Off camera suggestions

[Edrod13]

Been debating for a long time about doing some off camera flash photography and have decided that it's about time. I currently use my D700 with either the SB800 or SB600 mounted on the hot shoe for everything in TTL mode.

It appears that I can use an SU-800 or pocket wizards? From what I understand the SU-800 requires line of site, do PW?

Will be ordering these two items:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/250348-REG/Smith_Victor_401484_UK2_Umbrella_Kit_with.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/50546-REG/Stroboframe_300_405_Shoe_General_Purpose.html

Now just need some suggestions on how to trigger both of my flashes. I have used the search function and have found some information but still a bit confused on my best option. Thanks

 

[Ed-Gein]

does the D700 not have CLS?

 

[Ed-Gein]

Ok yeah i just checked the D700 supports CLS, so you put the D700 in commander mode, pull off the flash, put it on slave, and there you go

no need for SU-800 or wireless triggers

 

[Edrod13]

I tried this way back and it did work. Did not have a stand and was just holding the flash in my left hand. Just was looking for other alternatives that might not require line of site. What would be the next step up without having to use CLS? TIA

 

[Ed-Gein]

generally CLS works pretty well, the preflashes bounce and the slave catches them, sometimes though there is nothing to bounce off of.

I generally dont use TTL metering with my off camera flash, i purchased a few sets of RF-602's they are chinese wireless triggers and dirt cheap, but they also work incredibly well, and for the price they are pretty much disposable. I have two triggers and 7 recievers, all for about $150 bucks.

Regardless, to get off camera control without line of site you need radio triggers of some sort, the "pro" triggers get very expencive very quickly. They dont offer anything over the RF-602's in my view other than peace of mind.

CLS works great, but i honestly preffer just to set all this stuff up manually.

 

[Edrod13]

Ok manual sounds good. Where do I look into these RF-602's? Ebay? Also why 2 triggers and 7 receivers? Just curious? Thanks for helping out.

 

[Ed-Gein]

i origionally picked up a single transmitter with 4 recievers, they worked very well, but seeing as how there could be reliability issues i decided to double up just in case one craps out on me during a shoot. SO i bought another transmitter and 3 more recievers. I have 3 elinchrom heads, 2 SB-600's, 1 sb-900, and a few more generic slaves if needed. If i went with pocket wizards i would have spent a small fortune. I dont always use them all, but i like having the option.

I like the RF-602s because they are so cheap yet they dont seem to be plagued with the reliability issues of other cheap wireless triggers. Pocket wizards have a great reputation for a reason, but they start getting very expensive rather quickly. Im confidant enough in my 602's that i use them during paid shoots, so far i have never had a single miss-fire and if just in case one of them does crap out on me, i have spares.

a note on pocket wizards, i have personally never heared of one crapping out. but what bugs me is the outrageous price for such a basic technology. They have new ones that allow ITTL, but they are also expencive as hell. This is one of those areas where i am fine cutting corners and going with the cheaper solution, like i said, for the price they are damn near disposable. I think the RF-602's have gone up in price, but for the price of a SINGLE pocketwizards tranciever i got 7 Yongnuo RF-602 recievers and 2 transmitters. So if there is a failure, its not a big deal as i have spares on hand.

so far, i havent had a single one die on me yet, and never had a misfire. I think as long as you have spares for "just in case" you have nothing to worry about except where to spend all that money you saved.

However i would be hesitant to use them on a paid gig if i did not have spares, as while so far they get excellent reviews with a very low failure rate, they dont have that 100% reputation that pocket wizards maintains.

EDIT: If money were not a concern, i would definatly go with pocketwizards.

 

[Ed-Gein]

and yes, ebay.

search the forum for the RF-602's and you will see plenty of people on here have used them, and you can get thier impressions.

 

[Edrod13]

Ok so it looks like these are the triggers to go with. I have seen RF 603's on Ebay, are these better or do they offer any advantage over the 602's? Gonna order by tomorrow once I sort out which ones I want. I have two flash units so I am gonna look at getting 1 TX, and 2 RX for the time being as this will be more for my personal use and occasional paid jobs. If they work out then I could always place an additional order for extras.

 

[Mike66]

Ok so it looks like these are the triggers to go with. I have seen RF 603's on Ebay, are these better or do they offer any advantage over the 602's? Gonna order by tomorrow once I sort out which ones I want. I have two flash units so I am gonna look at getting 1 TX, and 2 RX for the time being as this will be more for my personal use and occasional paid jobs. If they work out then I could always place an additional order for extras.

