d40 + sb600 + ?? (cactus v4?) = remote trigger

[muirhejs]

I'm getting more and more into my DSLR and purchased a SB600 which very nicely complements my D40. It seems that one of my next steps is to get the flash off-body and that the traditional way of doing this for a D40 is to either upgrade to a SB800 (expensive) or purchase a cord which gives limited options.

I keep reading about these 'cactus v4' triggers though which seem to be a cheap alternative to get my SB600 to remotely fire. They seem to be somewhat improved from the cactus v2s, but I can't seem to find much commentary on what I'm trying to do.

Any thoughts? I like to keep things cheap

- John

[inkista]

Sorry for the short answer, but I've been answering similar questions to this all week long.

You need to read the Strobist from whence the flow of all things off-camera flash come.

I will also add my personal footnote/warning that if you are NOT comfortable shooting in full Manual mode on your camera and swapping stops among the iso, aperture, and shutter speed, you may want to hold off with the off-camera flash until you are. The book for that is this one.

If you are inexperienced with flash on-camera, you may also want to absorb what Neil van Niekerk has to say, as he is the king of bouncing from the on-camera flash.

Yes, the Cactus V4s can do what you want, but there are going to be differences from using CLS and/or a TTL-capable sync cable: you will not have i-TTL (i.e., the ability to have the camera automatically set the power level of the flash based on metering). You will have to dial in the flash power/zoom yourself on the flash back, with the flash in Manual mode. You will not have high-speed sync (i.e., you must use shutter speeds of 1/500s or lower).

Cactus V4s are good triggers. But the low low cost comes at the price of build quality and consistency. Some folks have great luck with them; some folks don't. If you are doing professional work with a client looking over your shoulder, 90% reliability isn't going to cut it, and you may want to be a bit more spendy and at least get Cybersyncs, if not PocketWizards.

I, personally, went with yongnuo RF602s off eBay, since they operate on the same frequency as the Cybersyncs and are said to have better build quality than the V4s, and they can also double as a shutter remote, but they're also cheapies.

[Benji]

An SB 800 will cost right at $400.00. So you will own a d/c powered flash that needs new batteries every 150 discharges, has no modeling light, has a guide number of 125, takes 6 seconds to recharge the capacitor when used at full power (like when fired into an umbrella or softbox) and has no provision to easily attach it to a light stand. For $450.00 you could buy two Alien Bee B 400 flash units each with a guide number of 160, a 150 watt modeling light, recycles in .5 seconds (full power flash) and easily and quickly attaches to a light stand. There is a used one on ebay right now that has been bid up to $61.00 so far.

To me this is a no brainer.

Benji

[muirhejs]

Inkista- thanks for the thoughts; I've definitely been checking out Strobist quite a bit. It's an excellent resource.

I'm definitely -not- comfy yet in full manual mode.. i'm usually in aperture or shutter priority mode. I was thinking that getting "something" like the Cactus triggers at least gives me some room to grow. I'm not planning on doing anything professional at all.. most of my pictures are of my kids and end up on Facebook or for my wife's scrabooking albums.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by Benji

An SB 800 will cost right at $400.00. So you will own a d/c powered flash that needs new batteries every 150 discharges, has no modeling light, has a guide number of 125, takes 6 seconds to recharge the capacitor when used at full power (like when fired into an umbrella or softbox) and has no provision to easily attach it to a light stand. For $450.00 you could buy two Alien Bee B 400 flash units each with a guide number of 160, a 150 watt modeling light, recycles in .5 seconds (full power flash) and easily and quickly attaches to a light stand. There is a used one on ebay right now that has been bid up to $61.00 so far.

To me this is a no brainer.

Benji

Until you need to carry them around. I can get 4-6 flashes in the same space as ONE of your flash heads. You also cant power them wirelessly (ie there are always cables) or outdoors, away from outlets.

ALso, unless you NEED to be shooting every .5 seconds, (which, lets face it, isnt often), then there's no reason to go to the larger flash heads.

Finally, Even with an SB-600, you're almost never going to use them at full-power. I set up a mini studio at a nightclub with an SB600 and an SB800. They were at 1/2 and 1/8 power, respectively.

/lawyered.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by muirhejs

... I'm definitely -not- comfy yet in full manual mode.. i'm usually in aperture or shutter priority mode. ...

Don't worry, you can still do some work with flash, and particularly if you're using i-TTL with a Nikon speedlight like the SB-600, you can hide out from full manual a little while longer. But the reason you want to be comfortable in full Manual with flash is because that way you'll have full control over balance of the ambient light vs. the flash. Most of the dSLRs, when shooting in full/programmed auto assume you want to use the flash as your main illumination, and in aperture/shutter priority that you want to use the ambient as your main illumination and the flash as fill. This can really screw you up (i.e., a lot of flash first timers are always saying; "I'm shooting in aperture priority with a flash--why am I getting hecka long shutter speeds?!") Manual lets you override what the camera thinks you want to do.

Whenever you take a flash photo, you're essentially combining two exposures, and you can essentially control and balance the two against each other. You can, for example, underexpose the background with your ambient, while bringing the subject up with your flash illumination. But to have precise control of one against the other, shooting in Manual mode is your best tool. The Strobist has two good articles for wrapping your head around this: here and here.

Benji--going with the studio strobes is a no-brainer only if you always plan to shoot with stands and in a studio setting with outlets nearby, or lug a battery pack. But not so much if you also plan on popping the flash onto your hotshoe and bouncing off the walls to run'n'gun at a wedding, or to do the movable strobe-on-a-pole thing, or to set up out in a backcanyon that requires an hours' hike to get there. When you have to have your light move with you, a speedlight rocks. A speedlight is more power-limited than a monobloc or heads and a pack, but it can do double-duty both on-shoe and off, and it's smaller and hecka more portable, and used on-shoe, you get i-TTL/e-TTL and high-speed synch. You can't stick an AB on your hotshoe and run around with it.

Different tools. Different tasks.