tommaso

Thank you to all who contributed answers to try to help me. I appreciated it. In the end I went with a Kenko PL (W) filter and made a few tests.

Apparently I have been lucky, no vignetting down to the 20mm mark, below that... Well I found problems on the edges. The people at Yodobashi Camera (the store where I bought the filter and who recommended it as usable with my lenses) are willing to take it back (incredible Japanese service to the customers!) but I am not really sure it will do me any good to give it back as I do not know of anyother polarizer that will work on my lenses under 20mm.

So I'm thinking of staying with this one that offers me greater angle than the dedicated Nikon one (which starts vignetting at 28mm).

Any further advice?

TT

Jim,

I have another question: That you know of, is the SU-4 TTL compatible? That is to say, will it ALSO cut off the light emission from the strobe? I have an e-mail from the Nikon Official Customer Technical Support Centre in Tokyo, that states that 3D Pre-Flash is incompatible with multiflash operation (it states so in the manuals too), but nothing about std TTL in multiple flash operations. I figure it is possible, but I am not sure if I have to use cables or if I can use the SU-4.

Anyone can help?

TT

Hi Everyone,

I need some more help with el.flash! Thank you anyone that can help

me!

I have a Nikon set up (F5) and I need to buy a (third) speedlight to

be used as a second slave in support of my master (SB80DX) and first

(SB24). I need this second slave to be very powerful, high guide

number, as it will be reflecting off an umbrella or behind a diffuser.

I was thinking of the Sunpack Auto 622, with guide number 82. But

please advise any other (I do not want to go too high on the cost

side). I want to preserve full TTL capabilities (although I mainly

will use this flash in manual) BUT I will not use this flash on the

camera shoe, I will use it ONLY as stand off slave.

Also, I have seen a small wireless remote control unit which can be

connected to the Sunpack via a cable. I am not sure if it is made by

Sunpack or if it is made by another maker. However it is a small

light sensor that will command the Sunpack to fire when it detects my

master going off. What I do not know is if it will also control the

shut off of the light emission (that would preserve the TTL

functions). I was thinking of buying something like that.

I was wondering if anyone knows the answer to these questions, or if

anyone could offer any advice:

1.

Do I have to buy the F5 coupling shoe (NE-1AF) for the Sunpack to

maintain its TTL capabilities with wireless remote control units?

Please remember that I will not use this strobe on the camera body,

so maybe this coupling shoe is unnecessary.

2. Does anyone know if it exists any third party wireless control

unit that will actually preserve the TTL functions of the flash by

controlling the start AND end of the light burst? That is to say that

will not only give the order to fire but ALSO the order to shut off

the light emission.

Thank you.

Tommaso.

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for any answers that shall be greatly appreciated.

Set up:

Nikon F5,

AF-S 17-35 F2.8D,

AF-S 35-70 F2.8D,

AF-S 80-200 F2.8D,

Old (but excellent) 85mm F1.4S manual Focus

135mm F2S manual Focus

I need a polirizer filter only for the zooms which are all 77mm in

diameter.

I have 3 skylight:

Kenko L37 SuperPRO (2)

Nikon L37c (1)

-----------

Problem 1.

My question is simple, having spent a fortune for my lens, I do not

want to go and ruin everything with poor filters.

I ma having problems with one of the lenses using a Kenko filter, the

17-35 zoom has some slight (veeeeeeery slight) distortion on the

edges at maximum wide(17mm) with that filter.

I then tested the otehr filters (Nikon AND the other Kenko) under the

same conditions (even same film) and there was no distortion.

The Kenko filter that gives problems with the wide zoom, performs

perfectly well with the other 2 zooms under all conditions.

Help! What is going on?

Should I replace the Kenko with a Nikon L37c?

------------

Problem 2.

I need a polarizer, and I would prefer to buy only one for all 3

zooms. But I have been told that Nikon's polarizer will not work with

the wide zoom... I need a specific wide angle polarizer filter.

Any advice as to which to buy that will preserve the lens quality?

Thank you in advance for any help!

Tommaso.

Thanks, to all for the contribution: but "different camera different story" does not convince me.

Please explain how once a camera meter has measured an exposure, then adding a flash light can vary its reading in one camera and not in the other. One of the two would produce incorrect exposure, surely!

Tommaso.

Thanks to all, for your advice.

Gerald, sometimes I do use studios. The reason I was trying not to use a studio set up was that I would actually like to learn how to use the portable strobe array I described. I am trying to learn how to use my equipment when in "portable" mode!

Scott, the flashes were not pointing at each other. But would you explain why the extra stop in aperture?

Thank you again to all.

Tommaso.

Hi everyone,

I have found a strange difference between the F100's and F5's light

meters when reading exposures with a strobe light attached.

To verify, I placed both cameras on the same tripod with a dual head

so that both were adjacent and focusing the same object, both were

using the same lenses, and I set both meters on manual. I then read

the meter exposure values and both gave me the same readings in all 3

methods (spot, semi-spot and matrix).

I now hooked up the (same) SB80DX on both cameras (one first, then

the other, being careful not to move the setup).

While the F5's meter did NOT alter its readings, the F100's meter DID

alter them by 1/3 or 2/3 of a stop (faster).

I then had all the equipment veryfied at the Nikon Main Customer

Support Centre in Tokyo (where I live). It was all in perfect working

conditions. So I asked the Nikon guys for some feedback, but after 10

days I still have no reply yet.

