As I mentioned in the last chapter, one of the chief objections to the use of electronic flash is the stark, flat look of direct/on-camera flash, as you can see in Figure 10.1. But as flash wizard Joe McNally, author of The Hotshoe Diaries, has proven, small flash units can produce amazingly creative images when used properly.
An on-camera flash is useful for fill light or as a master flash to trigger other units; the real key to effective flash photography is to get the flash off the camera, so its illumination can be used to paint your subject in interesting and subtle ways from a variety of angles.
Of course, often, using a cable to liberate your external flash from the accessory shoe isn’t enough. Nor is the use of just a single electronic flash always the best solution; two or more units can be combined in interesting ways to sculpt with light. What we have really needed is a way to trigger one—or more—flash units wirelessly, giving us the freedom to place the electronic flash anywhere in the scene and, if our budgets and time allow, to work in this mode with multiple flashes.
Nikon shooters have long had wireless flash capabilities, ever since the creation of the Nikon Creative Lighting System, described in Chapter 9. Like the i-TTL exposure system, the Advanced Wireless Lighting (AWL) system uses pre-flashes that fire before the main exposure to transmit triggering and exposure information to external flash units that aren’t actually connected to the D500. Depending on whether you’re using the SB-5000 or one of the older flash units, you may be able to divide multiple flash units into as many as three different “groups” (six with the SB-5000) and communicate with them using your choice of any of up to four “channels” (to avoid interference from other Nikon photographers within range of your flash units who might be using the same channel).
It’s not possible to cover every aspect of wireless flash in one chapter. There are too many permutations involved. For example, you can use external flash like the SB-700 or SB-5000, an SU-800 wireless trigger, or a PocketWizard-type device as the master. You may have one external “slave” flash, or use several. It’s possible to control all your wireless flash units as if they were one multi-headed flash, or you can allocate them into “groups” that can be managed individually. You may select one of four “channels” to communicate with your strobes. These are all aspects that you’ll want to explore as you become used to working with the D500’s wireless capabilities.
What I hope to do in this chapter is provide the introduction to the basics so that you’ll have the information you need to understand the step-by-step instructions for your particular Speedlight using the detailed manual supplied with the unit. Once you learn how to operate the D500’s wireless capabilities, you can then embark on your own exploration of the possibilities.
Here are some of the key concepts to electronic flash and wireless flash that I’ll be describing in this chapter:
The master flash is the commander that tells all the other units in a setup what to do, including when to fire, and at what intensity. It communicates with your D500, and then, when the firing parameters are determined by the camera (or you, manually), passes along the information to the individual remote flash units.
Your master can be one of the following:
I like to use my SU-800 for off-camera flash with no need to fuss with a cable connection or camera-mounted master flash unit. The owl shown at left in Figure 10.4 was perched on the limb of a fir tree, deep in shade. For the shot at right in the figure, a helper held my SB-910 flash eight feet off to the left while I concentrated on catching the bird’s reactions. The SU-800’s infrared control has an impressive 66-foot range under these conditions (that is, not under direct sunlight). It helped me capture the little owl using the off-camera flash (which provided a nice catchlight in the creature’s eye) as the primary illumination.
I’m generally covering only Nikon-branded products in this book, because there are so many third-party devices that it’s difficult to sort out all the options. However, one product line that stands head and shoulders above the rest and deserves special mention is the PocketWizard transmitters and receivers (www.pocketwizard.com). These devices attach to your camera (generally by mounting on the hot shoe) and connect to your flash to allow one or more flashes to communicate with the D500. The company makes several products specifically for Nikon cameras, including a transmitter, which locks onto the camera’s accessory shoe (a shoe-mount flash can be mounted on top of the transmitter, if you wish). Your remote flash units can use PocketWizard transceivers.
The transmitter interprets the i-TTL data from the camera and converts it into a digital radio signal to command your remote flash units. Note that this radio control system is more versatile than the pulsed light pre-flashes and infrared communications the Speedlights and SU-800 use (respectively), working through walls and in bright daylight. The PocketWizard ControlTL system switches to high-speed sync mode automatically when you choose a fast shutter speed.
To use the Advanced Wireless System, you’ll want to work with at least one remote, or slave flash unit. You can use units that are compatible with CLS or, with the (now discontinued) SU-4 accessory, other Speedlights. The remote flash for optical control can be any unit compatible with the Creative Lighting System, including the current SB-5000, SB-910, and SB-700, or simpatico discontinued models, such as the SB-900, SB-800, or SB-600. (Of these, the SB-600 can’t function as a master flash on its own.) You’ll need to set the auxiliary Speedlights to remote mode. For radio control mode, at this writing only the SB-5000 is compatible as a remote.
Channels are the discrete lines of communication used by the master flash to communicate with each of the remote units. The pilots, ham radio operators, or scanner listeners among you can think of the channels as individual communications frequencies.
If you’re working alone, you’ll seldom have to fuss with channels. Just remember that all the Speedlights you’ll be triggering must be using the same channel, exactly like a CB radio or walkie-talkie. (Google these terms if you’re younger than 40.) If every flash isn’t set for the same channel, they will be unable to “talk” to each other, good buddy. I’ll show you how to adjust channels shortly.
The channel ability is most important when you’re working around other photographers who are also using the same Nikon CLS system. Each photographer sets his or her flash units to a different channel as to not accidentally trigger other users’ strobes. (At big events with more than four photographers using Nikon flash, you may need to negotiate.) Don’t worry about Canon or Sony photographers at the same event. Their wireless flash systems use different communication systems that won’t interfere with yours.
It’s always a good idea to double-check your flash units before you set them up to make sure they’re all set to the same channel, and this should also be one of your first troubleshooting questions if a flash doesn’t fire the first time you try to use it wirelessly.
