Kris .. since I don’t have SB-80 speedlights any more or a D200, I can’t really help you here and check. Try posting this on the Flickr group for flash photography, and perhaps someone there can be more specific.

thanks

Neil vN

I have a question. I’m trying to use a Nikon D200 a i-ttl system to fire 2-4 SB-80 DX’s
I know this is extremely limiting. But I was hoping I could set the camera and the SB-80′s
to manual mode use the built in flash and they would fire. Of course I’d adjust the flash
output on the flash themselves. But someone said I would need a d-ttl camera to fire
the master flash on the camera.

Sounds like even in “manual mode” the camera is using some part of ttl system to fire
other flashes? And the d200 has the wrong ttl system to fire the SB-80s?

If I had any extra $ I’d simply get better strobes but I’m trying to make due.

Appreciate your input,
Kris

Matt … Whether you should expose for the ambient light or not, depends entirely on the scenario you have there. And also whether you want to or even need to expose for the ambient light.

Check out these other posts as some examples of the thought-process behind metering for ambient when using flash.

1 . 2 . 3 . 4

.
About your choice of 1/60th .. don’t get hooked on the idea that 1/60th is a hand-holdable shutter speed. It isn’t necessarily true.

– faster shutter speeds for sharper photos
– using slow shutter speeds while hand-holding your camera

.
But then .. the rest of your question about letting the flash do the job. Yes, that’s generally how TTL flash works. And that’s the magic of TTL flash.

Cheers
Matt

My question(s): I use a D80 and F100 (especially for b&w) and a when I’m not using the monolights I use a SB600. How does using a light modifier (Micro Apollo in this case) affect how the flash behaves either in TTL BL or TTL modes (i-TTL on the D80)? I like the effect it creats in manual mode when there isn’t a nice wall to bounce off of, but there are times I’m using a flash fill in setting sun applications where I want the flash much softer, diffused.

Do I need to play with any settings on the flash for the F100 during portraits? I already use manual mode for all flash indoor portraits and some tricky outdoor shots (bright sun and fill I leave in Aperature priority). Should I leave the flash in manual mode and use my meter as I do with mononlights or does will the TTL mode of the flash just need some tweeking with the camera in manual mode?

These questions are probably elementary but for some reason manually adjusting external strobes seems easier than setting up the speed light. As a side note, your site here gives more information than all of Nikon’s instructions could ever hope to give on their own equipment, for that, thank you..

Jerry Johnson

Rui … I’ll gladly help where I can.

Thanks again!

That probably means that the lens you are using is not a D type lens, or that the D40x does not know how to communicate with it.
TTL flash needs distance information in order to work properly.

Hope this helps,
Freddy