D200 SB800 2 monolights maybe 3...help

[snugelbune]

I know this must have been discussed 1000 times but I can't seem to type in the right combination of words to have a search come back with helpful information.

I have a D200

I have an SB800

I have 2 monolights (smith victor and interfit)

I remember the last time I had to set the D200 to trigger the SB800 off camera and use the SB800 to trigger the built in slaves of the monolight that I had a lot of trouble figuring it out. I finally found an article at google that walked me through it, but I can no longer find that in a search, either.

SO, I have set D200 to commander mode and I chose built in flash --

Where do I go from here and why would my monolights not trigger? Any thoughts? Do I have something set to the wrong channel? The monolights have built in slaves and they are basic low budget lights...controlled output, modeling light on and off and that's about it for bells and/or whistles (or lack thereof). I am finally getting my head wrapped around how I'll do the shoot on Saturday and now I cannot make my lights work, if anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd REALLY appreciate it.

 

[ronnies]

You won' be able to use the monolights along with the Nikon CLS system as the preflashes will confuse the slaves. The first step is to put the D200 flash in manual mode, then the SB800 into SU-4 mode and when the D200 flash fires, all the others will fire too.

Good site for off camera flash work is http://strobist.blogspot.com

Ronnie

 

[snugelbune]

Thanks Ronnie...

you know, I remember that the last time I used the monolight and the sb800 I was using the sb800, sb600 and the mono and I had the 800 commanding the 600 which triggered the mono...I forgot about that and I've sold the sb600!

I'll check out the link, thanks for that.

So, if I wanted to use the sb800 as the backlight and the monos for main and fill, how do I trigger the sb800 without it on camera? Maybe the link will have someone doing that.

Thanks again

 

[ronnies]

Put the SB800 in to remote SU4 mode. It has a built in slave and the on board flash on the D200 can then be used to trigger all the lights.

Ronnie

 

[WayneF]

Thanks Ronnie...

you know, I remember that the last time I used the monolight and the sb800 I was using the sb800, sb600 and the mono and I had the 800 commanding the 600 which triggered the mono...I forgot about that and I've sold the sb600!

I'll check out the link, thanks for that.

So, if I wanted to use the sb800 as the backlight and the monos for main and fill, how do I trigger the sb800 without it on camera? Maybe the link will have someone doing that.

Thanks again

What Ronnie said - you wont be able to use the mono lights with anything in Nikon Commander mode. The mono lights are not Commander-capable, they do not speak Nikon, and the preflash will trigger them early, before the shutter is open, so their effect will be nothing (very dark).

I cannot imagine how the SB-800 could trigger a SB-600 remotely without the preflash setting off the mono lights too early. There had to be more to that story.

To use third party lights, like studio lights, you must put all the Nikon stuff (SB-800 and/or D200 internal flash) into Manual mode to prevent preflash. I mean both Manual Exposure mode on camera, and specifically also Manual flash mode on any flash, including internal flash (if used). The studio lights operate manually too, that is all they know. So everything must be manual mode with the mono lights.

If you have a sync cable for anything, like a PC cord to the SB-800, then use that, and it will trigger the others. Or better (maybe shorter and more convenient), use the sync cord for one of the mono lights. Then if you put the SB-800 into its SU-4 mode, then it uses the optical trigger built into it, same optical trigger as the mono lights have (I assume). Then a sync cord to any one light will trigger all the others. Manual mode means they are all in sync. SB-800 SU-4 mode is on the same SB-800 menu with Remote or Commander choices. It simply means optically triggered in manual mode - no cable required. Then go back to its main menu to select Manual with Mode button, and power level with up/down button.

If no sync cable for anything, then you can use the D200 internal flash to trigger all of them, but if it is used, you must set its menu to Manual flash (choices are Commander, iTTL, or Manual - choose Manual). Also set it to its lowest manual power, like 1/16 power, and then (it already being a weak flash), it will be too weak to much affect the pictures except maybe up very close, but it will still trigger the other flash units.