Off-camera flash question

spearodafish

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Hi all... I've been trying to figure out this remote flash thing myself.. I have a D5300 and the SB 700.. I want to buy a Yongnuo 560 and transceiver but can't find any info on its compatibility. I know how to do the optical flash setup but are all transceivers compatible with one another for various flashes? Can I program my SB 700 on group A channel 1 and control the Yongnuo? What if I had a Yongnuo 560 IV and my SB 700 in OCF setup and use a Yongnuo transceiver to control the flashes, would that work?


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Hi all... I've been trying to figure out this remote flash thing myself.. I have a D5300 and the SB 700.. I want to buy a Yongnuo 560 and transceiver but can't find any info on its compatibility. I know how to do the optical flash setup but are all transceivers compatible with one another for various flashes? Can I program my SB 700 on group A channel 1 and control the Yongnuo? What if I had a Yongnuo 560 IV and my SB 700 in OCF setup and use a Yongnuo transceiver to control the flashes, would that work?


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Generally, the answer to your questions is "No". You are wanting to mix systems that don't really mix. You are not differentiating between the optical Nikon Commander system, and the Yongnuo radio trigger system. Go slow, and figure it out first.

The remote SB-700 uses Nikons Commander system (the channel 1 Group A optical stuff), but the D5300 does not have a Commander. Other models like D7200 and up do have a Commander in the camera.

The SB-700 does also have a Commander function, and it can be a commander if on the D5300 hot shoe. Then it could control a couple of others as remotes that can use the Nikon Commander system (could be a couple of other SB-700, or other flashes that support Commander). However, your D5300 would still be missing the FV Lock feature (higher cameras all have it), which is very useful to prevent pictures of the subject blinking at the flash commands. So then in that case, it would be better to provide a Nikon SU-800 commander (which is commander only, it is not a flash, but it uses invisible infrared signals, less likely to cause blinking), and then use the SB-700 remotely.

The Yongnuo YN560 does NOT support the Nikon commander system. Various radio triggers could work however. Most radio triggers are only manual flash mode, but the 560 is a manual only flash anyway.

The YN-560 IV is the one model that has a radio trigger receiver built into it. All you would need for it is a transmitter on the camera hot shoe. The B&H description page says the following of the 560 IV: "Can receive a wireless signal from YN560-IV, YN560-TX, RF-603 (I/II), and RF-602"

You could also put a similar radio receiver (for example 603 II) on the SB-700 foot, and it could be another remote, but it would only work in Manual flash mode that way... cannot be TTL on a 602 or 603 trigger. The Nikon Commander system allows remote TTL, but the Yongnou 560 line cannot, they are manual flashes.

A third option: Or any of those models (560 or SB-700) also have optical slave triggers in them , and can be triggered as manual flash by the manual flash of any other manual flash.

Maybe a better option: Instead of a 560, a flash model like the Yongnuo YN-565EX or YN-568 are TTL models, and they can also be remotely controlled by the Nikon Commander, which in your case, would be the SB-700 in Commander mode on the camera hot shoe, or better, a Nikon SU-800 commander as previously mentioned.
 
I suggest a visit to the best site in the world about off camera flash... and it's free!

www.strobist.com. Look for the Lighting101 and Lighting102 links. Read, study, have fun learning.

And to read TONS of posts with good info, visit the flickr strobist forum at www.flickr.com/groups/strobist ... You have to join the group for the link to work, BTW.

Enjoy!

P.S. - I don't like the SB-700 as a commander and not even much as a flash. For a lower price you can get the SB-600 which is 1full stop more powerful. Ah, but you say that the SB-600 has no commander, and you would be right. However the commander in the SB-700 is crippled when compared to all the other commanders in the Nikon line. It can only control 2 groups unlike the 3 groups all others can control. It also cannot mix and match TTL and manual modes, again, something all other commanders can do.

The biggest complaint comes when you use the SB-700 as an off camera flash and change the zoom settings, where it displays artifacts in the lit area, not a clean oval of light like all other Nikon speedlights show.
 
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Welcome back, Jerry! Have not seen you for long long time.
 

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