10
Wireless and Multiple Flash
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.
The 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. But, sometimes, using a cable to liberate your flash from the accessory shoe isn’t enough. Nor is the use of just a single electronic flash always the best solution. What we really have 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 D800. Depending on whether you’re using the D800’s built-in flash or an external flash, you may be able to divide multiple flash units into up to three different “groups,” and communicate with them using your choice of any of 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 the D800’s internal flash, an external flash like the SB-700 or SB-910/SB-900, an SU-800 wireless trigger, or a Pocket Wizard-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 D800’s wireless capabilities.
What I hope to do in this chapter is provide the introduction to the basics that you won’t find in the other camera-based guidebooks, so you can learn how to operate the D800’s wireless capabilities quickly, and then embark on your own exploration of the possibilities.
Figure 10.1 On-camera flash is often harsh and unflattering.
Elements of Wireless Flash
Here are some of the key concepts to electronic flash and wireless flash that I’ll be describing in this chapter:
Master flash. The master is the flash (or other device) that commands each of the additional flashes when using Commander mode.
Remote flashes. For wireless operation, you need at least one more flash unit in addition to the master.
Channel controls. Nikon’s wireless flash system offers users the ability to determine on which of four possible channels the flash units can communicate.
Groups. Nikon’s wireless flash system lets you designate multiple flash units in separate groups (as many as three groups). You can then have flash units in one group fire at a different output than flash units in another group. This lets you create different styles of lighting for portraits and other shots.
Using flash ratios. You can control the power of multiple off-camera speedlights to adjust each unit’s relative contribution to the image, for more dramatic portraits and other effects.
Master Flash
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 D800, 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 flash can be one of the following:
The Nikon D800’s built-in flash. Your camera’s pop-up flash can be used as a master to trigger all the other units operating on the same channel. The D800’s flash can contribute to the exposure (perhaps as fill light), or can be set to transmit only exposure/triggering information to the remote flash units.
An external flash with Commander capabilities. Use a Nikon SB-910, SB-700, or compatible earlier units to communicate with the remote speedlights. When used as a master flash, the external strobe must be physically connected to the D800. You can mount the flash on the camera’s accessory hot shoe, or mount it on a cable, such as the SC-28 or SC-29, and then connect the other end of the cable to the D800’s accessory shoe. (See Figure 10.2.) As with the built-in flash, the master flash can be set so that it does or does not contribute to the exposure, although, because it can be used off-camera, the latter mode offers more advantages.
Figure 10.2 An external flash can be used as an off-camera master when connected to a cable that links it to the camera.
The Nikon SU-800. This device is an expensive non-flash ($340) that does nothing but serve as a commander for CLS-compatible flash units. It mounts on the hot shoe of the D800 and emits infrared signals (rather than monitor pre-flashes) to trigger the remote flash units. It otherwise functions exactly like a “real” master flash, communicating to groups of speedlights over the same channels, and allowing i-TTL exposure control. It has two main uses. The main application is as a commander for Nikon’s wireless “macro” lights, the SB-R200 units, in place of the D800’s built-in master flash. The SU-800 also serves as a master for cameras that have no built-in flash at all, such as the Nikon D4, D3s, D3x, and some earlier models. As a D800 owner, you probably wouldn’t buy this device to use instead of the built-in master flash, but if you already own one (say, for close-up work with the SB-R200) it can be put to work in other applications. Its infrared control does offer an impressive 66-foot range for triggering other flash units.
Compatible third-party triggering devices. These include models from PocketWizard and Radio Popper. The advantage of these devices is that, unlike the optical system used by Nikon’s CLS products (limited to about 30 feet), third-party devices use radio control to extend your remote “reach” to as far as 1500 feet or more. Their transmitters/receivers can work in concert with your own master flash, which controls the remote flashes normally when they’re in range, with the radio control taking over when the transmitter senses that the remote flash isn’t responding to the master’s instructions.
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 D800. 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 speed-lights 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.
Remote Flashes
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 SU-4 accessory, other speedlights.
CLS-compatible flash. The remote flash can be any unit compatible with the Creative Lighting System, including the current 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, as I’ll describe later.
