Nikon Speedlight SB-800 Question

[w. shinn ii]

I was just browsing my Nikon D50 manual trying to find out more about the SB-

800 speedlight. I am curious... will the built-in flash in the D50 trigger the

SB-800 (without a flash sync cord, an optical or a radio slave)? What does i-

TTL stand for... Intelligent Through The Lens??

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Will

[rob_prokopy]

Your D50 will fire the SB-800 if you have it in the hotshoe. As far as I know, though, the D50's built-in flash does not have the wireless i-TTL capability. For that, you'd need to use a second SB-800 flash on the hotshoe OR use a SU-800 in the hotshoe.

 

If you want to just have the SB-800 fire remotely without any type of through-the-lens metering, you can set the flash to just be a "dumb" slave flash and it will fire when it detects any other flash. This would mean strictly using manual settings on the flash to control the exposure.

 

I'm not sure if the "i" in i-TTL actually stands for anything or if it's just marketing. Simply put, it is Nikon's most advanced variant of TTL flash metering that is designed especially for digital cameras. It also happens to designate the collection of technologies (wireless flash capabilities, etc.) that has the second name "Creative Lighting System".

[ian_scotland]

Yes, the built-in flash on your D50 will fire the SB800. You will need to set the SB800 up as a slave unit (press the Select button for two seconds to access the menu). The Nikon SU-4 wireless unit allows you to get the full benfit of CLS - with the remore units turned on and off at the right time. Sounds complicated but it's actually really easy. I also found the two manuals (D50 and SB800) an easy read. Regards,

Ian

[w. shinn ii]

I thought so but wasn't sure! Thanks for confirming this for me.

[a._christopher_earle]

Yep, it will trigger it. I use the D70 built in set to 1/32 power with a business card over the front as a trigger. I tend to do manual power settings on everything, so TTL isn't an issue (I use TTE metering, Through The Eye, lol).