Lighting Noob, Need Help

[TylerF]

So I have been trying to research lighting and off camera stuff, I have read strobist and done a search on here, but still am unsure if I am understanding. I am looking for lighting so i can do portraits and band promotional shots. I think I am going to look more for flash lighting for the portability of them and price.

i have a sb600, and want to get 2 vivitar 285vs. my d40 doesnt have a commander mode. so i need to get a slave. i buy something to put on my camera via hot shoe (transmitter) and then multiple receivers for how many flashes i have. correct? would i need one for my sb600? it has a slave mode i think.

should a sb600, 2 vivitars, and umbrellas or soft boxes be ample enough to get some nice lighting?

thank you for putting up with yet another thread like this lol

 

[IgsEMT]

should a sb600, 2 vivitars, and umbrellas or soft boxes be ample enough to get some nice lighting?

yes, if u set it up correctly

 

[TJ K]

That should be plenty of lighting stuff for good shots. You might want a reflector though incase you're doing some outside work and want to reflect the sun onto someone from another angle.

You would need some radio triggers. Depending on your budget you could get just some ebay triggers like the cactus v4 triggers. If you have a bit of a bigger budget you could look at the Paul C Buff Cyber Syncs. I have them and love them. They easily work reliably at hundreds of feet. Then of course there are the Pocket Wizards but I don't see why you would need 1600' to work with and if you're doing off camera and strobist then i-TTL isn't probably something you care about keeping.

That seems like a pretty good lighting setup you have there. Now it's just time to get everything together and start putting that stuff to use.

Links:
Cyber Syncs

Ebay Cactus Triggers

Pocket Wizards

TJ

 

[TylerF]

Thank you for clearing it up. so i would need to buy the cactus set and an extra reciever and i should be set?

 

[Darkhunter139]

Thank you for clearing it up. so i would need to buy the cactus set and an extra reciever and i should be set?

Yes that would work. I use RF602s on my D40 and they seem very good.

 

[TylerF]

thank you! i have been wanting to get a somewhat legit lighting set up forever. will i be able to use umbrellas and soft boxes with them?

 

[Darkhunter139]

thank you! i have been wanting to get a somewhat legit lighting set up forever. will i be able to use umbrellas and soft boxes with them?

Yeah, watch the video on this page and I recommend reading the whole lightning 101 section eventually.

Strobist: Lighting 101

 

[TylerF]

i have looked around strobist but would prefer to practice what i read and until i get my lighting, i cant haha

 

[themedicine]

man, and you have an unlimited flash sync speed with that d40. almost makes me want one.

 

[matt62485]

man, and you have an unlimited flash sync speed with that d40. almost makes me want one.

what do you mean by this? i have a d40 and im trying to learn lighting, im pretty content at this point but not quite sure what ur saying here now i feel noobish again (which i am) lol.

if im understanding correctly. on my d40, i can shoot at the fastest shutter speed i would like w/ my flash? instead of being limited to say 1/125?

 

[Village Idiot]

man, and you have an unlimited flash sync speed with that d40. almost makes me want one.

what do you mean by this? i have a d40 and im trying to learn lighting, im pretty content at this point but not quite sure what ur saying here now i feel noobish again (which i am) lol.

if im understanding correctly. on my d40, i can shoot at the fastest shutter speed i would like w/ my flash? instead of being limited to say 1/125?

It's because the D40 uses an electronic shutter with it's mechanical one. Once the shutter speed because so fast, it turns the sensor on then off instead of using just the shutter curtain to expose. This will allow you to essentially not have an x sync and use a flash all the way up to it's 1/4000(?) max shutter speed.

 

[TylerF]

yeah, thats one reason i got the d40 actually lol. everyone hates on them but its an amazing camera to learn with. only complaint i have is the iso and mp count/ but they arent that big of a deal. i will probably have it for a long time.