SB 900 and pocket wizards - please help a newbie!

<p>Hey Everyone,<br>

I'm very new to off camera flash and so I hope someone can help me out with learning this.<br>

I have a D700, a SB 900, sb 600 and pocket wizards. I have just figured out how to hook everything up, but I have one question. When I set up my sb 900 on the other side of the room on a stand (ultimately want to do this at wedding receptions) how can I change the settings on it without having to run back and forth to that side of the room? Or can't I?<br>

Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>What kind of Pocket Wizards? The mini-TT1 and Flex-TT5 can use an SU-800, SB-900, or SB-800 as an on-camera master to control the remotes. you can also use the soon to be available AC-3 for Nikon from PW to control the remotes.</p>

<p>It's these ones:<br>

<a href="http://www.digitalfotoclub.com/product-features.asp?id=964610924">http://www.digitalfotoclub.com/product-features.asp?id=964610924</a><br>

Can you clarify what you mean by "on camera master to control the remotes"?</p>

 

<p>basic PocketWizards can't. they're simple radio triggers. choices are:</p>

<p>wait for the new PW TT units and their zone controller<br>

use the D700 pop-up in commander mode and forget the PW's<br>

get an SU800 and slap it on the D700 (and return the PWs)<br>

Look into RadioPoppers</p>

 

<p>No, those pocket wizards can't control the setting of the flash remotely -- they operate simply as dumb triggers, and you have to set the flash strength manually, on the flash itself. You then shoot in manual mode because, without two-way communication between flash and camera, you can't use TTL modes. You simply set the flash to the strength you want, and then adjust aperture and/or ISO on the camera to get the exposure correct. </p>

<p>I use this setup with two (or three or four) speedlights and radio triggers at wedding receptions all the time. In a medium-to-large size reception hall, try setting two flashes up at opposing corners, aimed in, sort of toward each other (if the ceiling is white, aim them up and in to get a bigger light source from bouncing). Start by setting them at 1/4 power (though if you're using an SB-900 and an SB-600, you might set the SB-600 as much as a stop higher to compensate for its lower output). Start shooting at around ISO 800 and go higher if needed. I like having a third strobe I can use on camera as fill, because having just two light sources can create some dramatic or even destructive shadows. </p>

<p>The exposure will change as you shoot subjects very close to either of the two corner-strobes, so be aware that you'll need to stop down or up depending on where you're shooting in the room.</p>

<p>Have CTO (color-temperature-orange) gels handy for both flashes, as well, in case the reception hall has significant tungsten lighting that you want to take advantage of. This helps reduce lighting-color conflicts (otherwise, the tungsten lights will seem very orange in the photos) and, when you want to take the PW off the camera and shoot with an f/1.4 lens for a few minutes, you don't have to remember to change white-balance settings.</p>

 

 

<p>Vicki<br>

The pw are radio triggers only, similar to your garage door opener. You mount one on your camera and one on your flash, it's a radio transmitter.<br>

Weddings are fast and it's not the time to learn manual flash. I would suggest taking advantage of CLS.<br>

I would mount the 900 on camera set it TTL. You can use this when your on the run.<br>

For the setup set the 900 to master, set the 600's to remote, then you can shoot TTL, or whatever mode you like and be able to adjust your 600's from the back of the 900 on your camera. Sorry it won't work the other way. This is a setup I use all the time and it works.<br>

Here's a link to give you an idea how to set it up.<br>

<a href="http://www.daveblackphotography.com/workshop/0408.htm">http://www.daveblackphotography.com/workshop/0408.htm</a></p>

<p>The newer Pocket Wizard TT units (mini-TT1 for camera and Flex-TT5 for flash or camera)<br>

http://www.pocketwizard.com/products/transmitter_receiver/flextt5-nikon/<br>

will support iTTL control of the remote flash units. In order to do this they need an on-camera "master" unit. That can be an SB-800/900 or an SU-800 or Pocket Wizard's AC-3 unit (the one for Nikon ships in February sometime). The "master" unit can control the settings on the remote flash units. The remotes can be Nikon flashes (SB-600/800/900/700) or with the right interface bits can be AlienBees or Elinchrom studio flash units).<br>

