Author Topic: Best Nikon slave flash unit? (Read 11587 times)

swellphotography UK · « **on:** September 22, 2011, 09:24 »

Hi,

I'm trying to setup my home studio (on a budget

. I have one sb-600. I'm looking to add another flash to use as a slave. I use the built in flash as the commander and want two flashguns as slaves. It will only be used in a home studio so doesn't need to be packed with features.

Could anyone recommend a Nikon, or Nikon compatible flash that I could use as a slave without shelling out too much.

Cheers,

Terry
swellphotographyuk.blogspot.com

OM · « **Reply #1 on:** September 23, 2011, 17:29 »

Nikon SB26 and later have built in slaves and should suit. Dunno what they go for nowadays €60-€70 I think.

stormchaser · « **Reply #2 on:** September 23, 2011, 18:07 »

Because you are talking Commander it looks like you are wanting to use Nikon CLS, and that gets expensive no matter what. Your best bet is to forget all that, learn to shoot manual, and then you can use any unit at all, from expensive high powered strobes to $20 midi slaves. CLS is nice if you have the bucks. Go to Strobist.com and read Lighting 101. All of it. Thoroughly. I have a Hasselblad and still find myself using the 20 yr old $20 midi slaves for accent pops of light. It ain't all about needing to get expensive system strobes, be they Nikon or Canon.

BTW the SB26 getting harder and harder to find because the Strobist people snap them up almost as soon as they appear, and again, if CLS is the goal, they won't function in that fashion.

You can work with domed work lights from the hardware store if you know how to work your light modifiers. It doesn't get much cheaper than that.

swellphotography UK · « **Reply #3 on:** October 05, 2011, 07:00 »

Quote

Because you are talking Commander it looks like you are wanting to use Nikon CLS, and that gets expensive no matter what. Your best bet is to forget all that, learn to shoot manual, and then you can use any unit at all, from expensive high powered strobes to $20 midi slaves.

I'm a bit confused. I don't want to use the TTL stuff, I want to set the flashes manually. What I want is to use the on camera flash to trigger the other slave flashes. I don't have pocket wizards or anything like that. I've had a look around but can't get a clear answer. I'm a bit confused with the terms.

I definitely don't want to use the auto settings, I like manual. I just want them all to trigger together without having to buy another trigger system.

Cheers,

Terry

donding · « **Reply #4 on:** October 05, 2011, 11:05 »

Why don't you buy another SB 600? I don't know what camera your using but as far as the D90 and the D7000, you can set up two separate flashes and use the on-camera flash as master. You can still set up your flashes manually. If you are wanting more than two flashes then I'd get the SB900.

stormchaser · « **Reply #5 on:** October 05, 2011, 12:56 »

Quote from: swellphotography UK on October 05, 2011, 07:00

Quote
Because you are talking Commander it looks like you are wanting to use Nikon CLS, and that gets expensive no matter what. Your best bet is to forget all that, learn to shoot manual, and then you can use any unit at all, from expensive high powered strobes to $20 midi slaves.

I'm a bit confused. I don't want to use the TTL stuff, I want to set the flashes manually. What I want is to use the on camera flash to trigger the other slave flashes. I don't have pocket wizards or anything like that. I've had a look around but can't get a clear answer. I'm a bit confused with the terms.

I definitely don't want to use the auto settings, I like manual. I just want them all to trigger together without having to buy another trigger system.

Cheers,

Terry

Get the Lumo Pro LP160. Well built, good price, optical slaves. That you are willing to go manual changes the game entirely. I have 4 of them. They are available here

http://mpex.com/

They are a reliable trusted vendor and ship international.

Nikon SB600 is pretty much a joke because they have no sync terminal - I had them and sold them. SB900 overpriced and overheats if you are trigger happy..

swellphotography UK · « **Reply #6 on:** October 05, 2011, 14:46 »

Quote

Why don't you buy another SB 600?

I'm starting out and trying to do things cheap until I can prove I'm able to sell some pictures. I'm using a D200.

Quote

Get the Lumo Pro LP160.

Thanks for the recommendation, I'm checking out the website now. Don't suppose anyone knows of a UK seller?

Has anyone heard of the YN460-II. Found it on amazon for £50ish.

Cheers,

Terry
www.swellphotographyuk.blogspot.com

stormchaser · « **Reply #7 on:** October 05, 2011, 18:54 »

The Yongnuo units are ok ,and cheap enough so that you can pick up several in case of failure, People I know have had both good luck with them and bad. It's not a unit I can highly recommend. I am not sure if the Yongnuos have optical slaves - the Lumos do for sure. You will have to read the individual specs.

I don't know of any UK sellers on the Lumo units, but they will ship international no problem. I went for the Lumos because they are full featured and included the optical slave.. I don;t use the opticals that often, but they do come in handy.

The YN units have a pretty low guide number, where the Lumos are right up there with the Can 580EX and Nijon SB800 in terms of power.

http://speedlights.net/2010/12/10/yongnuo-yn460-ii/

BaldricksTrousers · « **Reply #8 on:** October 06, 2011, 00:44 »

If you use an optical trigger that sends a pulse to the gun as soon as it sees a flash then anything the trigger plugs into will be compatible. You don't need to stick to Nikon stuff.

For studio work I don't use on-camera flash, I use a $20 Chinese-made radio trigger-receiver with cheap studio lights on stands. If I want two or more lights to fire I use the built-in optical triggers on those that aren't connected to the radio reciever.

If I was using an on-camera flash I would just use the built in optical triggers on all the studio lights.

At some point you will want to be able to balance the light output from the different flashes, so I would suggest you get something which allows you to vary the strength of the flash. The old Vivitar 285 flashgun does that, so do decent studio lights.

At the very cheap end, I worked quite well with a couple of Midi Flash optical slave units in my early days. They cost virtually nothing but there is no control over output so you have to use distance and ISO to manage the light.

stormchaser · « **Reply #9 on:** October 06, 2011, 00:54 »

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on October 06, 2011, 00:44

At the very cheap end, I worked quite well with a couple of Midi Flash optical slave units in my early days. They cost virtually nothing but there is no control over output so you have to use distance and ISO to manage the light.

I still have my very old midis and still use them. Great for little fill lights when doing interiors. I stick them behind furniture to open up dead walls and if needed tape on a piece of white thin paper to tone them down. They are fantastic as little gel lights too and back when it was all I had used them in a small homemade softbox.

BaldricksTrousers · « **Reply #10 on:** October 06, 2011, 01:29 »

Quote from: stormchaser on October 06, 2011, 00:54

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on October 06, 2011, 00:44

At the very cheap end, I worked quite well with a couple of Midi Flash optical slave units in my early days. They cost virtually nothing but there is no control over output so you have to use distance and ISO to manage the light.

I still have my very old midis and still use them. Great for little fill lights when doing interiors. I stick them behind furniture to open up dead walls and if needed tape on a piece of white thin paper to tone them down. They are fantastic as little gel lights too and back when it was all I had used them in a small homemade softbox.

I got a bad bunch of batteries that leaked acid all over the innards otherwise I would still be using mine, too.

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Author Topic: Best Nikon slave flash unit? (Read 11587 times)

swellphotography UK

OM

stormchaser

swellphotography UK

donding

stormchaser

swellphotography UK

stormchaser

BaldricksTrousers

stormchaser

BaldricksTrousers

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