Nikon Stuff

Q&A: How to Use Your Nikon SB-900 in Optical Slave Mode

dapp — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

As most of you know, the discontinued Nikon SB-800 speedlight has an awesome -- yet, oddly undocumented -- built-in slave. But given the questions I have gotten recently, many people who own the newer SB-900s are not aware that their flash has the same capability.

A walk-thru on how to access and use the built-in slave in your Nikon SB-900 speedlight, and how to get better results from any slave outdoors, inside.
__________

SU-4 Mode Button Sequence

SU-4 mode is a legacy TTL mode which existed long before Nikon's CLS system. Props to Nikon for continuing to include it. And the day they stop including it is the day I start hoarding old flashes.

By setting your flash into both manual and SU-4 modes, as they say, dis where da magic happen.

Here's how to do it.

1. Press the "OK" button until you see a custom function menu appear. Should take a couple of seconds.

2. Using the command dial, scroll until you get to "SU-4" mode, and press "OK".

3. Use the same dial. scroll to "on." Press "OK" again.

4. Press "Exit" to get out of the menu.

5. Set your selector switch to "Remote".

You are now in SU-4 slaved mode, but you flash may be in either Manual or Automatic firing mode. You almost certainly want Manual mode. Use the "mode" button to get to "M" (or manual) mode.

Now your flash is in manual mode, and set to fire when it sees another flash. You can adjust the power level in manual mode the same way you do it if you were not in SU-4 mode.
__________

Tips on Usage

The slave eye is just below the battery door, and is seen as a small, bright circle in the photo at left. You need to position your flash to where the head points where you want, and the eye points toward the flash which will trip this flash.

(That's why the 180-degree rotation feature is valuable on the SB-900, and why you may want to add the same feature to your SB-800.)

If you read the SB-800 SU-4 tutorial, you know just how good this slave is. I count on them all the time, and they rarely let me down. If I am shooting in a room with all SB-800s, I will usually only take one set of PWs and slave the other flashes. They rock.

Here is how you can improve your already good results when shooting outside.

When you get a misfire, the problem is usually that the slave eye window was seeing bright sun in addition to your other flash's pop. This is easy to fix.

Once you get your lights set, use some gaffer's tape and make a little "porch roof" for your slave eye that will shade the sun but not block the view to the flash being used to trip this one. Your percentages will increase dramatically.

And, Speaking of Master Flash

One common mistake when using SB-800s or SB-900s in SU-4 mode (or any other flash with a good slave, for that matter) is not taking into account any "preflashes" that may be happening before your main exposure.

These slaves are so good they will almost certainly see and preflashes from the master flash and trip your slaved flash, too. And this all happens just a few milliseconds before your exposure, so the flash does not have time to recharge and pop again when you want it to.

The fix is easy -- make sure your "master" flash is not set to "master" mode, which enables a series of TTL-measuring TTL preflashes. You want all flashes in manual, where they will issue just one, pre-set pop. This way all of your flashes will sync together, and exactly when you want.

As long as everything is set to manual, your secondary flash is set to SU-4 mode and the slave eye can see your other flash, you will be amazed at how well it all works together.

And you might even feel good about how much coin you dropped on that spiffy new Nikon SB-900 speedlight.

Nikon CoolPix P90

dapp — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:32:00 +0000

Nikon provide me the opportunity to try out their new CoolPix P90. I received the camera shortly before I went to Costa Rica and Saudi Arabia. This is a fun camera and I thought you might enjoy seeing a few images I've created using this camera. The camera has a few feature I really like, one thing I don't like is it does not have the option to shoot in RAW. The feature I used most was changing the image size. I found myself using the 9:16 and the 1:1 ratios the most.

Another fun feature is the ability to add a black stroke around your image for play back on the camera. It give the image a finished professional look to it, sort of a fine art matting. The images are sharp and rich in detail, not a bad little camera.

This was a photo I took just outside my hotel in San Jose, Costa Rica prior to the Mentor Series Trek start. I just love the colors here.

This photo was taken during a short bus stop near a fruit stand and restaurant on the side of the road.

During our trip we stopped by a butterfly center, I found this the perfect time to try out the macro capabilities of the P90. The center photo above is a detail of a butterfly's wing tip. It is designed to mimic a snake... pretty cool.

The photos above are details of the corrugated plastic doors separating each of the butterfly rooms from one another. The plastic was a light blue and back lit with natural light.

