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Photo Forum / Digital Photography / DSLR Cameras / December 2006Filters for Nikon SB-600?
These are probably all stupid questions, but I'll ask them anyway :-) I'm looking at the Nikon SB-600 flash (on the web; haven't got to hold one in my hand yet) and I don't get how the optional SJ-1 filters are supposed to work. At one level, they're obviously just bits of gel that you stick in front of the flash. If you didn't mind it being ugly, duct tape would work fine. This isn't rocket science. But, clearly they're shaped to fit into some kind of holder. Problem is, in all the pictures I can find on the web, there's no obvious slot on the flash unit they slip into. Are they just moderately overpriced bits of gel in a nice package that you get to duct-tape onto the front of the flash, or is there some magic attachment method that I'm not getting from the pictures? I'm also not getting how this is all supposed to work with the built-in flash on the D200 acting as a wireless commander. Let's say I'm shooting under fluorescent light. I put one of the FL-G filters on the SB-600 and set it up somewhere using the cute little adapter foot (or, I suppose, more duct-tape). Then I set the WB on the camera to fluorescent, and pop up the built-in flash. Do I just assume that the output from the SB-600 will sufficiently overwhelm the pop-up that I don't need to worry about filtering the pop-up flash? What if I don't want the pop-up flash at all? Is there any way to trigger the remote SB-600 without it, short of investing in the silly SU-800 commander module? According to Roy Smith <roy@panix.com>: > These are probably all stupid questions, but I'll ask them anyway :-) > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > is there some magic attachment method that I'm not getting from the > pictures? I've never handled an SB-600, but on my SB-800 there are two pull-outs above the flash lens. The lower one is a wide-angle lens which swings down in front of the main flash lens. The upper one is a combination quick-reference card and reflector to take light which would have gone up to the ceiling (indoors) and bounce it down more directly to the scene. This one does not swing down, of course. Anyway -- the tab on the (supplied with the SB-800) filters sticks in below these two pull-outs. No need for duct tape, and a rather neat package. And the gels come in a translucent hardshell plastic case shaped to hold them neatly stacked and fit in the case for the SB-800 flash units (at least). If the SB-600 does not have these slots, then the Nikon SJ-1 gels won't work for you, of course. Of course, you could simply get *one* optional SJ-1 filter, scan it flat, and print out copies of the outline to use as a guide when trimming other gels to shape. Duct tape would both mess up the sides of the flash, and block some of the filter area -- unless you wrapped the gel around the front and only taped on the sides clear of the active area. > I'm also not getting how this is all supposed to work with the built-in > flash on the D200 acting as a wireless commander. Let's say I'm shooting > under fluorescent light. I put one of the FL-G filters on the SB-600 and > set it up somewhere using the cute little adapter foot (or, I suppose, more > duct-tape). The adaptor foot also has a tripod thread in the bottom, so you could mount it on a spare tripod. Or you could get any kind of thing which provides a shoe and which has enough mass to hold it steady -- including old cameras. :-) > Then I set the WB on the camera to fluorescent, and pop up the > built-in flash. Do I just assume that the output from the SB-600 will > sufficiently overwhelm the pop-up that I don't need to worry about > filtering the pop-up flash? Why not turn the flash intensity on the camera's flash down, so the output is just enough to trigger the SB-600? I believe that I can do that on the D70, so your D200 certainly should have that capability. > What if I don't want the pop-up flash at all? Is there any way to trigger > the remote SB-600 without it, short of investing in the silly SU-800 > commander module? I don't think so -- unless you get the adaptor shoes and cables to remote the SB-600 in wired mode instead of wireless. Good Luck, DoN.  SignatureEmail: <dnichols@d-and-d.com> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564 (too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html --- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero --- > Why not turn the flash intensity on the camera's flash down, so > the output is just enough to trigger the SB-600? I believe that I can > do that on the D70, so your D200 certainly should have that capability. There is a flash compensation mode. The D200 manual doesn't explicitly say what it does. There is a note which says, "Flash exposure compensation is also available when an optional SB-800 or SB_600 Speedlight is attached", but that raises as many questions as it answers. Does it mean, "The flash compensation setting you set is also transmitted to the remote slaves and reduces their output as well as the built-in flash", or does it mean, "Only the built-in flash's output is reduced; the remote slaves still fire at full strength"? Beats me. According to Roy Smith <roy@panix.com>: > > Why not turn the flash intensity on the camera's flash down, so > > the output is just enough to trigger the SB-600? I believe that I can [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > flash's output is reduced; the remote slaves still fire at full strength"? > Beats me. Well ... the "is attached" part suggests that it *only* reduces the output of the flash on the camera's hot shoe (including with cables added, of course). Since the commander flash can be divided into channels, and the camera can meter the illumination of each channel (by firing those on reduced settings before the exposure) I would think that the remote flashes will adjust to make up for what is not contributed by on the camera. I can't do the full experiment here, because I have only a D70 and a single SB-800. But at least with the D70, there are fewer channels available for the "Commander" mode -- *unless* I put the SB-800 on the camera and let it be the commander -- in which case I don't have any slave flashes to