Flash wireless technology

[Syborg1211]

Can someone please give me a quick run-down on the wireless flash systems available, specifically for Nikon? I've never really seen a simple article about this and have only heard bits and pieces here and there.

Here's what I kinda know but have no confidence in:

If I were to buy something like the Nikon SB-700, I could use it on the shoe-mount or off the camera as a slave using Nikon's wireless system, which I believe is infrared-based? How well does this work outdoors? Is using multiple slave flashes as simple as just buying two SB-700s and that's it?

So this makes me wonder what a Pocket Wizard is for? Is the pocket wizard using some sort of RF technology, allowing you to put wireless flashes in spots where the IR wouldn't otherwise be possible? Is this the only reason for a pocket wizard? This presumably requires both a transmitter on the camera as well as a receiver on the flash?

What are some other good off-camera flashes available? How do these connect to my Nikon camera?

Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[GWestphal]

There are light sensitive slaves and there are RF slaves.

I'm not a Nikon person, but I'll assume their flashes have similar features to canon. With the higher end flashes you could take a SB-700 and place it to the side and trigger it with a built in flash or with another flash on the camera. But you can be limited by the angles and obstructions between the trigger and the slave.

RF slaves like the Pocket Wiz will let you have obstructions in the way as well as set groups of flashes to create certain effects or have sets of preset lighting. The pocket wiz is really more for using stand alone, high power strobes vs camera mountable flashes, though I believe you can trigger then as well.

Typically for any RF system there is a RF shoe mount and then you connect a small receiver to each slave flash.

 

[tdawg]

I have an SB-600 I use as a slave with my D90 and it offers some very nice abilities for playing with off-camera flash. The Nikon CLS is pretty damn nice. It's versatile and convenient; you can adjust the settings of the flash from the camera body and you can group multiple slaves in up to 3 groups (I believe that's the limit) and adjust the group settings for each group from the camera body. I've tried some other optical / IR flash triggers so I can try to use my old SB-80 in a 2-light setup, but the cheap ones I bought were worthless. Personally, I'd just stick with modern Nikon speedlights and enjoy all the versatility they provide.

Pocket Wizards are going to offer a much greater range than Nikon's CLS is going to provide along with greater functionality. If you watch sports, like the Euro 2012 tournament going on now, you'll see a platoon of cameras set up behind the goal with PW receivers attached. The photographers can not only trigger lights, but multiple camera bodies with PW's in order to capture a shot from multiple angles or when they need to be in multiple areas at once. Sports photographers will also deploy strobes in gym rafters tied to PW's in order to better control the light in the environment.

 

[SecurityTheatre]

Can someone please give me a quick run-down on the wireless flash systems available, specifically for Nikon? I've never really seen a simple article about this and have only heard bits and pieces here and there.

Here's what I kinda know but have no confidence in:

If I were to buy something like the Nikon SB-700, I could use it on the shoe-mount or off the camera as a slave using Nikon's wireless system, which I believe is infrared-based? How well does this work outdoors? Is using multiple slave flashes as simple as just buying two SB-700s and that's it?

So this makes me wonder what a Pocket Wizard is for? Is the pocket wizard using some sort of RF technology, allowing you to put wireless flashes in spots where the IR wouldn't otherwise be possible? Is this the only reason for a pocket wizard? This presumably requires both a transmitter on the camera as well as a receiver on the flash?

What are some other good off-camera flashes available? How do these connect to my Nikon camera?

Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Here's the deal.

1) The Nikon CLS (wireless flash) system provides full-automatic wireless. This includes automatic TTL exposure settings, exposure compensation, etc. You can set zones to have different remote flashes trigger at different levels and you can set the channel (1-4) to ensure that multiple photographers don't fire each other's flashes.

This system uses light (either visible or IR light) to trigger. It relies on strobing pre-flashes to fire the remote speedlights. You can trigger them with an on camera flash (SB-700 or higher). Some SLR Bodies (D70 and higher, or D7000 and higher) can trigger the flashes using their built-in flash. Cheaper bodies cannot trigger these with the built-in flash, but can still use a shoe-mounted flash to trigger them. You can also get the IR-shooting SU-800 module that does not flash itself, but controls other flashes via IR signals.

Because it is IR, the range is limited, it only works near-line-of-sight, and very bright sunlight can cause problems with the sensors. The sensor to recieve the signal is a small plastic circle, usually near the shoe, on the side of the flash unit (I know for sure with the SB-600 and 800, not sure about the SB-700).

2) Pocketwizards provide radio-frequency triggering for long-range and things. They provide ABSOLUTELY NO automatic settings. This means that it is simply a "fire now" signal, and all remote flashes must have been pre-configured to the appropriate settings. It requires a module (with a big antenna) to be mounted on the hotshoe of the camera (or connected to the PC port). They have a range of 1 mile or more and can work even through quite a number of walls. They are most commonly used with "real" flash heads, like a set of AlienBee studio strobes.

3) Radiopoppers- these are kinda cool, because they combine the RF signalling of the Pocketwizard with the TTL capabilities of the CLS. It is a bit of a hack, since it uses a little fiber-optic "flasher" attached to the Nikon flash sensor to fool the flash into thinking that it can see the camera-fired flash, but the actual signal is true-wireless. These tend to be expensive and some people don't like the way they have sort of hacked-together the protocols to make it work, though I've heard they work great.