I made this photo while walking around the hotel that I was staying at on my last night in San Jose, Costa Rica. The late afternoon light coming through the windows was gorgeous.

The next series of images were produced while I was in Saudi Arabia several weeks ago.

When changing planes in Amsterdam, I had the opportunity to shoot a few images in the terminal, without airport security noticing.

I had a short amount of time site seeing while in Saudi Arabia, having the P90 allowed for those quick travel type snaps.

Here are a few detail shots I did at the hotel that I was staying at while teaching my workshops.

I like shooting with this camera, just wish I had the ability to shoot RAW. DT

The last post on the “I am Nikon” campaign

dapp — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:08:07 +0000

Update: IamNikon.com is now live.

“Nikon is launching a pan-European advertising campaign, called “I am Nikon”, which aims to connect the brand’s heritage of professionalism, authenticity and innovation to an audience of aspiring photographers. The campaign will appear throughout Europe and South Africa, with the first TV ad airing on UK television over the Easter weekend from 2 to 5 April 2010 on ITV, Channel Four and Channel Five.”

Read the whole article @ MarketingWeek. This campaign was created by by Jung von Matt/Spree advertising agency (the company that registered some of the IamNikon domain names). IamNikon.com still redirects to the default Nikon Europe site. No new products were announced today.

Update: The last card from France of course says “I am Nikon”. It contained also a second flyer about the new campaign (thanks Romain Heuillard for the pictures):

Update #2 – new video on YouTube:

Posted by NikonRumors.com

Get a FREE Think Tank bag here

like | post more? dislike | do not post again?

Nikon related news/links

dapp — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:59:30 +0000

The new Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM SLD (nikon mount) is now available for pre-0rder.

Nokia N900 phone hacked to remotely trigger a Nikon DSLR.

Nikon USA redesigned their lenses page.

Nikon D700 is no longer available through the Army, Air Force Exchange System (AAFES) – the camera is no longer listed as available (Nikon equipment purchased through AAFES is shipped directly from Nikon). We had similar reports in the past – see here, here and here. In addition, Best Buy company computers are showing a mid-August date as end-of-life for the Nikon D700 (not sure how this works, but this could mean that they would have to return unsold stock and couldn’t sell the product after that date).

Canon got their rebates online.

Fstoppers.com: interesting new website that features behind the scenes videos of photographers working on their current projects. The crew at fstoppers.com shoot all Nikon gear (for now). Here is one of the videos:

Behind the Scenes: Eric Bradshaw shoots models on an island beach from FStoppers on Vimeo.

Update – I just added this video on how to make a Nikon D90 limited (pink) edition:

Video via Fotoactualidad

Nikon’s “I am..” video on YouTube:

Posted by NikonRumors.com

Nikon instant rebates now available till March 27th, 2010

like | post more? dislike | do not post again?

“Music In The Air”

dapp — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:01:00 +0000

"Music In The Air"
©David A. Ziser

Here is another image I made of our beautiful bride which I featured in my Wednesday's post, "Elegant Afternoon." [link]. The home in which we were shooting was just beautiful - just check out the pipe organ on the left - pretty amazing. The music room, once again provided us with a stunning location for portraits. As I've said so many times previously, my lighting is simple and fast to use. I had my assistant positioned camera left holding my flash which was shooting through my translucent umbrella. Today I would have used my Zumbrella [link] - shameless self-promotion;~) The challenge for this image was to keep the daylight coming through the windows from blowing out. I had to select a shutter sped that would allow me to pick up a bit of the ambient light, but at the same time be fast enough to maintain some detail in those windows. I think we reached a nice balance. Camera specs: Nikon D1x fitted with 18-35mm Nikkor lens at 31mm, F5.6 @ 1/50 second, ISO 400.

Enjoy! -David

“Love As Big As The World”

dapp — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:47:00 +0000

"Love As Big As The World"
©David A. Ziser

Anyone following the blog knows I'm a fan of the fisheye lens. I just love the way it "bends" the lines and maybe even a bit of the reality of the scene. The fisheye really adds a visually different and hopefully exciting perspective to an image. From my vantage point in taking this image, the sky takes on a "worldly" perspective behind the bride. Maybe not everyone's "cup of tea" but I still like it. Lighting from camera left with my undiffused Quantum on full power. Camera specs: Nikon D1x fitted with 8mm Sigma Fisheye, F 14 @ 1/500 second, ISO 400. Enjoy! -David

Wishing I had GPS Technology On My Camera

dapp — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:25:00 +0000

During my visit to Saudi Arabia, the majority of my time was involved with teaching my workshops. My host Abdullah Al-Saeed made sure that any free time I had, was spent sight seeing and enjoying the hospitality of his country. I was overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity extended by Abdullah, his friends and the Saudi people I met during my visit. This was truly a once in a life time experience, one I would like to have again!