experiment with. :-) Since you are considering this prior to actually purchasing the flash, maybe you should see if there is anywhere local where you can rent one for a day or two and experiment with it to satisfy yourself as to what it does. Good luck, DoN. SignatureEmail: <dnichols@d-and-d.com> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564 (too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html --- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero --- Thanks to everybody who answered all my dumb questions. I got the SB-600 today. Now that I'm playing with it, I'm sort of half convinced it's great to have so many options and half convinced it's a pain in the a.s to have so many options. I write software for a living -- one of my mantras is that anytime you give the user a choice, you're just giving them another opportunity to do the wrong thing. That certainly seems to be the case here! I got it working in wireless remote mode, which took a bit of both RTFM-ing and head scratching. The Custom Settings chapter of the SB-600 manual does mention (in bold, and underlined, but without any circles and arrows and a paragraph about each one) that modes which are unavailable are skipped, but it took me a while to understand what they meant by that. I spent some time stuck on figuring out why when I hit "MODE", I didn't get to the AF-ILL page like the manual said I would. The auto-zoom function is neat; I've never used a flash that had zoom before (ex OM-2/T-32 user). One you see it happen, it's immediately obvious how useful it is. I'm guessing (more manual reading needed!) that it only works when the flash is in the camera's hot shoe? That has to be true; it would make sense in a remote application, where the camera and flash are different distances from the subject. And, yes, now I see how the filters are supposed to go on :-) Oh, is there a PDF for the SB-600 manual? I couldn't find one on the Nikon USA web site. >Oh, is there a PDF for the SB-600 manual? I couldn't find one on the Nikon >USA web site. There's one on the Euro site: ftp://ftp.nikon-euro.com/Manuals/uNLgVuQcI/SB600-En_01.pdf SignatureCharlie... http://www.chocphoto.com >>Oh, is there a PDF for the SB-600 manual? I couldn't find one on the Nikon >>USA web site. > >There's one on the Euro site: >ftp://ftp.nikon-euro.com/Manuals/uNLgVuQcI/SB600-En_01.pdf And on the USA site too: http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/SB600_en.pdf SignatureCharlie... http://www.chocphoto.com More playing and reading over the past couple of days. I've take a series of shots in my living room that have me positively scratching my head trying to figure out what the heck the flash metering system is doing, but I guess I'll figure that out. Anyway, just wanted to mention a review I read which I thought was really good at explaining a lot of this stuff (http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/NIKONCLS/NIKONCLSA.HTM). Also a book (http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470045272.html) which I think I'm going to order that looks like it might explain this all better than the Nikon manuals. Why I need to buy a third-party book to learn how to use their stuff I don't know, but I guess at $20, it's hardly worth complaining about. > I'm also not getting how this is all supposed to work with the built-in > flash on the D200 acting as a wireless commander. Let's say I'm shooting [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > sufficiently overwhelm the pop-up that I don't need to worry about > filtering the pop-up flash? You would need to filter the pop-up flash too. It meters from the camera and if you subject is in range, should be just as bright as the SB-600. To answer your other question, there is a place to put the gel filters, so don't worry about that. I use them too. My problem has been that I am often in mixed lighting ... some flourescent and some incandescent. In that case, I just choose one [usually flourescent] filter and go with it, adjust white balance after the fact in RAW. > What if I don't want the pop-up flash at all? Is there any way to trigger > the remote SB-600 without it, short of investing in the silly SU-800 > commander module? Yep, I think you need the SU-800 if you want to avoid on-camera flash. SignatureThomas T. Veldhouse Key Fingerprint: D281 77A5 63EE 82C5 5E68 00E4 7868 0ADC 4EFB 39F0 >What if I don't want the pop-up flash at all? Is there any way to trigger >the remote SB-600 without it, short of investing in the silly SU-800 >commander module? You can set the pop-up to not flash when the picture is taken ('--' mode), but it will still fire the monitor pre-flashes and the pop up flash still needs to be 'popped' up. SignatureCharlie... http://www.chocphoto.com > >What if I don't want the pop-up flash at all? Is there any way to trigger > >the remote SB-600 without it, short of investing in the silly SU-800 [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > it will still fire the monitor pre-flashes and the pop up flash still needs to > be 'popped' up. That sounds like what I want, but I don't see how to do this. I press the lightning-bolt button and scroll through Front curtain sync, Red-eye reduction, etc, but don't see any mode with a "--" symbol. I'm reading page 78 in the D200 manual, and playing with the camera. What am I missing? >That sounds like what I want, but I don't see how to do this. I press the >lightning-bolt button and scroll through Front curtain sync, Red-eye >reduction, etc, but don't see any mode with a "--" symbol. I'm reading >page 78 in the D200 manual, and playing with the camera. What am I missing? Look on pages 161-166. What you need is in the custom settings menu. SignatureCharlie... http://www.chocphoto.com > >That sounds like what I want, but I don't see how to do this. I press the > >lightning-bolt button and scroll through Front curtain sync, Red-eye > >reduction, etc, but don't see any mode with a "--" symbol. I'm reading > >page 78 in the D200 manual, and playing with the camera. What am I missing? > > Look on pages 161-166. What you need is in the custom settings menu. Thanks! Silly me, I was looking for instructions on how to use the flash in the chapter titled, "Flash Photography" :-) |
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