Expodisc and Speedlight

[AdamN]

Hello everyone. One of my christmas presents this year has been an expodisc and so far it seems to work very well. Except in one area. I have a D50 and SB800 and unfortunately can't fire the flash off the camera so it makes getting a custom WB challenging. I've tried getting a custom WB without the flash and it works fine. However once I take a picture with the flash afterwards, the pictures have a dark blue tint to them. Does anyone know of a way to get a correct custom WB with the flash that you can't fire off the camera? Thanks

[Daniel Bates]

There should be a "test" button on the flash.

[markperez]

Confused. Why are you doing the CWB without the flash but then taking the picture with the flash?

EDIT: Oh wait do you use the expodisc by pointing it at the light source and then taking the CWB? In that case you can get those hotshoe cords (looks like old telephone cables when telephones had cords) that allow you hold your flash away from your camera. Like this http://shopper.cnet.com/Nikon_SC_29_...l?tag=pdtl-img

[PeteQ]

You can use your D50's flash to trigger the SB-800. If all else fails just set the cameras flash to it's lowest power and the SB-800 to SU-4 mode. Wha-la! When the camera fires and the flash triggers the SB-800 that should do the trick.

Never used the expo that way (don't have one) but the camera flash triggering the 800 will certainly work. You could do the whole CLS commander thing, but this is easier.

[PeteQ]

Originally Posted by Daniel Bates

There should be a "test" button on the flash.

It would be pretty tough to manually synch your finger with the shutter and the test button, which may be 10-15 feet away, to get the correct exposure to get a good white balance....

[AndrewCCM]

Originally Posted by PeteQ

It would be pretty tough to manually synch your finger with the shutter and the test button, which may be 10-15 feet away, to get the correct exposure to get a good white balance....

You mean there is another way?? I thought that was a fire button and should be used for all flash exposures... DOH!

[NoLight]

Bounce the flash off a wall in your studio or the ceiling where you are taking your shots. IE: Take a pic of the wall with the flash being bounced off it..

[zepp]

Originally Posted by NoLight

Bounce the flash off a wall in your studio or the ceiling where you are taking your shots. IE: Take a pic of the wall with the flash being bounced off it..

Since you don't have any triggering device to fire your flash when it's off camera, you can do as Chaz says, but make sure you are pointing your camera (with expodisc on lens) at a neutral color wall while bouncing your flash off the ceiling. Pointing the camera at a wall of non neutral color could introduce an undesirable and untrue color cast. Also be aware that by bouncing the flash on an off color ceiling (non white) could also introduce it's own color characteristics into the mix.

Once you take a reading of the color temperature this way and make the WB setting on your camera you must continue to take the pictures with the flash bounced on the ceiling. Firing the flash directly at the subject instead of bouncing on the ceiling could yield incorrect WB results since the ceiling itself will introduce it's own color characteristics on the subject.

Edit: In any case, shooting in mixed lighting conditions is always going to be tricky. The best answer would be to color correct the flash lighting to the ambient lighting color temperature with gels on the flash unit.

You can always visit the tips and tricks FAQ section on expodisc's web site.

http://www.expodisc.com/support/faq.php?cat_id=3

[Bartman01]

Originally Posted by TxCarGuy

I have a D50 and SB800 and unfortunately can't fire the flash off the camera

You actually CAN fire the flash off camera. Pull out your camera manual and look for the information on CLS (Nikon's creative lighting system). The D50 can remote control the SB800 with no physical connection.

Better yet, use the gels that come with the SB800 to balance to the ambient light. There is one for tungsten and one for fluorescent. You can buy additional gels for other needs.