D70: Commander Mode

[dave]

I had a realization last night that I thought I'd pass along.

Background: There are two speedlights for the D70. The SB-800 and the SB-600. The SB-800 can be operated in Commander Mode to do wireless triggering of additional flash units. The SB-600 can only be used on camera by itself or as a remote flash, it does not have Commander Mode.

I had read previously that the D70 could be used in conjunction with an SB-800 speedlight to do wireless triggering of multiple speedlights.

To get to my realization from last night, the D70's pop-up speedlight can be set to Commander Mode and without an SB-800 attached to the camera, the pop-up speedlight can trigger the SB-600/SB-800 flash units that are set to receive the remote signal. It took me a little while to figure out how to do this the first time, but I was able to get my D70 pop-up speedlight to wirelessly fire my SB-600 from across the room. :smile:

[Kyle]

Cool! I was trying to decide which to get between the 600 and 800, and with that option available I may not have to lay down the extra $$ I thought I would.

Thanks for the info.

[DaCrema]

The SB800 also comes with a foot to so you can set it on the ground or on a tripod. I am still playing with it. I gotten the commander mode to work at home but not when I wanted to (had the flash with me but not the book).


I do not know if the SB600 comes with the foot. It should be available though.

[dave]

The SB-600 does come with the foot (which can be screwed into a tripod).


I'm in about the same boat. I got commander mode to work at home, but not on the fly in the field. Maybe with a little more practice.

[DaCrema]

Dave,
Did you ever get the SB-800 to flash off camera? (Forgive me for asking if you did not get your D-70 back yet.) Other than the first time I tried I have not been able to make this feature work. I might want to use the feature while on holiday.
Oh yea, thanks for all the tips and ideas on you have passed along.
John

[dave]

I got my my D70 back on Tuesday. [happy dance] :smile: [/happy dance] Then yesterday my 70-200 VR showed up.

To answer your question, I have the lowly SB-600. I have used the flash off camera with Commander Mode, but not since I got the camera back. I can try to get that setup and working when I get home. I need to get it working again for the holiday's too.

[dave]

Instructions for setting up the SB-600 (possibly the SB-800 too) as a remote wireless off camera flash

Camera (D70)

- press the Menu button
- scroll down to the Pencil looking icon (third one down)
- scroll right and then down and select item 19 Flash Mode
- scroll right and then down and sellect Commander Mode
- scroll right and sellect TTL (that's what I've found to work best so far)

Flash (SB-600) off camera

NOTE: you may want to reset your flash before starting. To do so, turn the power on, then press and hold MODE together with the ON/OFF button

- mount the flash to the supplied foot
- press and hold ZOOM and -
- "OFF" and the little squiggley arrow should appear
- press MODE to toggle "OFF" to "ON" (pressing - will toggle through the modes, but the default mode is the one we wand (the squiggle arrow))
- With the word "ON" active on the display, press and hold ZOOM and -
NOTE: press ZOOM first, then -, but hold them together
- Your display should now say CH 3 Group A

CAMERA (D70)
- Back to the camera and pop the on board flash up. Select the flash mode you want on the camera.
- Compose your shot
- Release the shutter

The onboard flash should fire an initial series of flash burst. I recall reading there are something like 16 flash bursts, but it's all so quick you'll never count them. Those 16 bursts are read by the IR sensor on the right side of the SB-600 (little window at the bottom on the right). The SB-600 detects those bursts and adjust it's settings accordingly. When the picture is taken the SB-600 / SB-800 remote flash units will fire.

NOTE: the window on the right side of the flash MUST point in a way that it will be hit by light from the on camera pre-flash pulses. Therefore you many need to pivot the head of the SB-600 / SB-800 to get the flash to fire in the direction you want while the body points at your camera.

NOTE: the foot your flash is mounted to can be mounted to a tripod.

Hope that helps

[DaCrema]

Thanks