LumoPro LP160

<p>I purchased a LumoPro LP 160 this week from the retailer that sponsors the Strobist website. I was so pleased I immediately bought two more and sold my SB 28's. Four different ways to sync and the soul of simplicity.l You have an on/off button, a slave on/sync/digital sync button, zoom button and power button. LED's show power and zoom levels. It has a miniphone jack and a pc jack. Since I use manual nearly as much as CLS (Nikon) this was to be a second set to my SB 800's and SB 600'a but they seem to jump into my bag first leaving the complicated menus behind. Oh, and they are supposed to be as powerful as an SB 900. About $160.<br />Just wanted to share as I have learned so much here myself. R.</p>

<p>hey Richard, <br>

i'm interested in them too. what do you exactly mean by "It has a miniphone jack" ? is it for trigering? does it mean that you can use miniphone jack to miniphone jack cord to connect to PW?</p>

<p>regards,<br>

greg</p>

<p>Congratulations on your purchase, Richard. I'm interested in the LP160 as well. My concern is how well it can work together with CLS (I have a D300 and use its popup as commander for an SB800). I understand the LP160 has a digital slave mode that ignores preflashes. I've got a few questions:<br>

1. Can the digital slave mode sync at a shutter speed of 1/250?<br>

2. If I use CLS advanced wireless lighting, does the LP160's digital slave mode still sync correctly?<br>

3. Assuming the Lp160 syncs correctly, does it make the flash exposure inaccurate in TTL mode? What I mean is that the TTL system uses the preflash to determine the correct flash exposure. If the LP160 doesn't fire during the preflash phase, then the TTL is in effect ignoring the LP160's contribution.<br>

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.<br>

Best regards,<br>

Michael</p>

See the details yourself ...

 

http://www.mpex.com/browse.cfm/4,14648.html

 

... in short, flash LP160 is an all manual flash which ignores pre-flash. And a discussion ...

 

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2010/06/lumppro-lp160-quad-sync-v20.html

<p>Hi Parv. I'm not sure if your reply is meant to respond to my queries, but if it is, you've got me beat because I can't figure out the answers to my questions after having read those sites you referenced. I am aware that the LP160 is manual. I'm hoping to be able to use it manually while using the SB-800 on TTL (triggered via CLS AWL), hence my latter 2 questions. <br>

As for my first question, part of the reason I'm interested in the LP160 is to overpower bright ambient conditions. In that regard, if the highest sync speed I can use to sync correctly with the LP160 digital slave mode is significantly slower than my current 1/250 sync speed, it may diminish the advantage of having the extra stop or so of [total] power I gain when both LP160 and SB-800 are being used together as a single light source.<br>

Best regards,<br>

Michael</p>

<p>1. "Can the digital slave mode sync at a shutter speed of 1/250?" I haven't tried the digital sync at any speed yet, but it does sync at 250. Now since the speed of light is pretty quick I think the answer will be yes.<br>

<br />2. "If I use CLS advanced wireless lighting, does the LP160's digital slave mode still sync correctly?" Again, I haven't tested that yet. I rarely use more then 3 lights at a time so it hasn't come up for me yet. But I think the digital slave would be pretty worthless if it didn't. <br>

<br />3. "Assuming the Lp160 syncs correctly, does it make the flash exposure inaccurate in TTL mode? What I mean is that the TTL system uses the preflash to determine the correct flash exposure. If the LP160 doesn't fire during the preflash phase, then the TTL is in effect ignoring the LP160's contribution." It will certainly throw off the TTL system if it is lighting something the TTL is measuring. But if you're lighting nooks and crannies with it I don't know why it wouldn't work. I didn't buy it to use with CLS however. I bought it for its simplicity, power and multi-syncing capabilities.<br>

"Does it mean that you can use miniphone jack to miniphone jack cord to connect to PW?" Yes! Say good by to your Pretty Crappy (PC) cords.<br>

I should add that I have only used them off camera. I have used the slave and PocketWizards to fire them. <br>

Hope this helps.</p>

 

<p>Answers to #1 and #2 from an LP160 owner:<br>

http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157624737923255/</p>

<p>1. LP160's digital slave mode can sync with TTL to 1/250.<br>

2. With CLS commander mode, LP160's slave syncs up to 1/100.<br>

Re #3, I've tested with a different manual flash (YN-560), and it appears that TTL would not take into account the contribution of light from the LP160 (or YN-560).</p>