The "master" unit does the same thing with Pocket Wizards as the "master" unit does with Nikon's CLS, it controls the mode and output of the remote flash units.<br>

If you have line-of-sight you can use the built-in Nikon CLS infrared transmitters/receivers in the SB-900/800 and SU-800 (as masters) and the SB-600 (slave only) to do the same thing without buying Pocket Wizards.</p>

Vicki as others have said the basic pocketwizards just trigger the flash and no more. For a reception though you will probably set the flash power and leave it alone - lots of pros use the same triggers as you.

 

Fortunately you can use the D700's popup flash and the commander menu to control remote flashes using the CLS system. This is very reliable inside and also surprisingly good outside - I've been using it at weddings without any problems as long as the limitations are respected.

 

<blockquote>

 

<p>Lorne Sunley wrote:</p>

<p>The newer Pocket Wizard TT units (mini-TT1 for camera and Flex-TT5 for flash or camera)<br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.pocketwizard.com/products/transmitter_receiver/flextt5-nikon/" target="_blank">http://www.pocketwizard.com/products/transmitter_receiver/flextt5-nikon/</a><br />will support iTTL control of the remote flash units. In order to do this they need an on-camera "master" unit. That can be an SB-800/900 or an SU-800 or Pocket Wizard's AC-3 unit (the one for Nikon ships in February sometime). The "master" unit can control the settings on the remote flash units. The remotes can be Nikon flashes (SB-600/800/900/700) or with the right interface bits can be AlienBees or Elinchrom studio flash units).<br />The "master" unit does the same thing with Pocket Wizards as the "master" unit does with Nikon's CLS, it controls the mode and output of the remote flash units.<br />If you have line-of-sight you can use the built-in Nikon CLS infrared transmitters/receivers in the SB-900/800 and SU-800 (as masters) and the SB-600 (slave only) to do the same thing without buying Pocket Wizards.</p>

 

</blockquote>

 

<p>For those interested this above information is <em><strong>incorrect.</strong></em> A "master" on camera control unit such as SU-800 is NOT needed for the NEW Pocket Wizard iTTL units to work. Just plug in the PW transmitter in the camera hot shoe. It reads the iTTL signals directly from the hot shoe as if it were the flash unit, translates them and sends the info. off via radio signals to the receiver attached to the remote flash.<br>

This is different from the Radio Popper units which do require an IR source signal from the camera.</p>

 

 

<p>Follow-up > > > OK, I wanted to clarify my response re not needing a camera control unit such as SU-800. It is not required to do single zone iTTL, however, to do multi-zone control from the camera the AC-3 Zone Control device is needed along with a transmitter (Flex TT5 or Mini TT1). If an AC-3 Zone Controller is not available, then an on camera master control unit such as SU-800 or SB-800 is needed, fitted on top of the transmitter, to do multi-zone control of several flashes.</p>

<p>The AC-3 device - Nikon version - is shipping Feb. 2011 according to the website, so until you can get one, there is a limitation for Nikon owners for needing an on camera device along with the transmitter to do multi-zone control. Maybe someone else, that is more of an expert than I can clarify further.</p>

<p>= Tom</p>

<p>OK, I tried to edit but could not. For those interested here is some updated info. from their site. Looks like a great system if it works as designed. I will wait for the AC-3 I think, as I do not own an SU-800 and do not like using large flashes as master controllers.<br /> <a href="http://blog.pocketwizard.com/?p=2159">http://blog.pocketwizard.com/?p=2159</a></p>

<p>= Tom</p>

<p>What am I missing here?<br>

The D700's built-in flash can remotely control both the SB 600 and the SB 900 at the same time independently and you can set the settings on the camera.You even can select if the built-in flash only acts as trigger or if it contributes to the lighting.</p>