D300 and SB600

[fceexp1]

making my first foray into the light. i am trying to use my SB 600 off camera and not have the pop up flash fire. i set the commander mode with the -- for the pop up flash, the channels etc are set fine for the SB600 which fires, but so does the pop up flash. the camera store guy says, "yes, that's right, but the pop up flash fires after the shutter is closed so it will not effect the image." this doesn't feel right, especially if I'm using front curtain sync. i feel like an idiot, but i've worn out my fingers trying all kinds of buttons. does anybody how there know if the store staff is right or am i trying to do something that this flash simply cannot do? thanks!

[Nicole]

The pop up flash has to fire because it's the flash from that which sets off the off camera flash. Now, if you want to block the light, Nikon does make a product which lets enough through that the off camera flash fires, but you don't get the light from the pop up. I just can't remember the item number off the top of my head, but I'm sure someone knows it.

[LoveDSLR]

Originally Posted by Nicole

I just can't remember the item number off the top of my head, but I'm sure someone knows it.

Nikon SG-31R Replacement IR Panel?

[ARKreations]

The built-in commander fires a pre-flash before the shutter opens to eveluate exposure and communicate the iTTL signals to the remote. The pre-flash does not contribute to the exposure, but it can often confuse human subjects into blinking prematurely. That's where the the shield comes into play. It's an SG-3IR

Depending on the conditions, you can even go as far as placing your hand in front of the pop-up flash and can still have the remote fire.

[fceexp1]

Thank you all for your great comments. It is strange that Nikon does not simply update the software to allow the IR signal to go out but not have the flash fire. Guess that's why they want me to spend the big bucks on the SB900. The cover solution seems like a great option and I'll try that.

Flash photography is a new thing for me. I've been working on controlling light by trying to shoot high contrast scenes with fast shutter times and then working backwards until I find just the image I want. Flash is going to allow me to get views of things I've been missing so I'm pretty excited about giving this a try. Natural light remains my favorite because I usually don't screw up the white balance!

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by fceexp1

Thank you all for your great comments. It is strange that Nikon does not simply update the software to allow the IR signal to go out but not have the flash fire. Guess that's why they want me to spend the big bucks on the SB900. The cover solution seems like a great option and I'll try that.

The flash fires as a trigger: the IR just passes information. If the flash didnt fire, you wouldnt get the slave to go either. If you have the pop-up set to "--" then you wont get any light from the pop-up in your picture.

[fceexp1]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

The flash fires as a trigger: the IR just passes information. If the flash didnt fire, you wouldnt get the slave to go either. If you have the pop-up set to "--" then you wont get any light from the pop-up in your picture.

Hi. Thanks for message. This is exactly what I'm struggling with. I have it set on the "--" in commander mode, which I thought meant the pop up will not flash,but the pop up still fires. What I am getting from the board is that it must fire to signal the SB600. The suggestions are to block the light. But I've also heard that even though the pop up fires, its late and the shutter is already closed, but this feels almost counter intuitive.

[ARKreations]

No - it's a "Pre-Flash" because it fires before the shutter opens. If it didn't fire until after the shutter closes, how would the remotes know to fire while the shutter was open???

[fceexp1]

Originally Posted by krossk

No - it's a "Pre-Flash" because it fires before the shutter opens. If it didn't fire until after the shutter closes, how would the remotes know to fire while the shutter was open???

hi. thanks for note. looks like it was just the pre-flash. lots for me to learn. thanks for the hlep.