Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: Prismpic on November 28, 2008, 11:38:16 am

Title: Trying CLS on sb600+d90
Post by: Prismpic on November 28, 2008, 11:38:16 am

Is anyone here familiar with using speedlights as a remote flash unit?

My new camera d90 is equipped for CLS, and I've set the f/stop and shutter speeds and the speedlight have tried several channels but it just wont fire. What am I doing wrong? The manual doesn't say anything about a remote head on the camera's hot shoe. Do I need one??? After all this is supposed to be wireless....
 

Title: Trying CLS on sb600+d90
Post by: Tony Beach on November 28, 2008, 12:29:44 pm

Start with e2 in the D90 Menu, where you select Commander Mode.

On the SB-600 you need to hold down "ZOOM" and "-" simultaneously for two seconds.  Next use the "+" or "-" to scroll to the squiggly line with an arrow at the bottom icon and use either "ZOOM" or "MODE" to turn it on or off.  Then hold down "ZOOM" and "-" simultaneously for two more seconds and the SB-600 will now be in Remote Mode.

Finally, align Channels and Groups between the Commander Mode (in this case, on the D90; but it is also available on the SB-800 or SB-900) and the Remote Mode Speedlight.  Typically you start with Channel 1 and set the Remote Speedlight to Group A and any additional Speedlights to Group B or C.

Title: Trying CLS on sb600+d90
Post by: Prismpic on November 28, 2008, 02:17:22 pm

Thanks Tony! After drilling down on the camera menu I found the E2 under CUSTOME SETTING menu. There is so much drilling down the menu button!

At first after setting the commander mode in the flash control settings it wouldn't fire, but one very important step missing was to pop the flash built in flash. Now how was a newbie supposed to know that?!! Anyway I also found a very helpful online tutorial video which might help shed more light on this simple yet sometimes confusing technique if you happen to miss a step or two....for those still learning (like me).

tutorial link (http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/06/nikon-cls-tutorial-video.html)

or paste this on your browser:

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/06/nikon...rial-video.html (http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/06/nikon-cls-tutorial-video.html)

One last thing...setting it back to normal tricky.

Title: Trying CLS on sb600+d90
Post by: Tony Beach on November 28, 2008, 02:51:05 pm

Quote from: Prismpic

One last thing...setting it back to normal tricky.

Just set the SB-600 back to non-Remote Mode and place it on the camera -- leave the camera's menu in Commander Mode as mounting the SB-600 in the flash shoe will override the camera's e2 settings.

For more consistent results, it is best to use i-TTL and avoid BL-TTL; also use Center-weighted metering instead of Matrix.

Title: Trying CLS on sb600+d90
Post by: Prismpic on November 29, 2008, 02:56:38 pm

Great, didn't know that. It would be a pain to switch back and forth.

thanks for the tip!!!