Any idea of why this happens? Why this difference? I know the meters

are slightly different since the F5's meter is supposedly also

balances for colours, but I was focusing on a Kodak Gray scale tablet

which had a neutral grey background (18%).

Any ideas? Thanks in advance anyone who will spare some time to

answer me!

Tommaso.

Flash light balance related problems.

I am a newby here, so first of all allow me to apologise if this post

is replicating topics (although I did search and no relevant post

came up) or if I am involuntarily infringing any rules. Then allow me

to thank anyone who will spare his/her time to help me, it will be

greatly appreciated.

I use Nikon F5, SB80DX (master) on SC17 + SB24 (slave) on the SU4

wireless connector. AF-S 17-35 D, AF-S 28-70 D, or AF-S 80-200 D. I

use various films and various settings. The problem remains the same.

Exposure balance is poor.

I am an amateur and strobe photography is not my scene (clearly!) so

please help me from the fundamentals.

I have verified with Nikon Office in Shinjuku (main Customer Support

Centre in Tokyo, I live here) that my camera meter and equipment is

working fine.

I have switched off the MBFF (3d with pre-falsh) and gone to simple

TTL. But I still get problems. The greater the amount of light coming

from the flash array, the greater the under/over exposures. When I

use a lot ambient light, or shoot in sunlight, I get almost correct

exposure.

The Nikon guys have given me one hundred clues and I verified almost

all of them. Bottom line, I got them to come out and verify the

settings and set up (Yes, they are this kind in Japan to customers!).

Guess: Yes still exposure problems.

The UN-Offical answer was, with SU4 you better go manual. They will

not write this down, but a lot of head shaking and hummms...

(Japanese for: Yes, there is a problem here).

The problem is not solved with braketing either.

Apparently the SU4 will NOT cut off the light emission of the slave,

it will only pilot the beginning, so if the slave is too close or too

far away the result is not perfect.

I want to know if you have any similar experiences. What can I do? I

have been (strongly) advised to:

1. Go in manual mode and meter everything manually (Minolta V).

2. Use SC19+AS10 (I also have 3 cords and 2 units).

Just for reference this is one of the settings:

Shibuya crossing:

Af-S 17-35 D set at 35.

F5 in manual.

3D Pre-Flash off, normal TTL. SU4 as slave conroller.

Kodachrome 64 Asa and 200 ASA. (I can not go higher since I need a

120cmx180cm enlargment from slides (please don't ask why!) and I do

not own a medium format set up.

Environment is night, but some ambient light from brightly light

sorroundings.

Brightly light backgound boards, the largest of which is directly

behind the models and measures 60ftx200ft. This panel is 600ft away

from lenses, people are walking behind the models, the models are at

20ft from lenses (the lenses are almost on the ground),

Nikon light meter on matrix reads 6 seconds at F8 with 200 ASA and 25

seconds with 64 ASA.

On Spot (models) the meter reads much less.

Minolta Meter (V model with reflected light head 5°) gives an

average reading not too far off that of the camera meter when on

matrix.

I need the background to be correctly exposed and only slightly off

focus. So I figured I have to rely on strobes only to correctly light

the subjects as the background is too far.

I focus on subject, recompose image vertically and shoot in manual. I

tried different speed light positions but the result is not constant,

and small diffrence produces great difference (from under to over

exposire of main subject by moving the flash only 1 ft!)

I use diffusers when the flashes are closer than 15ft.

I ahd same problems in other setting (interiors with other lighting).

I can explain these other settings next time, if someone is willing

to help.

I had the opposite problem with F5, SB80DX (master) using an SB24 (slave) on a SU4. All shots were underexposed.

I questioned Nikon customer support centre in Shinjuku (I live in Tokyo and support services are just incredible here) and they came up with a first answer: You can not use TTL 3D matrix with SU4 and in multiple falsh set up, it says so in the manual! I can not yet read Japanese, so I gave it for good.

So I tried setting my SB80DX in simple TTL mode. Now my set up oevrpowers too as yours does.

I tried many aperture/speed combinations and various distances for master/slave. The best being fast times and closer master to the subject.

I addressed Nikon again and finally they came up with an answer: the SU4 can not shut off flash output of the slave. I was already told that it would be fooled by the preflash bursts of the master in TTL 3d matrix, causing the slave to fire before actual shutter release (incorrect underexposure).

When you fire in TTL, the speed light should be cut off by the camera's metering system when sufficient light has been sent out, but using an SU4 remote control, the slave does not receive the "order" to stop its light output with the master (which to the contrary does riceive this order as it is controlled directly by the camera via the coupling shoe) thus the slave gives out full power. What actually happens is that the master will be cut off almost immediately, leaving the slave to do most of the job and giving an unbalanced exposition.

I had my slave positioned closer to the subject than the master because when using the SU4 you actually HAVE to place it in front of the master for the light sensor to pick up something.

Bottom line is that you can not use SU4 and hope for the TTL system to work effectively. This job can only be done with SC19/17 cords.

I have this topic going on with Nikon for the past 2 months and they have come out to test my equipment and lighting conditions!

Eventually the advice was: "When using SU4 you better go manual", but of course a lot of head shaking and hummms, but no explicit admission of this problem.

Apparently there should be a third party slave control unit that actually control light emission AND cut off for slave speed lights, but I do not rememebr who or where it was mentioned.

I hope I have not been to complicated. And if anyone has any advice to offer to me, I would warmly welcome it!

Tommaso.