d3 and older speedlight coordination

<p>ok, the working space is a gym - horrible lighting.... shooting fast moving, full contact sports event, using an 80-200/2.8 at 2.8<br>

I've got 2 sb-26 speedlights and a sb-80dx speedlight --- i know they can all be triggered in unison , i'm just trying to figure out the best way to arrange these and set them up -- i know the d3 won't let me ttl with these, but they should still be able to be used...</p>

<p>do i:<br>

mount the three of them in various places around the arena and have a wireless mount rigged to the hotshoe of one of them which would trigger the other two?<br>

mount one on camera and position the other two in spots where i tend to have the lens aimed?<br>

rear sync or normal?<br>

I'm rusty on flash use and have never used a multiple rig<br>

also, what is the max range that i can space them and still have them set each other off?<br>

and what settings should i use for each flash unit?<br>

i have one with a clip that can be hooked to a silver umbrella - one of my buddies says skip the umbrella, the 3 flashes should light the gym up properly.... yes or no?<br>

worst come to worst, I can shoot with no flash and high iso and still get workable images -- just looking to do something different</p>

<p>i guess this may be one of the thornier questions today</p>

<p>Go to <a href="http://www.strobist.com">www.strobist.com</a> and in either the Lighting 101 section or the Assignments section he has a complete description of exactly how to do this with almost the exact same flashes down to the f-stop, power setting and ISO.<br /><br />The short version is you trigger them with radio slaves and you concentrate them on one end of the arena or the other (in the Strobist example, the game was basketball) since there's not enough power to light an entire gym at once. <br /><br />Leave the umbrella at home. It would just waste light and wouldn't help anything at the distances you're talking about.</p>

<p>Do you have the option to do pc-sync and some long cables? Wireless is very handy, but if you're worried about the conditions, you're not in the market for trying to use wireless on everything, and you have time to set up, that might be an option for you (but tape the wires down safely). If you're not using radio for everything or CLS for everything, and were just thinking about dumb light triggers (I don't know the SB-80DX), I'd be a little worried that anyone pulling out a compact in the audience might set everything off. If you need to move, a radio trigger from the camera to a pc-sync line might be all you need for flexiblity.<br />

<br />

Not that I speak from much experience, but sometimes old tech is more reliable. As for power, I'd have good confidence in my three SB-600s lighting up a basketball court, at least at reasonable apertures and ISOs, so I'd hope you'd be okay. But I've only ever done sports with no flash (because I'm an amateur and don't want to interrupt the sport).<br />

<br />

But those with more experience may be able to tell you that this is bad advice!<br />

<br />

Edit: Crossed over with Craig. Though I'm surprised that any half-decent flash isn't putting out enough light to be helpful - I've certainly illuminated the side of a fairly large building with a single one. I trust to actual experience, though.</p>

<p>i'll have a guy there who has some experience at multiple strobes - i'll have a little time to prep and test --- will post a few photos afterwards --- </p>