John Maio Posted March 23, 2007 Share #21 Posted March 23, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Don't overlook the good old Vivitar 285HV. Its still around and very affordable. Amazon.com: Vivitar 285HV Auto Professional Flash: Camera & Photo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 23, 2007 Posted March 23, 2007 Hi John Maio, Take a look here Strobes & M8 compatability?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
l.ceva Posted March 23, 2007 Share #22 Posted March 23, 2007 No Guy i did not try that one but if you could check it out when you get a chance that would be great. in the old days we were able to control the flash today there letting the camera's set everything. Bummer For the M8 we will need ISO , F stop, A mode, zoom control, and moveable head . Plus not fry the M8 As a Nikon user I have many SB-800, and yes they work with my M8 , you are able to set ISO, F stop and eveything you need, oviously there is no way to use it in TTL! ciao Lorenzo http://www.lorenzocevavalla.it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
guywalder Posted March 23, 2007 Share #23 Posted March 23, 2007 Lorenzo, Thanks for that, and now being the eternal optimist.... can you get the wireless remote system to work with an M8 as well??? Guy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
l.ceva Posted March 23, 2007 Share #24 Posted March 23, 2007 Lorenzo,Thanks for that, and now being the eternal optimist.... can you get the wireless remote system to work with an M8 as well??? Guy Depends on what you meen! With Nikon cameras, when I am out from my studio, I usually work with up yo 6 SB-800 in wireless CLS with umbrellas and litle statives by manfrotto (have a look at my website a lot of portrait work is done in this way). With the M8 you can (as I did) work in SU-4 mode, in this way you can work in MANUAL mode (as I always do working in multiflash CLS) but not in CLS. So for me the only differnce is that I can't set the remotes power from the master unit but I have to set the power phisically on every remote as we always did before CLS! In other words is like working with other speedlight with separate sync cell the only difference is that the cells are already built in the SB-800 and this is wery confortable! Ciao Lorenzo LORENZO CEVA VALLA - fotografia digitale Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
guywalder Posted March 23, 2007 Share #25 Posted March 23, 2007 Lorenzo, thanks for the update. I have 3 SB800 units, and I really like the wireless functionality (apart from portraits). Personally I havnt had much luck with the SU-4 mode, but that is still better than nothing. I look forward to experimenting... Guy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guy_mancuso Posted March 23, 2007 Share #26 Posted March 23, 2007 As a Nikon user I have many SB-800, and yes they work with my M8 , you are able to set ISO, F stop and eveything you need, oviously there is no way to use it in TTL! ciao Lorenzo LORENZO CEVA VALLA - fotografia digitale Thanks Lorenzo , okay may have found the backup or primary for that matter. maybe sell the Metz 54 and actually get 2 of these. One for remote , these have built in slaves i think. i use portables a lot also with my studio strobes as kickers sometimes or something you can fit in a small space Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wparsonsgisnet Posted March 23, 2007 Share #27 Posted March 23, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Just for the record -- if you plan to use an older strobe on any digital camera, make sure to include the Wein HSHS in your setup. This will keep you from turning your M8 into scrambled eggs because of excess voltages dumped into the hot shoe. $50 well spent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsteve Posted March 23, 2007 Share #28 Posted March 23, 2007 Thanks Lorenzo , okay may have found the backup or primary for that matter. maybe sell the Metz 54 and actually get 2 of these. One for remote , these have built in slaves i think. i use portables a lot also with my studio strobes as kickers sometimes or something you can fit in a small space It might be cheaper just to get the remote shoe for the Metz. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guy_mancuso Posted March 23, 2007 Share #29 Posted March 23, 2007 Robert I have 3 Wein Hot shoe slaves and none of them work. i had to do with PW with a special cord made from paramount and now i don't use PW. Metz did not put in a PC outlet either. These guys photographers that design this stuff or not. i don't get it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsteve Posted March 23, 2007 Share #30 Posted March 23, 2007 Robert I have 3 Wein Hot shoe slaves and none of them work. i had to do with PW with a special cord made from paramount and now i don't use PW. Metz did not put in a PC outlet either. These guys photographers that design this stuff or not. i don't get it I meant the SCA 3083 adapter. Metz SCA 3083 Slave Module f/ Digital Cameras Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guy_mancuso Posted March 23, 2007 Share #31 Posted March 23, 2007 Did not know about that adapter , ordered it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
