitter and three receivers of your choice. Your options range from ebay triggers, maybe $60 for the whole set, to cybersyncs which are $60-$70 for each unit, to pocket wizards which are close to $200 for each transceiver, with reliability and range improving as you spend more.

I'd personally try the $12 option first to see if it worked, and if not you'd still have a handy device if you ever wanted to shoot with just your 600 off camera and avoid preflashes (they make people blink sometimes).

On the D80, it has a menue option to turn off the preflash.
I already tried getting my strobes to fire off the infared signal - Nope, no worky.

I'll give it whirl, if its "no-go", I'll just jump to a set of triggers on the cheap but was/am hoping to get something working for this evening.
That $12 gizmo sounds worth having. I want it too now, just because....

Thanks for your suggestions and time.

D'Buggs · May 9, 2009

Well,,, my way was a no-go. Turns out that I was wrong in there being an option for preflash on my D80 - I confused it with modeling flash on/off (IDIOT).

I guess its back to being a consumer..... :bluduh

Dooginfif20 · May 11, 2009

It depends on what body you have. I use my D90 in commander mode and then just go in and turn the built in off. I still have to have it up to trigger the sb600 but it works great for me

D'Buggs · June 2, 2009

Dooginfif20 wrote:

It depends on what body you have. I use my D90 in commander mode and then just go in and turn the built in off. I still have to have it up to trigger the sb600 but it works great for me

Somehow I missed this post AND I'm still working on the problem.... Doogy, I'll take a look and see if the 'ole D80 is up to the task.

Thanks and sorry for the late reply (my bad).

Wil Davis · June 2, 2009

Tim Kamppinen wrote:

snip…
One option that may or may not work is to get an SG-3IR for your popup flash. This is a filter that Nikon makes that will block the visible light from the popup and only allow the infrared signal (that actually fires the remote SB's) to pass through
…snip

…another (and far less expensive) way to achieve the same thing might be to use a small piece of unprocessed film† taped over the pop-up flash; it attenuates the hell out of the visible light, but still lets IR through…

- Wil

† might be difficult to find

D'Buggs · June 2, 2009

Wil Davis wrote:

…another (and far less expensive) way to achieve the same thing might be to use a small piece of unprocessed film† taped over the pop-up flash; it attenuates the hell out of the visible light, but still lets IR through…

- Wil

† might be difficult to find

.... good one!

I did track down the mentioned filter; all it is is a hunk of solid black plastic that sat ~1/4" in front of the flash. The manger of the store was 'skepital' of wether or not it would work and was going to try it out in his studio. Subsequently I left for vacation the next day and he's was on holiday upon my returning... He'll be in next week.

SB600 - off camera firing Q.

Comments