Quick D7000 Commander Mode Help

[tevo]

So, in order to use commander mode with my D7000/SB600 I have to use the built in flash on the D7000. Besides my SB 600, I have an old Vivitar flash / Minolta flash. Can I somehow mount those on my camera, and have the SB600 fire via commander mode?

 

[Destin]

So, in order to use commander mode with my D7000/SB600 I have to use the built in flash on the D7000. Besides my SB 600, I have an old Vivitar flash / Minolta flash. Can I somehow mount those on my camera, and have the SB600 fire via commander mode?

No. And I dont know why you'd want to. Just get a cheap set of radio triggers off eBay and use them all off camera.

 

[KmH]

So, in order to use commander mode with my D7000/SB600 I have to use the built in flash on the D7000. Besides my SB 600, I have an old Vivitar flash / Minolta flash. Can I somehow mount those on my camera, and have the SB600 fire via commander mode?

No. Becuase the Commander mode signal is optical (InfraRed), and is in the flash of light from the built-in flash.

You learned about the electromagnetic spectrum in your school science classes, right?

Built-in flash no workie when hot shoe flash mounted.

 

[tevo]

So, in order to use commander mode with my D7000/SB600 I have to use the built in flash on the D7000. Besides my SB 600, I have an old Vivitar flash / Minolta flash. Can I somehow mount those on my camera, and have the SB600 fire via commander mode?

No. And I dont know why you'd want to. Just get a cheap set of radio triggers off eBay and use them all off camera.

Yeah, I already have them on my mental list lol, just haven't gotten paid yet, so can't buy anything yet.




@KmH - any other lighting goodies that you recommend (besides those that you posted in AMOMENT's thread)?

 

[2WheelPhoto]

CLS's ultra-poor performance is the very reason I purchased my cheap craigslist pocketwizards.

 

[tevo]

CLS's ultra-poor performance is the very reason I purchased my cheap craigslist pocketwizards.

I love the flash itself - but yeah the "CLS" is just a creative way to make the flash complicated.. its a f**kin lightbulb, edison made it as complicated as it should be.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

CLS's ultra-poor performance is the very reason I purchased my cheap craigslist pocketwizards.

I love the flash itself - but yeah the "CLS" is just a creative way to make the flash complicated.. its a f**kin lightbulb, edison made it as complicated as it should be.

+1!

I enjoyed my SB600 too, but at the end of the day I wasn't using TTL for what I've been shooting. I was using my other 2 non-TTL flashes all the time and sold the SB600 because it was collecting the dust. Thats another topic here or there but CLS is horrid, you'll LOVE the remote triggers!

 

[tevo]

CLS's ultra-poor performance is the very reason I purchased my cheap craigslist pocketwizards.

I love the flash itself - but yeah the "CLS" is just a creative way to make the flash complicated.. its a f**kin lightbulb, edison made it as complicated as it should be.

+1!

I enjoyed my SB600 too, but at the end of the day I wasn't using TTL for what I've been shooting. I was using my other 2 non-TTL flashes all the time and sold the SB600 because it was collecting the dust. Thats another topic here or there but CLS is horrid, you'll LOVE the remote triggers!

SO what exactly makes TTL so special? Still don't get it.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Many tell me they use it walking around for indoor event photography and such.

The stuff I've been doing has been all manual. Tomorrow i'm doing fitness shots of a guy for his birthday and Saturday I'm doing a family portrait. Even if i still had the SB600 it would be set to full manual mode of course for setting up on those type things. When I had it in TTL mode for that stuff I found i was adjusting the light levels up and down through the CLS menu(and across the pocket wizards), and it found was easier for me just to walk over and adjust the flashes.

Then when i'm at a party or such again I go to manual and set ambient shutter, then pop a few shots with flash and set level/aperture and I'm good.

 

[tevo]

Many tell me they use it walking around for indoor event photography and such.

The stuff I've been doing has been all manual. Tomorrow i'm doing fitness shots of a guy for his birthday and Saturday I'm doing a family portrait. Even if i still had the SB600 it would be set to full manual mode of course for setting up on those type things. When I had it in TTL mode for that stuff I found i was adjusting the light levels up and down through the CLS menu(and across the pocket wizards), and it found was easier for me just to walk over and adjust the flashes.

Then when i'm at a party or such again I go to manual and set ambient shutter, then pop a few shots with flash and set level/aperture and I'm good.

o_0 I have much to learn about flash photography. Resource?

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Many tell me they use it walking around for indoor event photography and such.

