Studio Photography Help

KateR

New member
Hi all, thanks in advance for any help. Other than personal photography, I take photos of merchandise to sell online. I have a Nikon D3000, which I am happy with, but I wanted to set up an indoor studio. I bought a Nikon D2H (in fantastic condition!) and put together a cheap soft box that should work for me. I have a friend who is a Canon fan boi (boo, hiss) who recommended I use Yongnuo speedlites as slaves, and a Yongnuo wireless transmitter fitted to the hot shoe of the D2H as the master. I like the quality of his photos, so I bought three YN560-III Speedlites and the YN603n wireless transmitter. The D3000 is more my speed -- it's automatic -- and I'm lost with all this equipment. I don't know what to set on the D2H and can't figure it out with the manual or from googling. I need a really basic explanation that says 1. do this; 2. then do this, 3. then do that, 4. etc. I can't get the transmitter to transmit, I can't get any of the flash units to flash, and I'm into this set up for quite a large sum of money, plus I desperately need to photograph merchandise. As it is right now, I have a ton of inventory and no photos. Help?!
 

Mike D90

Senior Member
I cannot help you with the D2H issue but I can tell you that the YN603 transceivers DO NOT work in TTL mode.

So you need to set your camera to "Manual" flash output in the custom menus.

The YN603 transceiver should communicate with the Yongnou flash units but check the manual as to how to set it up.
 

KateR

New member
I cannot help you with the D2H issue but I can tell you that the YN603 transceivers DO NOT work in TTL mode.

So you need to set your camera to "Manual" flash output in the custom menus.

The YN603 transceiver should communicate with the Yongnou flash units but check the manual as to how to set it up.

The speedlites are all set on Manual/Radio so they can receive a signal from the wireless transmitter, which is on the camera's hot shoe. What I don't know is how to set the camera so that it works with manual flash. There's nothing in the manual, and all it says in the transmitter and speedlite information is to set them on manual, which I've done.
 

DraganDL

Senior Member
Just to be completely clear: not being able to work in a TTL mode (measuring the amount of light and other elements "through-the-lens"), does not necessarily mean that the flash isn't capable of working in a "traditional" auto mode, where you set: 1) the lens's aperture value manually (either in the camera's menu or by turning the aperture ring on the lens); 2) the shutter speed(s); the ISO value in the camera and 4) the ISO value on the flash unit which is "tied" to the specified range of aperture values. In such scenario the flash unit automatically regulates the emitted amount of light within the given environment, within the specified distance range (e.g. 1.5-5 meters) thanks to it's own (built in) light meter and it's (flash unit's) sensor.

However, there ARE flash units that can operate ONLY in a pure manual mode. In such case, you've got to use an external flash meter (or to rely on a flash unit's "guide number"), you've got to make a test flash during which the light meter measures the total reflected light and displays the values according to which you set your camera. And, since such flash unit isn't capable of adjusting the amount of the delivered light within the distance range, each time you recompose (and the distance changes) you've got to measure the reflected light again (because, what the flash meter gave you as the right parameters was applicable for the distance of, say, 3 meters - since you've moved the flash away from the subject, to, say, a 4.5 meters, you've got to manually set the greater value of aperture (smaller number) or to raise the ISO value, or to do both).

Conclusion: the "traditional auto" ("old school automatic" ;)) regulates the amount of delivered light within the specified distance range (once you set the specific parameters for that range), the TTL auto gives more options over the traditional auto, and the "full manual" flash unit requires you to change parameters with every change of the distance (between the flash unit and the subject).
 
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Mike D90

Senior Member
Somewhere on your camera is a button that allows you to enter the menu of commands. If you cannot find that button then I am afraid that any other help offered will do you no good.

I am not trying to be a smart ass but maybe you have more camera than what you need for what you are doing.

However, you should be able to use the transmitter that is mounted on the flash shoe to trigger your flash units regardless of what the camera is set too. If you are unable to get the transmitter to trigger the flash units using just the transmitter test button, then you have other issues.

The YN603 units have, I think, 16 channel capability. All of the flash units have to be set to this frequency or you have to set the transmitter to the frequency that the flash units are set too.
 
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KateR

New member
It works, it works! I mounted the wireless transmitter backwards. Once I turned it the right way around, everything fired. Cheers!
 
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