innerimager Posted March 23, 2007 Share #32 Posted March 23, 2007 Depends on what you meen! With Nikon cameras, when I am out from my studio, I usually work with up yo 6 SB-800 in wireless CLS with umbrellas and litle statives by manfrotto (have a look at my website a lot of portrait work is done in this way). With the M8 you can (as I did) work in SU-4 mode, in this way you can work in MANUAL mode (as I always do working in multiflash CLS) but not in CLS. So for me the only differnce is that I can't set the remotes power from the master unit but I have to set the power phisically on every remote as we always did before CLS! In other words is like working with other speedlight with separate sync cell the only difference is that the cells are already built in the SB-800 and this is wery confortable! Ciao Lorenzo LORENZO CEVA VALLA - fotografia digitale I also use 3 SB800 flashes in a CLS with my D2Hs at times. Doesn't nikon make a separate controller unit, not a flash, that acts as a master in CLS systems? If so, we could go with it. I'll check it out. best...Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertwright Posted March 23, 2007 Share #33 Posted March 23, 2007 intrigued, I went to the nikon site and downloaded the sb800 manual and did some reading about the su-4 mode of wireless flash. It looks really complicated, and it appears you have to put the flash into the hotshoe of a nikon camera when you set up the flash to be master or slave. I think the thing with flash is that it has to be dead simple, when you are working on a portrait you cannot have your head burried in a menu looking for a setting. The basic manual flash controls, especially if they are hard wired and not in submenus, help a lot. that is why I like the older style sunpack units, there is an actual switch that sets the auto aperture or manual power setting. You don't even need to look at the flash necessarily to set the power. Going back to my original post, the sunpack 383 comes with a pc cord and socket, to which you can attach either a pocket wizard or peanut slave. Again, dead simple. the nikon units, you have to make sure the sensor is oriented towards the master flash, and it would be nice if we could all put our flashes where the little drawings show in a nice 45 degree sweep, but that never happens, and sometimes the head is burried behind something or in a chimera. this is when you will appreciate an actual pc in socket. They sure aren't glamorous, but like the 285, gets the job done. BTW I am almost certain the vivitar units like the 285 and 283 use a 250V trigger voltage, meaning the wien safe adapter is a necessity. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
innerimager Posted March 23, 2007 Share #34 Posted March 23, 2007 This is what I was thinking of- Nikon SU-800 Wireless Speedlight Commander Unit it looks like it still requires a Nikon body with iTTL...darn it! ....Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzav Posted March 23, 2007 Share #35 Posted March 23, 2007 Thanks Lorenzo , okay may have found the backup or primary for that matter. maybe sell the Metz 54 and actually get 2 of these. One for remote , these have built in slaves i think. i use portables a lot also with my studio strobes as kickers sometimes or something you can fit in a small space Guy, I have been using an SB-800 with the M8 and have not had any difficulties. Everything you listed as desirable is in there; ISO settings, manual power selection in 1/3 stops from 1/1 to 1/128, "A" mode, tilt and swivel head, and zoom mode. I found the "A" (auto) mode works beautifully on the camera and allows the apertures to be set in 1/3 stops, but wish it offered a larger aperture than f2.8. The camera displays the "lightning bolt" ready symbol in the viewfinder, but of course, does not provide TTL. For me, the accuracy of the "A" mode makes TTL unnecessary. Although I have several PocketWizard MultiMAx units which work fine with the M8, I dug up some of my old Wein Pro-Sync 2 & 4-channel IR transmitters and receivers to try because they are much smaller than the PW's. The Wein receivers would not trip the SB-800 on any channel, but by placing the SB-800 in "SU-4" mode, the transmitter would trip the internal slave on any of its channels. Since this is an IR system, the transmitter does not add any light to the image itself. In answer to