nick_brown3

Hi Andrew

 

Just picked up this thread, been out shooting for a while! a little late but you may still be deciding. I went for the Porter although I nearly chose the Pro-roller. The key point was the ability to put other cases on top of the porter, basically that is the difference. This feature has saved me a few times when I've been doing a solo shoot without assistants but with a fair amount of gear. I simply load my bags on the porter and wheel it to the car, sometimes with a crazy amount of stuff on top. With anything else you have to do 2/3 trips or leave the bags, get the car and hope they are all there when you come back. However, I may be getting a small pro-roller for Atlantic flights as the allowance can be 5kg and the porter case attracts check in attention as it looks kind of industrial. The pro-roller looks like a normal carry on bag and they are really well made. Bottom line, if you need an all purpose carry on case, get the Porter as it is as good as the Lowepro and Tamrac and can carry all your gear too. I carry a camping stuff sack inside the Porter for those occasions where I get asked to check it so I can carry on board all the cameras/lenses. It weighs nothing and folds down to a small size and will hold a lot of weight although it is not padded but as least you get to take your gear on board with you.

 

Nick

I use an SB80 on a 503 and I'd recommend using the Paramount cords over the Nikon AS-15 or AS-11 as the connection to the Hasselblad lens with a Nikon screw tip is liable to pop off quite easily. The Paramount cord tips seem to be made stronger and fit better and are less likely to come loose in the heat of the moment. You can customise a cord at the Paramount web site www.paramountcords.com, use a Nikon screw tip for the SB80 end and then a '2 PC' tip for the Hasselblad lens. If you are using the older 'Hasselblad C' lenses they even have a specific tip for that too. All in it would cost about $30 with a 3 foot coiled cord, not cheap for a cord but it isn't going to come loose when you need it secure.

Thanks for the detailed response Hal, now you've explained it I can understand why the meters are showing different values to what is actually happening for the end exposure.

 

Slide testing it is, but, I don't however, have too much time on my hands (I wish), just a desire to know how accurate my flash will be in automatic modes in certain situations which I feel is important.

OK Hal, keep your hat on. I was just trying to get some feedback and you had asked about what equipment I was using so I gave you more details.

 

I will test with slide film as suggested and thanks for that advice. However, I don't understand why you think you can't meter TTL flash with the pre flashes turned off. If I set the camera to manual F8 and 1/60th sec in straight TTL why wouldn't it give F8 on the flash meters if everything was working properly and the subject was middle grey and in flash range? Apologies if this is straightforward to you but I'm just trying to understand what the camera and flash are doing to lead to apparent underexposed flash meter readings and to get a clear idea of how accurately TTL flash works inside over different conditions so I can dial in the necessary compensation to adjust it if needed.

 

TTL vs Matrix TTL for inside shooting is another debate and there are a few even sided discussions on this forum about that subject but I'm talking about just TTL, which is what I use. Outside I use Matrix TTL at -0.7 to -1.7 depending on what effect I'm looking for and I'm happy with that.

 

Jeff - you mentioned that your SB28's underexpose in TTL inside by 1 stop, did you find this out by slide testing?

 

Thanks again everyone for your advice.

 

Nick

Thanks everyone for your speedy responses. Here is some further info how I was testing which might help. I used 2 F100 bodies and the results were consistent across both flash units and both bodies, so I'd bet that rules out any equipment issues. I use TTL inside (dark reception halls) as opposed to TTL Matrix for the same reasons as Shourya probably uses TTL inside too - but that's another discussion and one I'd be happy to talk about but I know it's probably a split camp on that point.

 

I tested using film in the camera and I think this is the problem, as Ellis pointed out, I think it is measuring the pre-flashes. So I tested it again just now without film and it's perfect (presumably it only pre flashes with film in the camera). Problem solved? well, here is the dilema, I turned the pre-flashes off with film in the cameras, tilting the heads up and it still underexposed on the meters by 2 stops. According to the SB80DX instructions, on Page 74, it says that in standard TTL there are no pre-flashes and with the head up there shouldn't be any pre flashes so I can't understand why it shows on the meters as underexposed, am I missing something?

 

Further background info, the photos do look fine but this was me just tinkering around with the meters and flashes trying to fine tune my compensation for indoor flash shots, I was expecting them to slightly off but not by this much. I shoot negative film and it's hard to see if something is slightly off due to printing compensation and the forgiving nature of print film.

 

I guess the only real way to test this is with slide film but it sort of defeats being able to use two perfectly good meters.

 

Any more thoughts or should I just go and have a beer and stop worrying about it.?

 

Nick

Has anyone experienced what I am finding with Nikon flashes that when

used indoors on straight TTL they under expose by 2 full stops? I

have tested my SB28 and SB80DX with 2 minolta flash meters side by

side and the results are consistent. The testing involved different

colored backgrounds to see if that was the reason why they were

underexposing but the results were the same regardless. I also varied

the time of day to see if the level of ambient light played a part

but it didn't, test times varied from noon to night. (I shoot on TTL

inside for candids as opposed to Matrix TTL).

 

Thanks, Nick.

Re Gamma I think it depends on who you talk to, Peter is great and very helpful but I can also relate to your experience from my first visit there. As to the quality, their fiber based printing as far as I'm concerned is excellent, I've had several 16x20 prints done that are hanging in my studio and couldn't really ask for anything more. Let me know if you want to see them and I'd be happy to show you them so you can compare.

Hi Joseph

 

I have had exactly the same issues with 2 separate SB80DX's. I have returned SB80DX's to Nikon service 3 times now to try and sort this problem out, one of the units went back twice. I have tried to get a responce from Nikon but nobody will answer my questions either over the phone or even when I have written in. I am now on my 4th! attempt to try and own a reliable SB80DX, so far it's OK but all the previous problems developed after about 30 rolls of film so I'm almost expecting it to fail. The way you described the problems are exactly as I have encountered them, I have tested the flashes on numerous F100 bodies, off camera and even on my Hasselblad 503 and the problems replicate themselves there too. Each failure has happened on the job and I've had to rely on my SB28 and Vivitars to carry on shooting. I even experienced the same thing about the problem dissapearing at more than 70mm, the problems occur at or below 70mm but when I use longer focal length lenses the problems stop. I know it is not the lenses or bodies with the problems as they all work perfectly fine with my other flash units. Reliability is really important when I photograph and so far I have not been able to trust the SB80DX which is a shame as it does offer a lot of advantages if it worked properly. I know there must be some other photographers out there who have experienced this problem if I have had it happen already on 2 separate untis. I would be very interested in knowing if other SB80DX users have seen this problem occur.

 

Thanks