nissin di866 user problem!

[tomsphotography1664882219]

<p>Help! I am using a canon 40D with a Nissin DI866 II and a 430exII<br>

I am trying to use a two flash set up with the 866 as the on camera master and 430 as slave. I'm trying to work out how to group the flashes, the 866 has the following A B C and M, do i need to have the on camera master assigned to the M group or do i set the master as A and the slave as B and if so which then becomes the key light? i have trialed lots of diferent combination sna d got some good results but not sure how i got them!!<br>

please help if you can!!! all seems very confusing even in the manual and have not yet found an online explanation!!!<br>

Tom</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>The idea of groups is that all the flashes in that group are fired together. If you only have two flashes - one master and one slave - the slave can be in any group, provided the master is set to command that group. Master and slave must also be set to the same channel number. I'd keep it simple and use Channel 1, Group A.</p>

<p>Your key light is whatever flash you want it to be, but conventionally an on camera flash would be used for shadow fill, with the key light set to a higher power and off-camera to give modelling. Since the 430EXII can only be used as a slave, that limits your overall power somewhat. You might want to use the Nissin in simple slave mode as the key, with your 430 on camera in manual power control with E-TTL and so-called wireless lighting switched off. This'll allow you to use the full power of the Nissin, and gives <em>you</em> full control of the lighting ratio, rather than leaving it to Canon's E-TTL II control.</p>

<p>I agree than Canon's explanation of their Wireless Lighting system is rubbish. There's a bit more information about it <a href="http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/education/infobank/flash/wireless_flash.do">here</a>, but it still glosses over the basics of how to set it up.</p>

[tomsphotography1664882219]

<p>Rodeo thanks for your response. Can i pick your brain one more time? So the master is the on camera and that, if on normal full power, is also the key light? If the slave is put in group A then the overall amount of light is controlled by the setting of the master? Unless the output is individually controlled by adjusting the group A output? If this is so would adjusting the output of group A only affect the slave? Think my learning is being done mainly by trial and error but i am trying to get understanding of what I'm doing!<br>

Thanks again for your help</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>"So the master is the on camera and that, if on normal full power, is also the key light?" - Not exactly. A key light is what defines your basic lighting pattern. It should be positioned to provide definition and three-dimensionality to the subject, and to set the mood of the shot. Obviously a light pointed directly at the subject from the camera position can't do that, since it's head-on to the subject and won't provide 3D modelling. You'd very rarely want an on-camera flash to overpower any off-camera light, unless you're looking for a deliberately naff paparazzi style lighting.</p>

<p>Personally I never let the camera's TTL metering control the flash ratio or power. I nearly always switch everything (camera and strobes) to manual mode and set the power of the key light to suit the aperture I want to use. Then I'll set the power of the fill to be around 2 or 3 stops lower than that of the key, but the ratio depends on the subject and the mood you're trying to create. A kicker or hair light sometimes needs to be quite powerful, especially if you snoot it down, and can often be at around the same power as the key.</p>

<p>I strongly suggest you start with just <em>one light</em> off camera, and experiment with that. That'll be your key light. Once you're confident of the effect that the position and hardness/softness of the key gives, then add some fill to lighten the mood and the shadows. If you're into portraiture, a nice effect is to get the sitter to look away from the camera and into the key light. Take a profile or semi-profile against a plain dark background with the sitter gazing up into the off-camera light. It's a guaranteed winner.</p>