off camera flash

[dullbird]

Hi Guys

I bought a cable so I can take my speedlight off the camera.

how ever when my speedlight is on the camera no matter what Fstop its on it will always say 1/60 in poor light.

when I put the speed light on the cable and the hot shoe it will not register the speedlight and even at the largest aperture in poor light I can only get 1/8 of a sec etc...so its like the camera doesn't know the speedlight is attached even though i'm guessing it should, the benefit of having the cable.

the speedlight how ever will still fire but it wont always fire intensely enough for the poor light making a shot very under exposed.

Is this usually what happens with these off camera cables.. the one I have is sc-28a can't remember the name. it was supposed to be for the D80. Could I just have the flash set up wrong perhaps?

either way a little frustrating as I don't yet know the inner workings of the speeds verses light verses aperture verses the speedlight to set things up in a manual way...just wanted to be able to plonk it on and use the speelight at an angle to the camera, but sadly not worked out that way:(

[OrangeZXr10R]

Give these sites a look

Strobist (http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/)
and
Canon Digital Photography Forums - Powered by vBulletin (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/)

[Chucaro]

I cannot helping you because I only use the built in flash on my cameras and at 1/250 ss
Have a look HERE (http://video.google.com.au/videoplay'docid=4838419537938300175&q=nikon+speed+of+light&ei=JWYPSLKlNo-4lgTfq6C2Bg#) to see if you can get any help.

Cheers

[matbor]

what flash is it ?

[33chinacars]

What Camera & flash combo
Should work as if flash is on camera unless you have a mismatch of componets.
Check you camera manual it will tell you what goes with what
If Nikon check there web site as well

[loanrangie]

1/60 is probably the default sync speed for the flash, you most likely can adjust it in the menu somewhere.

[dullbird]

sb800

I'm going to get the book that mike hagen has written and e watch the dvd's I have again.....

once I get the knack of it I will be right

[matbor]

sb800

I'm going to get the book that mike hagen has written and e watch the dvd's I have again.....

once I get the knack of it I will be right



Why aren't you using it wireless anyway :) The D80 and SB800 work fine in most situations without a cable.

[dullbird]

because bunging on a cable for the moment while getting used to using it at angles seems so much easier..

I know I'm lazy:(

[werdan]

Is it a genuine cable?

This bloke (http://dpanswers.com/content/rev_yongnuo_sc28.php) had some issues with a knock-off which he managed to resolve with a replacement.

[dullbird]

I thought at first I was buying genuine but its third party I think I cant find the box and there is nothing written on the cable

I have to say though it really feels like a bloody good quality cable

[dmdigital]

Flash should have two squares in the top left of the LCD reading TTL and BL
If high speed sync is enabled then a third square FP will also display (don't think this is a D80 option).

Camera should be set to Auto Front Curtain sync. Flash sync should be between 1/60 and 1/200 second.

Read the D80 manual on how to set up commander mode flash and try the flash as a wireless unit triggered by the camera flash. If this works and you can get auto sync of 1/200 then there has to be an issue with the cable.

Check the contacts on the bottom of the flash and compare these to the contacts on the cable and see if they all match.

[dmdigital]

Why aren't you using it wireless anyway :) The D80 and SB800 work fine in most situations without a cable.


because bunging on a cable for the moment while getting used to using it at angles seems so much easier..

I know I'm lazy:(

The Nikon Creative Lighting System is something the other camera manufacturers don't have, although I think the latest generation of Canon speedlights my be getting there. The only other way to do what it does is use add on wireless units to camera and flashes. There are still times where a tethered flash is useful but when you really need the light off camera CLS is incredibly versitile. On the D200/300/700 and D70/80/90 models this means when you buy an SB600/R200/800/900 you have a built in flash and an off camera unit to work with. On the D2/D3 bodies you need to buy an SU-800 remote or use an SB-900 on camera and this simplifies things further as you no longer need to go to the camera's menu to change settings, it's all done on the unit.

This DVD - A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting - is a really great tutorial on using the Nikon CLS and in using the SB800 and SB900. It really opened my eyes to what to consider when using a speedlight.

[dullbird]

hey I just started to have a play with my camera while reading what you wrote DMD

and I got it working....WoooooHooooooo :D

I can only assume I never quite had it on right last time for the contacts to be in the right place.

Now your probably going to laugh at the pics as I went out side in the pitch black to try it out. :lol2:

so forgive them if they are not sharp enough for you its not easy to get focus on an object in the pitch black:) the pictures below are untouched, only thing done is exported to photobucket

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/04/77.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/04/78.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/04/79.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/04/80.jpg

[dmdigital]

Check your white balance it's a little warm on a couple of them (first and last).

[dullbird]

its just on auto...

probable got more to do with the camera being on vivid....and both subjects being yellow

[dmdigital]

The yellow won't help but I'd try taking both shots on flash rather than auto WB. Also consider any ambient light eg from a fluro or spotlight source nearby as this would also help give an increase in warmth on auto.

Something to try, set WB to tungsten and take a picture of the bin lid again.

[dullbird]

Ok I will try that tomorrow night to tired to put me shoes back on now:)

[grumpa]

Hi. Look at the Strobist website; it's very useful. There are a few of things you should check on the camera and the speedlight.
1, ISO sensitivity on the camera
2, Rating of the speedlight; just because it is an off-camera flash doesn't mean it can light up things that are more than a few of meters away
3, Some speedlights allow you to change the power of the light emitted. Make sure it is set to 100% Also, ensure it is correctly locked onto the camera.