The stuff I've been doing has been all manual. Tomorrow i'm doing fitness shots of a guy for his birthday and Saturday I'm doing a family portrait. Even if i still had the SB600 it would be set to full manual mode of course for setting up on those type things. When I had it in TTL mode for that stuff I found i was adjusting the light levels up and down through the CLS menu(and across the pocket wizards), and it found was easier for me just to walk over and adjust the flashes.

Then when i'm at a party or such again I go to manual and set ambient shutter, then pop a few shots with flash and set level/aperture and I'm good.

o_0 I have much to learn about flash photography. Resource?

I'm attending a Studio Lighting class at college. That be another reason I'm more comfortable without TTL than with when I walk into a room, obviously everything in that class is manual. Folks on the forum referred me to strobist.com for the speedlight stuff, its a wealth of info. I have a long long way to go, and for the "group" shoot I have coming up I reached out to a member of the forum for advice, and he gave me great advice. I've never done such and we never did anything remotely familiar in the studio.

 

[Destin]

Strobist is pretty much the end all, be all guide to flash photography. Seriously. It's like 2 complete interactive college courses, laid out in an easy to understand format. Oh yeah, and it's FREE.

As far as the whole ttl vs manual discussion, I use manual 90% of the time. If the flash is on camera it's almost always on ttl, until ttl doesn't give me what I want and then I'll step into manual. But I almost NEVER use on camera flash, unless it's a true run and gun situation. The only time I use ttl off camera, would be when the flash to subject distance isn't consistent. The best example of this would be shooting sports, predominantly basketball. I tried shooting basketball on manual, and it's hard because it only gives you a small area on the court where your exposure will be correct, so TTL is huge for basketball. In a larger gym where I could get the flashes farther from the court, I might be able to get away with manual (due to the inverse square law, the closer you are to the flash, the faster the light falls off) but I haven't found a local gym large enough to try it.

 

[cgipson1]

I find TTL best for fast moving subjects.. like kids or animals. Even with OC flash... I usually start with TTL, and adjust it as needed. I usually use my SU-800 on top of my pocket wizard to allow zone and power control if I need it. I do usually try to shoot flash with the body in Manual rather than AP or SP... just more consistent. All depends on what I am shooting though, and sometimes I will shoot a set with a combination of TTL and manual flash (I have some manual only flashes) and it is fairly easy to combine them and get the right ratios of light..

 

[tevo]

Many tell me they use it walking around for indoor event photography and such.

The stuff I've been doing has been all manual. Tomorrow i'm doing fitness shots of a guy for his birthday and Saturday I'm doing a family portrait. Even if i still had the SB600 it would be set to full manual mode of course for setting up on those type things. When I had it in TTL mode for that stuff I found i was adjusting the light levels up and down through the CLS menu(and across the pocket wizards), and it found was easier for me just to walk over and adjust the flashes.

Then when i'm at a party or such again I go to manual and set ambient shutter, then pop a few shots with flash and set level/aperture and I'm good.

o_0 I have much to learn about flash photography. Resource?

I'm attending a Studio Lighting class at college. That be another reason I'm more comfortable without TTL than with when I walk into a room, obviously everything in that class is manual. Folks on the forum referred me to strobist.com for the speedlight stuff, its a wealth of info. I have a long long way to go, and for the "group" shoot I have coming up I reached out to a member of the forum for advice, and he gave me great advice. I've never done such and we never did anything remotely familiar in the studio.

Strobist is pretty much the end all, be all guide to flash photography. Seriously. It's like 2 complete interactive college courses, laid out in an easy to understand format. Oh yeah, and it's FREE.

As far as the whole ttl vs manual discussion, I use manual 90% of the time. If the flash is on camera it's almost always on ttl, until ttl doesn't give me what I want and then I'll step into manual. But I almost NEVER use on camera flash, unless it's a true run and gun situation. The only time I use ttl off camera, would be when the flash to subject distance isn't consistent. The best example of this would be shooting sports, predominantly basketball. I tried shooting basketball on manual, and it's hard because it only gives you a small area on the court where your exposure will be correct, so TTL is huge for basketball. In a larger gym where I could get the flashes farther from the court, I might be able to get away with manual (due to the inverse square law, the closer you are to the flash, the faster the light falls off) but I haven't found a local gym large enough to try it.

Well, time to check out Strobist!

I find TTL best for fast moving subjects.. like kids or animals. Even with OC flash... I usually start with TTL, and adjust it as needed. I usually use my SU-800 on top of my pocket wizard to allow zone and power control if I need it. I do usually try to shoot flash with the body in Manual rather than AP or SP... just more consistent. All depends on what I am shooting though, and sometimes I will shoot a set with a combination of TTL and manual flash (I have some manual only flashes) and it is fairly easy to combine them and get the right ratios of light..

Nice sig charlie c;