Non-CLS flashes/SU-4 Wireless Remote. Although your SB-400 flash unit cannot serve as a remote under CLS, it can still be triggered wirelessly using the Nikon SU-4 Wireless Remote ($120). It also can be used with earlier Nikon flash units, such as the SB-80DX, and other flash not compatible with the Creative Lighting System. The slave flash is mounted on the SU-4’s hot shoe. The device can be set to M (manual) mode, and when the master flash’s burst is detected, the slave flash is triggered. In Auto mode, the slave’s flash duration will be synched to match that of the master flash, to produce the correct exposure from the illumination of all the speedlights in the group.
Channels
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.
Groups
Each flash unit can be assigned to one of three groups, labeled A, B, and C. 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 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 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.
Lighting Ratios
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 D800 owners will already be familiar with the concept. If not, there are plenty of good books and online tutorials available.
Setting Your Master Flash
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 Speedlight SB-910 pumps 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 D800’s wireless capabilities. While it may seem complicated at first, it really isn’t. Learning the D800’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 either your D800’s built-in flash as your CLS master, or are using an external flash connected to the D800 as a master strobe.
Setting Commander Mode for the D800’s Built-in Flash
Setting Commander mode for the built-in flash unit is confusing only because there are so many options. I’ll run through each of them individually so you can see that it’s easier than it looks. Here are the instructions you need to use the built-in flash as the Commander unit, with each of the external flashes set up individually as remotes.
1. Access Flash Control for Built-In Flash. Navigate to CSM #e3, and choose Commander Mode. A screen like the one shown in Figure 10.3 appears.
2. Choose Built-in Flash. Use the multi selector left/right buttons to highlight Mode in the Built-in Flash row, then press the up/down buttons to choose the mode you want to use. Select from:
TTL. This activates i-TTL exposure calculation; the D800 will initiate pre-flashes for the built-in flash plus any linked flashes using the same channel, and then set the exposure, taking into account any Flash Exposure Compensation you specify in the Comp. column for the built-in flash.
M (Manual). If you select Manual, the Comp column changes to indicate power ratios, from 1/1 (full power) to 1/128th power.
-- (Flash disabled). The built-in flash will not emit a main burst (contributing to the overall exposure), but will instead only fire the pre-flashes needed to measure/set exposure of the external speedlights, and to trigger their main bursts. In effect, this disables the built-in flash, but allows it to function as a commander for the other strobes on that channel.
3. Dial in Flash Exposure Compensation. Next, use the multi selector right button to highlight the Comp. parameter in the third column. If you choose TTL, you can select exposure compensation from –3 to +3.0 in increments of 1/3 EV; choose M, and you can set flash output from 1/1 to 1/128; choose - - and the pre-flashes will still be used to control any remote units in use, but the built-in flash will not fire to contribute to the exposure.
4. Set mode for Group A external flashes. Use the multi selector right button to move down to Group A to select TTL, Manual, or - - exposure (to deactivate that group), plus an additional choice, AA, which is Auto Aperture mode which switches exposure control from i-TTL to measurement using the external flash’s own (non-through-the-lens) light sensor. The external flash evaluates the amount of light reflecting from the subject and adjusts the flash’s output to produce an appropriate exposure based on the ISO, aperture, focal length, and flash compensation values set on the D800. This setting on the flash can be used with the D800 in Program or Aperture-priority modes.
5. Set Group A Flash Exposure Compensation. Move to the right in the Group A row and set any exposure compensation you want in the Comp. column. The options for TTL and AA modes are the same as when using TTL with the built-in flash. The M and - - options are the same, too.
6. Set mode and Flash Exposure Compensation for Group B (if used). If you elect to use a second group, you can set the mode and exposure compensation for Group B in the same way as for Group A. Just repeat Steps 4 and 5 for the additional group. Note that when using the built-in flash as the commander, you can select only Group A and Group B. Group C is not available (actually, the built-in flash itself is Group C, although Nikon doesn’t tell you that).
7. Use the multi selector right button to highlight the Channel setting, and use the up/down buttons to select the channel, from 1 to 4, that all the flash units will communicate over. Most of the time you can select a channel once, and then forget about it. You’ll need to switch to another channel only when you want to avoid interference with other nearby Nikon photographers.
8. Press OK when finished.
Figure 10.3 Commander mode for the built-in flash can be set in the Custom Settings menu.
Setting Commander Modes for the SB-910 or SB-900
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.
As with the D800’s built-in flash, 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 10.4), 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.
Figure 10.4 Location of the control buttons on the SB-700, SB-910, and SB-900 Speedlights.