GPS technology on my camera would certainly help me identify where this photo was taken. The gentleman shown in the photo at the top of this post is Mohammed Al-Musalli, he is a local artist from the town of Qatif.

If memory serves me, this is a very old fort build in the 16th century, it is the oldest castle in the Persian Gulf and was built by the Portuguese. It is located in the center of Tarut Island. Anyway, while being shown this wonderful location I asked to photography our host over looking a Mosque in this beautiful town.

In terms of lighting, this was a very quick set up. I first metered the background, underexposed it by a stop and a half and than turned on the strobe. Adam, one of my students at the workshop was with us this day and he hand held the SB-600 off camera and to the left. The photo really took only a few moments to achieve, having a VAL available doesn't hurt.

Prior to visiting this historic site, I had the opportunity to visit Mohammed in his home/studio. Mohammed is an accomplished and well know artist in his part of the world. His a photographer, painter and 3D artist.

After visiting the castle at Tarout we went to a beach where there was a traditional fishing boat beached on the sand. I had a few moments to photograph this ship before we lost the sun for the day.

I managed to add a quick fill flash using an SB-800 with the help of my friend Adam. He held the strobe at camera left and he used a hand to flag the flash off the sand in the foreground. DT

Hands-on review: 16-35mm f/4.0 AFS VR G zoom Nikkor lens

dapp — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:53:04 +0000

Jason Odell has written one of the first reviews of Nikon's new 16-35mm zoom lens and compares it to the 14-24mm f/2.8 and 17-35mm f/2.8 Nikkor wide-angle zooms. Read more...

I’m Back, Sort Of

dapp — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:41:00 +0000

I can’t tell you how happy I am to be sleeping in my own bed once again. The lack of recent posts here at my blog should be a good indication how busy I’ve been. I’ve been on the road for about a month now, first Costa Rica than Saudi Arabia and finally, The Santa Fe Workshops.

Over the next several weeks I will be posting images from my adventures as well as lighting demonstrations and thoughts on my approach to making several of these up coming images.

Let’s start with an image made during one of my workshop earlier this month. While conducting my Saudi Arabian workshop I produced the following image. I selected the location for two reasons. First, I liked the repeated pattern of the metal fence as well as the receding lines it offered. The second reason was to illustrate location assessment and the choice of lighting this scene.

When we look at the photo below, you will notice that sunlight is coming from the right side of the frame, you can see the shadow of the fence projected on the ground. In my mind, it would make sense to light our subject from the same direction where the sun is coming from.

I first made an exposure to place the background value where I wanted it, this in turn puts my subject in silhouette. We than added a single SB-800 shot through a Lastolite Tri-Grip diffusion panel.

It’s very important that you think about your location and from where the existing light is coming from. I chose to light from the right side to duplicate the direction of the existing light. I think it would be unnatural to have my light coming from the opposite direction.

I’m headed out to Columbus, Ohio for The Arnold Sports Festival this weekend where I’ll be conducting a shorten SSBR lighting workshop. If your in the area, I hope you can attend.

I’ll try not to take so long in posting, sorry about that….. DT

Nikon related news/links

dapp — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:47:06 +0000

It seems that the Nikon D3s is hard to get: Adorama, B&H and Amazon are all out of stock. If you need one Ace Photo currently has 3 in stock.

List of Olympics photo blogs – very cool!

Interesting: two D700 set as a 3D camera. Here is a 3D photography book by the same photographer.

Crutchfield.com leaked the details about the upcoming Nikon rebates:

The big question is whether the price adjustment at Adorama, B&H and Amazon will be based on their current prices or on the MSRP.

Also you can mix and match lenses and one body: “purchase all three lenses with a qualifying camera and save $950.”

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8 VR II lens reviewed @ dpreview

Capture One 5.1 released with Nikon D3s support.

Aperture 3.0.1 released.

Nikon Coolpix S220 tops European sales charts.

Continue reading after the break:

Another empty placeholder showed up briefly over the weekend on Nikon US website:

Nikon @PMA 2010 (video):

like | post more? dislike | do not post again?