Nikon: Why the need for triggers?

acparsons · May 4, 2015

Hello All,

I just found out that many Nikons can fire a flash wirelessly without a trigger. This worked on my SB600 and YN560 at the same time. If cameras have this function, why buy extra triggers?

For those more knowledgeable, please give tell your experiences/problems/tips with this. I expect there may be issues using since both my flashes operate in channel 3.

For those that were as oblivious as I was, here is how.

How to Use the New Nikon Strobes as Wireless Slaves

Buckster · May 4, 2015

For the camera to communicate with the flash without a wire or a radio trigger, all but a few of the newest ones require "line of sight". In other words, they need to be able to see one another. The same is true when one flash is the "master" and other flashes are its "slaves", firing because they saw the burst of light from the "master" flash.

This "line of sight" requirement can be a serious limitation in many circumstances. It doesn't work well out in bright sun. It doesn't work around corners or through walls or when the flash is inside a modifier like a umbrella-box or softbox or behind a large diffuser panel or any of a hundred other similar circumstances that separate the camera from being able to "see" the flash(es)

To get around these many problems with "line of sight" limitations, photographers use radio triggers on the camera and flashes so that no matter where any of that stuff is positioned, it works, no "line of sight" required at all.

Vtec44 · May 4, 2015

Nikon's built-in wireless system is infrared based so it comes with a few inherit problems. Like @Buckster mentioned, line of site is one of the cons. It's also much more sensitive to interference which will cause it to be less reliable in many common situation (sunny outdoor, indoor and close proximity to power lines, speakers, etc). Distance is the other issue, especially when you have a lot of interference. Generally, Nikon CLS system is not reliable for common day to day situations. In a controlled environment, it works great.