Umbrella types

[candleman]

Hey I’m about to get a stand and umbrella (finally) to mount the sb600 to.
I’m going for white shoot through for the moment. (soft box style)
But I have a question.

There are various other types and sizes.
The main others I remember are silver or gold reflective umbrellas.. so not the shoot through type.
My initial thought was this would give a slightly harder light (but still somewhat diffused)
Possibly good for hairlights? When have you used them?

What else are these used for and what other types are available… and what are they used for?
Then the size.. the smaller the harder the light right? ~which sizes have you chosen?
i know if i buy cheap i'll probably get a smaller umbrella.. i want tio be sure i dont get one by default in the kit thats too small.

if you have any resources that give a summary of umbrella types and characteristice i'd be most greatful.
cheers
J

[Jim Bryant]

When I need to use an umbrellas I use two reflectorsals. One is super sliver and the other gold. The gold one is great.throws a bit of warmth into your photos. http://www.cheapshooter.com/2007/08/...sive-lighting/

[candleman]

why not shoot through, Jim?

i know the "application" will be a decider... o s in some ways my post is kinof asking for an explaination as to the application each person uses thier chosen brolly's for to. .
my reasoning for shoot through is for dimly lit areas, i have some "dark" shots planned. so need a softish directional light.

the gold and silver i understand the glowing warmth especially for portraits.

thanks for the link, i appreciate it.

[Jim Bryant]

You know, I've shot through the white ones, but never through those two. I'll have to try it. thx.

Originally Posted by candleman

why not shoot through, Jim?

i know the "application" will be a decider... o s in some ways my post is kinof asking for an explaination as to the application each person uses thier chosen brolly's for to. .
my reasoning for shoot through is for dimly lit areas, i have some "dark" shots planned. so need a softish directional light.

the gold and silver i understand the glowing warmth especially for portraits.

thanks for the link, i appreciate it.

[DanaD]

Are you using some sort of trigger/remote set up for the SB-600? If so did you by the conversion kit to make it wireless?

Sorry dont mean to hijack, just curious because I bought stand and umbrella then learned that my SB-600 didnt work as wireless, only slave capability.

[candleman]

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

You know, I've shot through the white ones, but never through those two. I'll have to try it. thx.

lol.. now i'm confused. are there shoot thru' golds and silvers?? i havn't seen them before.
anyway.
i better make a trip to the camera shop and see whats on the shelf first hand.

Originally Posted by DanaD

Are you using some sort of trigger/remote set up for the SB-600? If so did you by the conversion kit to make it wireless?

Sorry dont mean to hijack, just curious because I bought stand and umbrella then learned that my SB-600 didnt work as wireless, only slave capability.

you've got a D60 or D40 ?.. you havn't been able to do any off camera flashes right?
with the D80 and above you can trigger wirelessly as the body acts as a commander.
you are still correct, as far as i understand, the sb600 is still only optical slave. it cant control other light groups
its triggered by the in-camera flash. but you set all the power outputs via the camera body, and this is wirelessly sent to the sb600 during the pre-flash.

if you have a d60/d40 you'll need either an sb800 (its the commander, whichi s triggered by your in-camera flash.. i think)
the sb800 will than command any other sb600's you have
OR, you will need to do what canon folk do. get pocket wizards.. or sync cords.

[DSImages]

Originally Posted by candleman

lol.. now i'm confused. are there shoot thru' golds and silvers?? i havn't seen them before.
anyway.
i better make a trip to the camera shop and see whats on the shelf first hand.




you've got a D60 or D40 ?.. you havn't been able to do any off camera flashes right?
with the D80 and above you can trigger wirelessly as the body acts as a commander.
you are still correct, as far as i understand, the sb600 is still only optical slave. it cant control other light groups
its triggered by the in-camera flash. but you set all the power outputs via the camera body, and this is wirelessly sent to the sb600 during the pre-flash.

if you have a d60/d40 you'll need either an sb800 (its the commander, whichi s triggered by your in-camera flash.. i think)
the sb800 will than command any other sb600's you have
OR, you will need to do what canon folk do. get pocket wizards.. or sync cords.

You seem to know a bit about flashes.
I have a question for you,
I do have a d40 and looking to get into one on-camera flash and one off camera flash.
From your post above, the 800 should be on the camera and the 600 on the stand or in the umbrella.

Also, what if i used a trigger to trigger just one off camera flash. How would i do this.>?

[candleman]

Originally Posted by candleman

if you have a d60/d40 you'll need either an sb800 (its the commander, whichi s triggered by your in-camera flash.. i think)
the sb800 will than command any other sb600's you have
.

In the above post I should have made it clear I’m unsure if the sb800 will synchronise with the in-camera flash all by itself (act as a slave).... i doubt it
You will probably still need a sync cable /pocketwizard between the body and the sb800.
that may be your only option really.. the PW/sync cable.

if you go the cabled route,
the D40 doesnt have a sync port, you need to get an attachment that clips onto your hotshoe. you plug the cable into that.
the more expensive bodies have this built in (d200 and up i believe)

Originally Posted by DSImages

You seem to know a bit about flashes.
I have a question for you,
I do have a d40 and looking to get into one on-camera flash and one off camera flash.
From your post above, the 800 should be on the camera and the 600 on the stand or in the umbrella.

Also, what if i used a trigger to trigger just one off camera flash. How would i do this.>?

mmmm.. well, I have a rough idea. I’m pretty sure someone else on here has a better idea of how this works, as I’ve never actually done this myself.
But this is how I understand it to work.
*crosses fingers and hopes jdepould would step in*

I don’t know if the sb800/900 can be used as a commander when on camera, I’d expect it to. But being on-camera.. who knows what those little circuits do.
The more I think about it I don’t think it can operate as a commander when on camera.. seeing as the speedlight automatically shuts down and “becomes” the built in flash.
Possibly it can.. I don’t know.. I don’t own one.

For your case,
If the sb800 can act as a commander when on camera I’d say you’re correct… the sb800 would command the sb600.
If it cant, then you would need a sync cable between the sb800 and sb600. (I’m reasonably sure they both have sync ports)

But I think you could take it a step further (seeing as you’d be spending allot on two flashes)
What you could do.. is go down the sync cable/PW route with the sb800 off camera, this could the control the sb600 off camera too. (it’s just a possibility)

I bought the d80 so I wouldn’t have to bother with all the cables and these triggering issues… plus it felt the best in my mits.


feel free to correct any of the incorrect statements i've probably made..

[OsmosisStudios]

If youve got a D40/D60, you need either the SB800 (which will act as a master on the camera) or the SU800, which is an infrared transmitter. It'll trigger any SB series.

[oldwolf]

I have shoot throughs and bounce. I prefer the shoot through. This is the one I prefer:

http://www.mpex.com/browse.cfm/4,4635.html

Reason being, I can put the black cover on and use it as a bounce. If I get into a tight situation where I need to get close the the model then I shoot through the umbrella and I can get it closer to the model. With the bounce I need at least the space I want to keep the light away from the model as well as the length of the umbrella handle. So tight spaces suck for bounce.

Just my personal preference.