What’s Your Preference?

candleman · #1 (**permalink**) 10-14-2009, 02:58 AM

Using an sb28, it has an option for repeating flash..
IE 3 flashes at X intervals apart blah blah

I can get the flash to fire when hand held and pressing the “test fire” button.. *blip* *blip* *blip* it fires no problem and at the speed I want.

When it comes to triggering the damn thing off-camera.. it just doesn’t fire.
i cant reall if it fired one blip.. or ot at all.. but it certainly didnt fire all three "blips" i was looking for.

It fires in straight manual mode all the time, every time.
Just not in repeating

Is this a function of the trigger not holding the voltage long enough or something?

it would be nice to play with bouncing balls and moving things..
i came upon this when i wanted to do a self portrait for me tossing a grape (or similar) and catching it in my mouth... but alas.. i'm posting here.

(Cactus V4 + D80 + SB28 or SB24)

candleman · #2 (**permalink**) 10-14-2009, 03:32 AM

i should probably add.. something i didnt consider until now, i had the body set for rear curtain sync.. hmmmm... i wonder if that would have made a difference.

zona5101 · #3 (**permalink**) 10-14-2009, 01:15 PM

I couldn't upload this pdf so i put it on a file sharing site...it is the pages from the owners manual of an SB-24 - the section on repeating flash.
I hope it is helpful...

deleted link... that file sharing place was a joke...

You should be able to find an SB-24 manual on line. In it it explains the camera settings to use the repeating flash feature. There is no explanation of off-camera use... but I figure knowing how it is set up on-camera will give you insight to off camera...

candleman · #4 (**permalink**) 10-14-2009, 06:42 PM

i already said i can make it fire repeating...
this "read the manual" thing is getting a bit stale. (i have the original manual BTW)

but thanks for taking the time anyway

inkista · #5 (**permalink**) 10-14-2009, 09:27 PM

I messed around with my SB-26 last night. I don't have any radio triggers, so the situation is a little different, but I did note two things. Both of which are probably useless to you

, but which I found interesting.

The first was that I could only fire the SB-26 in repeating (stroboscopic) mode if the speedlight wasn't in [optical] slave mode.

However, if my SB-26 was in optical slave mode and set to Manual, and I set my 580EX into stroboscopic mode (we call it stroboscopic mode on the Canon side of the fence) the SB-26 would faithfully fire in sequence with the 580EX going off multiple times. I do know I can get remote stroboscopic mode if I'm using eTTL with my ST-E2 and EX speedlights.

This may be one of those things, like high-speed sync, where you need eTTL/iTTL in the speedlight or optical slaves to pull it off remotely.

I'd recommend searching the Strobist discussion group on Flickr and seeing if anybody there's come up with a solution.
---
Addendum. I think I was right. Someone says in this thread they can get repeating flash wirelessly if they use an SB-800/SB-600 and CLS with the pop-up, and someone else mentions the SB-26 optical slave.

candleman · #6 (**permalink**) 10-15-2009, 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zona5101

I couldn't upload this pdf so i put it on a file sharing site...it is the pages from the owners manual of an SB-24 - the section on repeating flash.
I hope it is helpful...

sorry for over reacting at you mate.

i know you put in effort for that, i'll vent at those who actually deserve it next time.
again, i'm sorry

Inkista,
thanks, that does sound interesting.
speaking of optical triggering.. when you had the 580EX firing in stroboscopic, and the sb26 following suit, was the sb26 firing "repeating" aswell as triggerd by the 580EX, or did the sb26 simply fire once?

i've had a brief search on strobist.. nothing is jumping at me immediatley.
i'll read through what you've linked to as well as do more searching on strobist myself.
i couldnt immediatley find anything directly related to the sb28+V4's

inkista · #7 (**permalink**) 10-15-2009, 01:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by candleman

... speaking of optical triggering.. when you had the 580EX firing in stroboscopic, and the sb26 following suit, was the sb26 firing "repeating" as well as triggerd by the 580EX, or did the sb26 simply fire once?

It fired with the 580EX every time the 580EX fired: I had the 580EX set to 6 bursts, 1Hz intervals, so I could see it. I had the SB-26 set to 1/64 power (and M mode, not repeat mode), so there wasn't any problem with recycling. I was just setting off the 580EX in hand, though, and I wasn't actually shooting anything, so I don' t know how closely they were actually synched, but given that my SB-26 has always popped in time via the optical slave before, I don't see any reason to doubt it was in synch.

I will say, that with eTTL, I had the same experience as someone else in that Strobist thread I linked to had with the Nikon SB800/SB600 combo: with my 580EX in stroboscopic mode as master, my 430EX would also fire in stroboscopic mode, even though the 430EX doesn't have a stroboscopic mode. So, I'm guessing that the master fire signal has to be repeatedly sent for each pulse. Folks with (non-TTL) RadioPoppers are saying they can't do stroboscopic mode either, unless they have a MultiMax, and it's set to do the repeating.

candleman · #8 (**permalink**) 10-15-2009, 02:30 AM

hmmmmmmm... i see what you're saying.
i think that answers it.
it sux that the sb600 doesnt have repeating flash, otherwise i could have done what you did.
IE. use CLS to trigger the "stroboscopic" flash.. and that in turn triggers the other flash.

maybe.... its a long shot.
possibly i can get the pop-up to trigger one of them as the pop-up does repeating flash. (not using CLS)
so IF, the sb28/24 has built in optical slaving... i might be in luck.
time to dig out the manuals. using radio means i havn't bothered with that...
:S

thanks, good info.

inkista · #9 (**permalink**) 10-15-2009, 02:42 AM

Yup, I think the pop-up doing the repeating is the way to go, the problem is that the SB24/28 don't have the built-in optical slaves (it's why the SB-26 typically goes for more on the used market), and you'd need to add external ones. Hecka lot cheaper than radio triggers, though.

Or (wild idea), you hook up an optical slave to your Cactus V4, then tape the slave over the pop-up.... that's how some folks use the V4s with their hotshoeless P&S cameras. Bonus, use enough gaffa tape, and no on-axis light!

(I actually don't know if I'm serious about this suggestion).