Anybody tried using the Nikon wireless flash underground?

Andrew W

New member
I have a Nikon D70s and a Nikon SB800 flash which I'm considering using underground. The flash can be controlled by this camera wirelessly and (apart from a short delay after releasing the shutter) works quite effectively. I'm thinking this might be a reasonably alternative to faffing around with slave units.

Does anyone have any experience with using this sort of combination underground?

Also, any idea what size pelican box I'd be looking at to transport it?

Thanks
 

ogofmole

Member
Dear Andrew,
With the D70 (I don't know about the D70S) yes you can use a SB800 wireless, But you still have to fire the flash on the camera, unless you purchase a commander unit, which as you probably know will result in foggy pictures with the dampness in the air reflecting back.

As far as I know only the D200 allows wireless directly from the camera without firing the on-board flashgun.

I use a D70 with firefly's which work really well underground. As for pelicases I use the 1300 for the camera and padded bag, and the 1150 for two flashguns. Do not use the enclosed foam which comes with pelicases as this foam will suck up lots of moister and make cameras damp.
 

Andrew W

New member
Thanks Ogofmole

Good point regarding the onboard flash lighting up the moisture. I've just had a play around at home and it looks like if I cover the built in flash with a piece of black film, it will still fire the SB800 without visible light polution from the built in flash. I'll probably have a play around with this combination to see if it gets around the problem.

Assuming it doesn't and I end up going with the firefly option, I would be interested to know what kind of firefly and flash setup you use. How does the firefly system work with the D70? To what extent is it compatible with the TTL functions of the camera? How do you fire it? Do you use the built in flash to trigger it or do you have a separate one mounted on the hotshoe? Presumably either way you would have to cover the camera mounted flash with some film.
 

ogofmole

Member
Dear Andrew,

With the D70, I always use a tripod (Velbon CX mini) which fits in a caving bag nicely, and then I use up to three flashguns using firefly 2's, these are set off by firing another flashgun using the test button. All of this is done with the camera set in manual with a 5 - 30 second exposure, depending upon how many flashes I need to fire.

So I do not use the TTL functions, it is just trial and error.

I do have one firefly 3 which can be used, if I want to handheld the camera, but I generally only use this with one of the smaller compact cameras on our longer club trips, when the D70 is just too big to carry as far as "War of the Worlds" Ogof Draenen.

Have a look at my website www.beaconimages.co.uk to see some of the caving and mining pictures taken with the D70, more images are waiting to be uploaded during the christmas break. 
 

Andrew W

New member
Thanks for your reply Ogofmole

I had a look at your website and have to say I was particularly impressed with your cave photos. Your advice was very helpful. I'm inclined to have a play with the Nikon wireless flash to start with to see how viable it is and when that inevitably fails :mad: I'll maybe have a crack with a tripod and manual flash.

In case your interested, some of my D70 pics are online at http://www.trekearth.com/members/AndrewWallis/photos/ and http://www.treknature.com/members/AndrewWallis/photos/

None of them involve caving yet though!
 

ogofmole

Member
Dear Andrew,

You have some very nice photos on your websites, especially the macro with the fly's eyes. I will look forward to seeing what you can produce underground.

 

Andrew W

New member
Here's a few I took in Dow Cave today. The boulder choke in hobson's choice was a barrel of laughs! Still possible to get through it though.

First time I've played with my digital slr underground and it met with somewhat mixed success. I've experimented with using Nikon wireless flash. This seems reasonably effective provided that there is a clear line of sight between the camera and the infrared sensor on the flash guns. This also had reasonable range (I tested it to around 10 metres away). Unfortunately without line of sight the flashguns really didn't want to fire. This precluded any shots where the flash was hidden around a corner or behind a caver.

Anybody know if fireflies are more effective where there isn't line of sight or do they suffer from this problem too?


<a href="http://img411.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dowcave7ahf5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/4322/dowcave7ahf5.th.jpg" border="0" /></a>

<a href="http://img182.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dowcave6awg8.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/2522/dowcave6awg8.th.jpg" border="0" /></a>

<a href="http://img182.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dowcave2afa5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/2500/dowcave2afa5.th.jpg" border="0" /></a>

<a href="http://img182.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dowcave1aau5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/8079/dowcave1aau5.th.jpg" border="0" /></a>
 

zomjon

Member
Generally (Apart from the normal gremlins!) Firefly's work pretty well when hidden round corners, behind your back, and their range is quite impressive.
 

ogofmole

Member
Nice photos, what aperture were you using on these images, as I seem to struggle to get anything more than F4 maybe I need more light or a smaller cave.
 

Andrew W

New member
Ogofmole,

Aperture was f7.1 on the shots in the wide canal and f4.5 in the other one. ISO was 200. To be honest the canal shots were initially a bit underexposed. I've improved the exposure in adobe raw. The flashguns used were both SB600s fired from an SU800 controller which is great for controlling the exposure mode or power of the flash direct from the camera but ineffective without line of sight to the flash.

Have to say, having seen your photos on your website, it didn't particularly look like you were lacking enough light. They all looked well lit with enough depth of field. If you are struggling for light and you're using your camera tripod mounted with the shutter held open (as you mentioned earlier), is there any mileage in maybe firing the flashes more than once during the same exposure?
 

ogofmole

Member
The next time I organise a photographic trip underground underground, maybe I will try and fire some of the flashguns twice assuming that they will recharge enough within the 30 second exposure. And as for Fireflys they do work out of site, as I quite often hide a flashgun and Firefly behind a boulder so that it is not seen. Look forward to seeing more of your pictures as you experiment with lighting.
 

Andrew W

New member
One thought I had about very long exposures is that it can increase the noise levels. The D70s noise reduction mode is pretty effective though (although it takes as long again as the exposure to record the picture). I've done night time exposures in excess of 30 seconds with noise reduction on and been happy with the results.
 

ogofmole

Member
I quite often use 30 second exposures with no noticeable increase in noise levels when printing at 8inx12in. So I would not be too worried about this. But I will have to wait a while as my D70 has gone back to nikon uk for a repair under warranty, even thou it is over three years old, hopefully it will be back by next weekend. I do not intend taking D200 underground yet!!!!!!.
 
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