But seriously, if you're shooting from far enough away to need Radiopoppers, you might need some bigger flash heads anyway. I don't think an SB-900 will light up the Skydome quit like a bit 6400w/s head with a long reflector.


FYI, the Nikon wireless system *is* a bit similar to the Canon system, but frankly, it's the one area where Nikon is far ahead of its competitors. The accuracy and control with the CLS is unmatched in any other brand (with Canon as a distant second).

ST

 

[SecurityTheatre]

I just realized I didn't answer one of your questions...

Namely, how far does it work outdoors?

The Nikon CLS seems to work (for me) a decent distance (maybe 30 feet or more) as long as the sensor is in the shade, and there aren't too many specular highlights (shiny spots) around the area. In direct sunlight shining straight into the receiver, it may only work from 5-6 feet or less. I find this is a pretty uncommon arrangement, though I don't know if I'd use it for a fashion shoot (with a long lense) on the beach.

 

[SecurityTheatre]

It looks like PocketWizard offers a TTL solution like the Radiopoppers.

It uses shoe-mounts to put the strobes into. That's cool!!

They're over 2 years old.


I'm clearly out of date. Sorry!

 

[jessicalennita]

The Nikon CLS commander wireless flash system is an easy and convenient type. It has the features like easy off-camera flash and it provides two remote flashes i.e., the main light and the fill light. This is the most advantageous feature of Nikon.

 

[Syborg1211]

Thanks everyone, especially ST, for all the responses. Lots of great information here. After spending more time watching/reading guides on how to use flash to enhance photos, I think I'm ready to pull the plug.

Which should I get between the SB-700 and SB-910? I know the SB-910 outputs 3x more light than the SB-700, but what situations is this really important? Also, the SB-910 can go much wider aperture than the SB-700, but what are the uses of such a wide aperture? Does it help with landscape photos? Cost isn't as much of a concern to me as getting the right tool for the job. I know the SB-700 is smaller and lighter, but is it really noticeable? Thanks!

 

[SecurityTheatre]

You won't use a flash for landscape photography, except in really unique situations. Remember, the light varies by distance, so if you have lots of small subjects all over the frame at different distances, they will all be lit differently (unless you can place a different remote flash at each one!!!)

Flash (and remote flash) can be useful for indoor architecture shots, but it's most useful for "people pictures". That is journalism, portrats, events, etc. When you have a single subject that is in the foreground that you want to light, emphasize or bring into greater contrast and saturation.

Be sure you understand how to use on-camera flash first (meaning an SB flash mounted in the hotshoe). Get some experience with bounce flash (off the ceiling, etc) and how it compares to direct flash. Once you get skilled with those, you can move to off-camera flash and try to get really creative.

If you want some inspiration in that, check out the various Strobist groups (and, of course, Dave Hobby's original Strobist blog)

Here's a taste:
http://strobist.blogspot.ca/2007/10/readers-shoot-back-keith-taylor.html

Realistically, the flash power is most useful for unusual uses of fill flash and/or long distance shots (like nighttime sports). In this sense, the SB-700 is probably just fine for you.

Fill flash involves using the flash during the daytime to bring up foreground saturation and colour. Learn it. Do it.

It makes daytime photography fun again. If you don't use it, you might as well just accept that most photos shot in the sunshine +/- 5 hours on either side of noon will be simple snapshots with some harsh shadows.

And you can do cool backlit stuff like this:

It looks to me like this was shot with only a camera-mounted strobe (possibly even the pop-up flash), but this is the type that requires a fair bit of power to overpower the sun.


FYI, None of these example photos are mine, but they do demonstrate the concepts quite well.

 

[Syborg1211]

Thanks again for the great info ST. I actually have an SB-400 that I've been using for fill flash and some very limited bounce. I'm most interested in better/more bounce directions and off-camera flash possibilities with upgrading to the SB-700. I feel pretty limited by the non-variable aperture of the SB-400 as well. Overall I'm not too happy with the SB-400... stinkin Ken Rockwell..

How does the CLS system do rear curtain sync when I'm using the on-camera flash for commander mode? Seems like this wouldn't work. Also, can the SB-400 be used for commander mode? Any benefits to doing this? Thanks!

 

[SecurityTheatre]

Thanks again for the great info ST. I actually have an SB-400 that I've been using for fill flash and some very limited bounce. I'm most interested in better/more bounce directions and off-camera flash possibilities with upgrading to the SB-700. I feel pretty limited by the non-variable aperture of the SB-400 as well. Overall I'm not too happy with the SB-400... stinkin Ken Rockwell..

How does the CLS system do rear curtain sync when I'm using the on-camera flash for commander mode? Seems like this wouldn't work. Also, can the SB-400 be used for commander mode? Any benefits to doing this? Thanks!

The SB-400 is CLS UNaware. It's useless with the system, sell it and move on if you want to do wireless.

I've actually never done rear-curtain with CLS, but I suspect it will still work. The on-camera flash fires a pre-flash to program the system, then the exposure begins, then a single trigger pulse is fired at "flash time", which gets all the other flashes to go. It should work fine.

Keep in mind that with CLS, the on-camera flash always contributes a tiny bit to the exposure (even if disabled in the menu), because of the trigger pulse, unless you go with the infrared SU-800 model, or one of the RF triggers.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

You can also get into off camera flash with far cheaper equipment. Cactus V5 is a cheap and reliable alternative to the pocket wizard and any decent strobe will get you started. You don't need a $500 nikon speedlight.