Radio Poppers

[YvetteH]

I am in the process of setting up a small studio for pet photography. I am simply using a soft box with a SB900 on one side and a large reflector on the other. Now I have mostly done outdoor shooting and have only had the option of using on camera flash which I want to get away from. Now as far as wireless triggers are concerned.....what would you recommend? As I am shooting dogs I would like to have the option in the field of using higher shutter speeds and shallower DOF. Is the radio popper going to be my only option to be able to do this?
I know it is not that important in the studio but I really want to still keep up with doing outdoor shoots as well but want to have better lighting options.
Any suggestions would be really helpful. The only thing that really puts me off with radio poppers is the price and it is not something that you ever seem to find second hand.

[HFMarshburnJR]

In the studio and outdoors , if you are going to be doing mostly line of sight stuff , or if you are going to be working in areas with a lot of reflective surfaces, another option to consider would be to use another SB800 or SB900 on camera as a commander. They can be set to provide no flash contribution while still performing as a commander. Then, if you needed another flash, you would have one at your disposal. You could also opt for the SU800 if you plan on using CLS. There are lots of options to consider. And lots of research on the topic. Go over to the Strobist website - there are a lot of resources available to help you make your choice.

[ngoduyviet]

You have 3 options right now.

Stick with Nikon's creative lighting system, which requires no obstruction in the way for data communication.

Radiopoppers or Pocket wizards. They are both expensive for their features in my opinion, but necessary if you need high speed sync. I see them on FM & PoTN every now and then, not that rare.

I used poppers version one, then switched back to PWs when they came out with the ttl & highspeed sync version. I also tried the newer poppers, and like all 3 of them in term of functionality. PWs offer simpler backward compatibility with my mono system and that's one reason why I kept them.

[YvetteH]

Thanks Howard. I had no idea that you could use another flash as the commander. I have the SB600. Could I use that? How does one disable it so it doesn't fire?

Originally Posted by HFMarshburnJR

In the studio and outdoors , if you are going to be doing mostly line of sight stuff , or if you are going to be working in areas with a lot of reflective surfaces, another option to consider would be to use another SB800 or SB900 on camera as a commander. They can be set to provide no flash contribution while still performing as a commander. Then, if you needed another flash, you would have one at your disposal. You could also opt for the SU800 if you plan on using CLS. There are lots of options to consider. And lots of research on the topic. Go over to the Strobist website - there are a lot of resources available to help you make your choice.

[YvetteH]

Is the PW with high sync capability available? I thought they were still working on bringing it out.

Originally Posted by ngoduyviet

You have 3 options right now.

Stick with Nikon's creative lighting system, which requires no obstruction in the way for data communication.

Radiopoppers or Pocket wizards. They are both expensive for their features in my opinion, but necessary if you need high speed sync. I see them on FM & PoTN every now and then, not that rare.

I used poppers version one, then switched back to PWs when they came out with the ttl & highspeed sync version. I also tried the newer poppers, and like all 3 of them in term of functionality. PWs offer simpler backward compatibility with my mono system and that's one reason why I kept them.

[revjvegas]

Originally Posted by YvetteH

Thanks Howard. I had no idea that you could use another flash as the commander. I have the SB600. Could I use that? How does one disable it so it doesn't fire?

The SB600 can ONLY be used as a slave.
You need either the SB900, SB800, or SU800 to act as a commander.

PS: The D700 should also let you use the built-in flash as a commander IIRC.

[ngoduyviet]

Originally Posted by YvetteH

Is the PW with high sync capability available? I thought they were still working on bringing it out.

Oh, I forgot, you are using Nikon, so maybe not. I haven't checked PW site for a while.

The PW for Canon version does have highspeed sync, ttl ... just like a Canon speedlight with a couple of added features.

[YvetteH]

Originally Posted by revjvegas

The SB600 can ONLY be used as a slave.
You need either the SB900, SB800, or SU800 to act as a commander.

PS: The D700 should also let you use the built-in flash as a commander IIRC.

Thank you for the info. So if I understand correctly I can use the built in flash as a commander and I can disable it so it won't flash? Will it then fire the SB900 as well as the SB600 if I want to use both? Sorry for all the questions. I am new at all this.

[brewercm]

I'm curious about that part also. I've been able to setup my Sigma 530 super to work as the slave with ttl but haven't figured out how to keep the D90 popup from firing.

[HFMarshburnJR]

On the D700, set the flash mode to commander in the camera. When you pull up the menu for flash control, you will see 4 groups designated (M(aster), A, B and C. Scrol through until you get to the mode selection next to the M. As you make your mode selections, the options will be TTL, AA, M and --.

Select --

This will tell the camera that the onboard flash will just fire enough flash to initiate the off-camera flash.

I am operating from memory here, so some of the instructions may be a little off. All of these instructions can be found in your camera manual. Look for the topic of Flash Commander mode in the index.

@ Clifton - The same advice applies to the D90.

[revjvegas]

Howard is correct.
But you will only see an A and B group if you use the onboard flash as a commander. (at least it is that way with the D90)

You get A, B, & C if you use an SB900, SB800 or SU800.

And yes, it can fire both the SB900 and SB600.

You can set the SB900 for group A and then the SB600 for group B and be able to control them separately via CLS from the onboard flash.

I have David Busch's Nikon D90 book and its pretty comprehensive. I think they've also done one for the D700. If so, I'd recommend it as a good reference book. 100% better than the OEM manual.