The RF-603 is the replacement for the RF-602 and is not compatible with the RF-602. The RF-603 is a transceiver (transmitter and receiver) as opposed to the dedicated transmitter or receiver function of the RF-602.

Instead of ordering a transmitter and receiver combination of the RF-602, order as many RF-603 units as you need. If one of the RF-602 transmitters fails, there is no substitute except for another dedicated transmitter. If one of the RF-603 fails, regardless of use, any RF-603 can be used as a replacement.

 

[sambo.]

i still use my SC-17 cord and a brolly or bounce it around.

works well.

 

[Edrod13]

The RF-603 is the replacement for the RF-602 and is not compatible with the RF-602. The RF-603 is a transceiver (transmitter and receiver) as opposed to the dedicated transmitter or receiver function of the RF-602.

Instead of ordering a transmitter and receiver combination of the RF-602, order as many RF-603 units as you need. If one of the RF-602 transmitters fails, there is no substitute except for another dedicated transmitter. If one of the RF-603 fails, regardless of use, any RF-603 can be used as a replacement.

So since I am starting out and dont have any it would be better to go with the 603's?

 

[Mike66]

So since I am starting out and dont have any it would be better to go with the 603's?

Yes, the 602s will likely soon be difficult to find when the current stocks are gone. When one of my 602 transmitters fails, I'm converting everything to 603s.

If you can, I recommend buying what you need, plus one so you have a spare. There are times when I use both transmitters and several receivers at the same time. For example, I will use one Tx/Rx combination to remotely trigger the camera, and the other Tx/Rx combination to remotely fire the speedlights for one session. With this setup, using four speedlights, I would need seven RF-603 units, so I would buy eight of them.

 

[Edrod13]

Ordered the RF-603's (2). Gonna try them out and see what gives. If all is well then I will probably order another set. I will post when I get them as I already have quite a few questions as to how to set up the flashes manually.

 

[Edrod13]

Ok RF-603's are in. Would any one be willing to give me a idea on how to get these up and running? Set both of the triggers to the same channel, mount one on the camera and the other on the SB800. The SB800 has to go on Manual? Any settings need to be set in the camera menu? TIA

 

[Mike66]

Ok RF-603's are in. Would any one be willing to give me a idea on how to get these up and running? Set both of the triggers to the same channel, mount one on the camera and the other on the SB800. The SB800 has to go on Manual? Any settings need to be set in the camera menu? TIA

Yes, put the SB-800 in manual mode so you can adjust the output, and you don't need to do anything with the camera besides keeping the shutter speed at or below the flash sync speed (1/250 second).

I would start with the flash output at 1/2 power, set the camera aperture to your desired setting, and take an image. You can adjust the flash output from the back of the flash as desired. Using a flash meter helps adjust the output quickly and accurately.

 

[simsim]

Quick question about the RF-603's. On the ebay page it says there are various packages for each camera type (I guess its for the cable)? I am not sure which one I would need for my D70 - can anyone help?

I want to try these before I make the leap to PWII or something similar.

Additionally, has anyone (Edrod13) tried the RF-603's with a SB600? I noticed on their advertisements they say that it is not compatible with the SB600?

 

[silver]

Yes, put the SB-800 in manual mode so you can adjust the output, and you don't need to do anything with the camera besides keeping the shutter speed at or below the flash sync speed (1/250 second).

I would start with the flash output at 1/2 power, set the camera aperture to your desired setting, and take an image. You can adjust the flash output from the back of the flash as desired. Using a flash meter helps adjust the output quickly and accurately.

yep, though another idea that can be handy, if you say set the flash to a manual power level, then on the camera you pick as an example 1/125 sec with f8,. now you can balance the ambient against flash power w/o returning to the flash,. simply stop down aperture to reduce flash contribution (you can up the ambient contribution / keep it the same by adjusting shutter speed as it will not make any difference to the flash output)

 

[Edrod13]

From what I have read the only reason it says not compatible with SB600 is that it cannot wake it up, other than that it I have read it should work.

 

[simsim]

From what I have read the only reason it says not compatible with SB600 is that it cannot wake it up, other than that it I have read it should work.

Cool. Have you tried this setup before? Or are you just going off what others have said?