Each flash unit can be assigned to one of three groups, labeled A, B, and C. The SB-5000 has additional groups, D, E, and F. All the flashes in a particular group perform together as if they were one big flash, using the same output level and flash compensation values. That means you can control the relative intensity of flashes in each group, compared to the intensity of flashes assigned to a different group. A particular group needs at least one flash unit, but can have more.
For example, you could assign one (or more) flash to Group A, and use it as the main light in your setup. Group B could be used as the fill light, and Group C designated as a hair or background light. The power output of each group could be set individually, so your main light(s) in Group A might be two or three times as intense as the light(s) in Group B (used for fill), while another power level could be set for the Group C auxiliary lights. You don’t have to use all three groups, but it is an option.
But there’s a lot more you can do if you’ve splurged and own two or more compatible external flash units (some photographers I know own five or six Nikon Speedlights). Nikon wireless photography lets you collect individual strobes into groups, and control all the Speedlights within a given group together. You can operate as few as two strobes in two groups or three strobes in three groups, while controlling more units if desired. You can also have them fire at equal output settings versus using them at different power ratios. Setting each group’s strobes to different power ratios gives you more control over lighting for portraiture and other uses.
This is one of the more powerful options of the Nikon wireless flash system. I prefer to keep my Speedlights set to different groups normally. I can always set the power ratio to 1:1 if I want to operate the flash units all at the same power. If I change my mind and need to make adjustments, I can just change the wireless flash controller and then be able to manipulate the different groups’ output as desired.
Remember that with whatever equipment you are using, outdoors if you are using optical triggering, you must have a clear line-of-sight between the master flash or SU-800 unit and sensors on the front of the slave flash units. Indoors, this requirement isn’t as critical because the pre-flash and IR signals bounce off walls and other surroundings. Radio control has a longer 98-foot (30 meter) range.
Lighting ratios are the relative proportions of the illumination among the groups, as I just described. To get the most from the CLS system, you’ll want to understand how ratios work. That’s a topic that deserves a chapter of its own, but many Nikon D500 owners will already be familiar with the concept. If not, there are plenty of good books and online tutorials available.
Nikon’s wireless flash system gives you a number of advantages that include the ability to use directional lighting, which can help bring out detail or emphasize certain aspects of the picture area. It also lets you operate multiple strobes (although most of us won’t own more than two Nikon Speedlights). You can set up complicated portrait or location lighting setups. Since the top-of-the-line Nikon SB-5000 (and former champ SB-910) pump out a lot of light for a shoe mount flash, a set of these units can give you near studio-quality lighting. Of course, the cost of these high-end Speedlights approaches that of some studio monolights—but the Nikon battery-powered units are more portable and don’t require an external AC power source.
This chapter builds on the information in Chapter 9 and shows how to take advantage of the D500’s wireless capabilities. While it may seem complicated at first, it really isn’t. Learning the D500’s controls takes a lot of effort, and once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to make changes quickly.
Since it’s necessary to set up both the camera and the strobes for wireless operation, this guide will help you with both, starting with prepping the camera. To configure your camera for wireless flash, just follow these steps. (I’m going to condense them a bit, because many of these settings have been introduced in previous chapters.) I’m going to assume that you’re using an external flash connected to the D500 as a master strobe.
If you’re using an SB-5000 as your Master flash, setting it for Commander mode can be done using the Flash Control entry in the Photo Shooting menu. Just follow these steps:
The next step is to set up each of your off-camera flashes as a remote. That’s done using controls on the flash units themselves. I’ll get to that after I’ve explained how to set Commander modes for some other Speedlights.
Setting Commander modes for the SB-910/SB-900 has been greatly simplified, compared to some previous Nikon Speedlights. If you’d rather use an attached flash as the master, just rotate the On/Off/Wireless mode switch to the Master position.
You’ll want to tell the SB-910/SB-900 which channel it is using to communicate with the other Speedlights. You’ll need to do this separately for each of the SB-910/SB-900 units you are working with, if you’re using more than one. Here are the steps to follow. (I recommend doing several dry runs to see how setting up multiple flashes works before trying it “live.”) The steps are almost identical between the SB-910 and SB-900 (shown at the bottom of Figure 10.8), differing primarily in the Function buttons used. In each case, the buttons numbered 1 through 3 are the first three buttons just south of the LCD panel starting from left to right.
Tip
Reminder: At the - - setting, the master flash is disabled; it will trigger the other units, but its flash won’t contribute to the exposure—except if you’re shooting very close to the subject using a high ISO setting. If an external flash is the master, try tilting or rotating the flash head away from your subject to minimize this spill-over effect.
Setting Commander modes for the SB-700 is similar in concept to the settings for the SB-910 or SB-900. The controls for the SB-700 are shown at top in Figure 10.8. If you want to use an attached SB-700 as the master flash, follow these steps:
Setting Commander modes for the SB-500 is similar in concept to the settings for the SB-910, SB-900, or SB-700. If you want to use an attached SB-500 as the master flash, follow these steps:
Each of the external remote flash units must be set to Remote mode. With the SB-5000, that’s as easy as rotating the On/Off switch to the Remote position. Then press the wireless setting button located at the 11 o’clock position above the switch and choose optical, direct remote, or radio control remote modes. (I’m covering only optical triggering here, as radio control pairing and setup is complex and beyond the scope of this book.)
Here’s how to set up the Nikon SB-500, SB-700, SB-900, and SB-910 Speedlights as remote slave flash units. Note that you don’t need to specify compensation/output level; that’s handled by the master/commander flash. You just need to set the flash to Remote, then choose Group, Channel, and Zoom head function.
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