1. Set master flash to Commander mode. On the master flash, rotate the power switch to the Master position, holding down the center lock release button of the switch so that it will move to the Master position. (This extra step is needed because Nikon knows you won’t want to accidentally change from Master to Remote.)
2. Access Mode. Press Function 2 button (Function 1 button on the SB-900) to highlight M on the LCD. (Note: M in this case stands for Master, not Manual.)
3. Select Mode. Press the MODE button and then spin the selector dial to choose the flash mode you want to use for that flash unit, from among TTL, A (Auto Aperture), M (Manual), or - -. Then, press OK.
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.
4. Set Flash Exposure Compensation. Press Function 3 button (Function 2 button on the SB-900), and rotate the selector dial to choose the flash compensation level (–3 to +3) or manual power level (1/1 to 1/128). The amount of EV correction appears at the right side, opposite the master flash’s mode indicator.
5. Specify group. Press Function 2 button (Function 1 button on the SB-900) to move on to the Group Selection option. Press OK to choose Group A, or rotate the selector dial to choose Group B or C, then press OK to confirm the group you’ve chosen.
6. Set modes for group. Once a group is highlighted, select the mode for that group. Press the MODE button and then spin the selector dial to choose the flash mode you want to use for that flash unit, from among TTL, A (Auto Aperture), M (Manual), or - -. Then, press OK.
7. Set Flash Exposure Compensation for group. Press Function 3 button (Function 2 button on the SB-900), and rotate the selector dial to choose the flash compensation level for the current group as you did in Step 3. The amount of EV correction appears at the right side, opposite the group’s mode indicator.
8. Repeat for other groups. If you’re using Group B and Group C, repeat steps 4-6 to set the mode and Flash Exposure Compensation for the additional groups.
9. Specify channel. Once the modes and compensation for all the groups have been set on the master flash, press Function 3 button (Function 2 button on the SB-900) and rotate the selector dial to set a channel number that the master flash will use to control its groups.
10. Set up remote flashes. Now take each of the remote flash units and set the correct group and channel number you want to use for each of them. I’ll describe this step later.
Setting Commander Modes for the SB-700
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 10.4. If you want to use an attached SB-700 as the master flash, follow these steps:
1. Set master flash to Commander mode. On the master flash, rotate the power switch to the Master position, holding down the center lock release button of the switch so that it will move to the Master position.
2. Choose mode. There’s a sliding switch on the left side of the SB-700. You can choose TTL, M (Manual), or GN modes.
3. Set Flash Exposure Compensation. Press the SEL button to select the master flash, then choose a flash compensation value/output level using the selector dial. Press OK to confirm.
4. Specify group. Press the SEL button to move on to the Group Selection option. Press OK to choose Group A, or rotate the selector dial to choose Group B. (Group C is not available with the SB-700.) Set the flash exposure compensation value for each group using the selector dial. Then press OK to confirm.
5. Specify channel. Once the modes and compensation for all the groups have been set on the master flash, press the SEL button to highlight the Channel, then rotate the selector dial to set a channel number that the master flash will use to control its groups.
6. Set up remote flashes. Now take each of the remote flash units and set the correct group and channel number you want to use for each of them. I’ll describe this step next.
Setting Remote Modes
Each of the external remote flash units must be set to Remote mode, whether you are using the D800’s built-in flash as the master, or another external flash as the commander. Here’s how to set up the Nikon 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.
1. Switch flash to remote mode. With the SB-900/SB-910 or SB-700, rotate the power switch to the Remote position, holding down the center lock release button of the switch so that it will move to the Remote position.
2. Select group. With the SB-910, press Function 2 button (Function 1 button on the SB-900) and choose Group A with the selector dial, and press OK. With the SB-700, press the SEL button to highlight the group, then press OK. Repeat for Group B or (with the SB-900/SB-910 only) Group C.
3. Set channel. Press Function 2 button to highlight the channel. If you’re using the SB-700, press the SEL button until the channel is highlighted. Then, rotate the selector dial to choose the channel number. Make sure you choose the same channel number you set earlier on the master flash. Press OK to confirm.
4. Choose zoom head position. With the SB-910, press the Function 1 button (or the Zoom button on the SB-900 or SB-700) to highlight Zoom Head Position, and choose a zoom head setting with the selector dial. Press OK to confirm. With the SB-900 and SB-700 push the Zoom button multiple times to change zoom settings.
5. Repeat for each remote flash. If you’re using more than one remote/slave flash, repeat Steps 1-4 for each of the additional CLS-compatible units.