the next obvious question, I have not tried it without the IR/UV filters since I do not intend to shoot without them anyway. The only downside is I have been unable to get it working in auto mode on SU-4, only manual. Manual with total control over power output is very easy to set, and the single Wein transmitter is much smaller baggage compared to carrying a pair of PocketWizards! As for the SB-800, after using various shoe mount flash units (including several from Metz), I settled on the SB-800 as my favorite. The best handle mount flash units are still Metz 60 CT-4's in my opinion though. You can't kill them and they provide a lot of light in a portable package for location shoots when dragging 2400WS power packs and heads is not an option. I can stuff a three light setup in a small roller case like a Pelikan 1500 compared to several trunks of Broncolor or Profoto gear that is better suited in the studio. A three head Profoto air case is huge in comparison, and the Broncolor three light kit is even larger and travels in two ATA cases. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wparsonsgisnet Posted March 23, 2007 Share #36 Posted March 23, 2007 I have the 3083 off-camera adapter cord and, used on eBay, it was more than the HSHS. However, it provides other capabilities such as control of the strobe unit. N-e-v-e-r-t-h-e-l-e-s-s, it, too, suffers from the same deficiency that Guy refers to: it seems not to have been designed by a photographer. (1) It's bigger than it needs to be, (2) changing the adapters on the Metz strobes is a major pain in the tookus, and (3) the cord is about 1/3 as long as it should be. If anyone has the MicroSync remote and a pc-cord for the receiver, I'd be interested to know if they can operate a small strobe like a Metz with this rig. It's amazing that we can even take pictures with all of this substandard equipment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guy_mancuso Posted March 23, 2007 Share #37 Posted March 23, 2007 Well i will keep the Metz and maybe use it for the big strobe bag with that adapter for my kicker light and backup but will get the SB800 for primary. i know it is smaller than the Metz plus I love the locking feature for the shoe on the Nikons. Nikons still have the best flash system around always have too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzav Posted March 23, 2007 Share #38 Posted March 23, 2007 I have the 3083 off-camera adapter cord and, used on eBay, it was more than the HSHS. However, it provides other capabilities such as control of the strobe unit. N-e-v-e-r-t-h-e-l-e-s-s, it, too, suffers from the same deficiency that Guy refers to: it seems not to have been designed by a photographer. (1) It's bigger than it needs to be, (2) changing the adapters on the Metz strobes is a major pain in the tookus, and (3) the cord is about 1/3 as long as it should be. If anyone has the MicroSync remote and a pc-cord for the receiver, I'd be interested to know if they can operate a small strobe like a Metz with this rig. It's amazing that we can even take pictures with all of this substandard equipment. It's called "design by commitee" because it is commited at a rarified level where common sense does not prevail. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
l.ceva Posted March 23, 2007 Share #39 Posted March 23, 2007 Thanks Lorenzo , okay may have found the backup or primary for that matter. maybe sell the Metz 54 and actually get 2 of these. One for remote , these have built in slaves i think. i use portables a lot also with my studio strobes as kickers sometimes or something you can fit in a small space If I were you I'll look for something else, in my case I use them because as NIKON user I already have them since long time but if you are not a nikon user already in my opinion it does not make a lot of sens. Yes they have built in slaves cells (SU-4 mode) but as you can work only in manual mode (in A mode in SU-4 the slaves just replies the power of the master and this is not wery usefull) this will be the only benefit. They are wery small so I can take 6 of them in my bag and for example I can carry it on the plane with no problem and as I travel a lot this is really a big advantage. With my D2X I use them a lot in CLS always in manual (I hate TTL and A mode with multiflash) but with the big benefit of beeing able to set the power of the slaves with out moving from the camera. ciao Lorenzo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.Costello Posted March 24, 2007 Share #40 Posted March 24, 2007 Using the Nikon SB800 on the M8 - is it necessary to use a Wein HSHS Safe_Sync or do those of you using it just mount it on the M8 hot shoe? Richard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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