D40 and flash

[amymnc]

I've heard it said that even pocket wizards won't make the sb600 work off camera with a D40. Anyone know from real life experience? I've been thinking of purchasing one but if I can't go off camera.....it's gonna be a real bummer.
Supposedly I'd have to get an sb800/900 and use that on camera as the commander to an additional speedlight. Getting a bit pricey there for pics of my family and pets. Eventually I'd love to have a studio but it's not in the budget and I'm just not there yet. I hate to go spending a fortune when I'm still just mamarazzi.

Looking in my flash options in the menu I see TTL and manual.

Also, any problems with Alien Bees or is it just the speedlight issue?
Advice? thanks

[roger44]

I have a D40 and SB600, and you are right. I have never managed to get it to fire off camera which is a real pain. Its an excellent flash, but I need to get it off camera for better portrait lighting.
It seems to be immune to IR triggers as well.

ant ideas also very welcome.

[roger44]

Originally Posted by amymnc

I've heard it said that even pocket wizards won't make the sb600 work off camera with a D40. Anyone know from real life experience? I've been thinking of purchasing one but if I can't go off camera.....it's gonna be a real bummer.
Supposedly I'd have to get an sb800/900 and use that on camera as the commander to an additional speedlight. Getting a bit pricey there for pics of my family and pets. Eventually I'd love to have a studio but it's not in the budget and I'm just not there yet. I hate to go spending a fortune when I'm still just mamarazzi.

Looking in my flash options in the menu I see TTL and manual.

Also, any problems with Alien Bees or is it just the speedlight issue?
Advice? thanks

Amy
there is another topic on the list very similar to our problem and I have just triggered my SB600 off camera.
connect a hotshoe to the SB600 and link it to an IR reciever. connect the IR trigger to your D40 and it will fire the flash up to 20 ft away from the camera.

[amymnc]

This may be a really stupid question, but would these work like pocket wizards? Would like an AB setup in the future and figured why not just go ahead with this version.

AlienBees: Illuminating the Galaxy with Professional Photographic Lighting Equipment

[jnelson]

I dont have experience specifically with a SB600 but i have had pretty good success firing a older nikon sb25 AND canon 430ex flash with cactus v4 triggers from my D40. This all has to be done manually but it does work and i dont mind the learning curve. I dont see why you couldnt use a nikon dslr specific flash like the 600 with wireless triggers. You should be able to fire any flash off camera with optical triggers as long as you have a transmitter in the camera hotshoe and a reciever in the flash hotshoe. Also, the cactus triggers are a really affordable way to learn off camera flash.