Off camera strobe slaves

[PopsPhotos]

The type of photography I do doesn't lend itself to needing flash, but I do occasionally want it. I'm thinking of getting a flash unit which will fire off-camera, triggered by the flip up strobe on the camera. The last time I worked with such a setup was with a Speed Grafic and magnesium flash bulbs, so I need a primer on what to look for and what to look out for. I already have a cord for the SB-22s on the D40 (haven't tried it on the film cameras, yet.)

Nikon D40, N60, N70, N80 cameras.

Thank you.

Pops

[arith]

If you have an eTTL cord you are alright and don't need the pop up flash. But if not the pre-flash might cause problems and I only know about Canon camera's but some slave flashguns are better than others.

You cannot use a Nissin off a wireless remote although I think there is a firmware fix for Nikon, apparently according to Nissin there is a problem with X-sync but in forums they say it is to do with the Nissin going to sleep in manual after 5 seconds non use.

I also have a cheaper Jessops 360AFD which works as a slave sometimes when triggered from eTTL but always (so far) when triggered from manual. The Jessops is of cheap construction but with GN 36 at 50mm 100iso is not bad and it can zoom to 85mm.


They do one for Nikon and it is eTTL so do what I did if you want it; try it in the shop first and see if it will fire as a slave. cheers

[PopsPhotos]

The primary problem with the cord is the length. If I want to use the flash over by the subject with an umbrella, I have to get the camera too close to the subject for comfort.

Some quick research says the SB-26 might do what I want. I was hoping I'd get some advice from people who have gone through this search in the past.

Thanks.

Pops

[Colin Southern]

Perhaps not the solution you were after, but personally, I've found PocketWizard Plus IIs to be the closest thing to "bullet proof" with regards to off-camera triggering. On-camera triggering tends to be somewhat of a hit and miss kind of thing, depending on how well the slaves can see the master through umbrellas etc.