Some Questions on using the SB-700

WhiteLight

Senior Member
I just started using the SB-700 & it got some getting used to as it's the absolute first time with flashes for me....
Some things are bugging me though:

a) Most people advise to use the speed-light in M mode... How do you figure how much light is necessary? Trial & Error? Experience?

b) Using TTL, almost at all times the images are underexposed... is this normal?

c) I have only 1 flash; if I need to use it in 'Remote' mode, am running into some issues....
- Though the red light would be blinking stating the flash is ready, it does not fire & the only flash is from the on-camera flash which should ideally be only for triggering the 700.

d) Still on the same point as (c), only TTL mode & GN mode works.. i can not choose M mode when the 700 is in Remote mode.
And in GN mode, I seem to be able to choose the power like it should ideally give me that option in M mode.

e) the camera is in 'advanced' mode as opposed to 'SU4' mode.. if that matters.
in the SU4 mode, the flash does not go into standby mode.
I was just playing around with the flash today, left it & went away for an hour and when i returned the flash was still on, red blinking to say it's ready to flash.. even the LCD light was on...
The flash does go into standby when it is set to 'advanced' mode.

Not sure if these are just newb issues or there is something i can do to fix them...

any links to good resources/books for use of the SB700 and flash photography/usage in general would be really awesome...

Thanks!
 
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MrF

Senior Member
Whitelight, for point (a), back in the film days it was done by guide numbers. Now, I think most folks likely just use a combination of experience and trial and error. For points (c) and (d), I'm going to assume you're using the D7000. You have to go into the menu and set it up to use the onboard flash as a commander. When the flash is in remote mode, it takes commands from the D7000. To get it to fire in manual mode, you have to get into the menus again and set whichever group the remote is on to manual. You'll also set the power level from the camera too. I set those two menus as part of 'my menu'. Hope this helps! I'll get into more detail later when I have a few more minutes.
 

ohkphoto

Snow White
I just started using the SB-700 & it got some getting used to as it's the absolute first time with flashes for me....
Some things are bugging me though:

a) Most people advice to use the speed-light in M mode... How do you figure how much light is necessary? Trial & Error? Experience?

b) Using TTL, almost at all times the images are underexposed... is this normal?


Not to get too complicated too quickly, I always set the camera to M mode (the flash should be set to iTTL) when using the flash simply because in any other mode, the camera seems to 'want to save" the flash battery, so it will adjust shutter speed and/or aperture to do that so you may get "undesirable" results. A good starting place is a setting like f/8 and 1/125 . . . without a flash, this should give you a dark room. Then when you add the flash you can see what adjustments need to be made. Your flash should be set to iTTL and on the camera menu.

You can make small adjustments to the light flash output via the flash EV control + or - EV.

And yes, trial and error are always the best teacher . . . e.g. pick one subject with the settings given above, and start experimenting with the EV control as well as the shutter speed and aperture and see how your photo changes. The slower the shutter speed, the more ambient light you'll get.

c) i have only 1 flash, if i need to use it in 'Remote' mode am running into some issues....
- Though the red light would be blinking stating the flash is ready, it does not fire & the only flash is from the on-camera flash which should ideally be only for triggering the 700

For off-camera use, your flash needs to be set to Remote, and your pop-up flash setting (camera menu) needs to be set to commander mode. Make sure the camera and flash are on the same channel and group. Pop up flash needs to be up.

any links to good resources/books for use of the SB700 and flash photography/usage in general would be really awesome...

One of the best resources on the Nikon flash system is anything written by Joe McNally . . . he is an absolute master at using Nikon speedlights to create the kind of lighting that he wants. I would recommend his book, Hot Shoe Diaries, to start. You can probably get it pretty cheap used via Amazon.

Hopefully, this will give you a start, and others will chime in with their recommendations. Good for you for venturing into this area . . . be as fearless and adventuresome as you you are in your other areas of photography :D
 

WayneF

Senior Member
I just started using the SB-700 & it got some getting used to as it's the absolute first time with flashes for me....
Some things are bugging me though:

a) Most people advice to use the speed-light in M mode... How do you figure how much light is necessary? Trial & Error? Experience?

Yes, experience. You start with about the same power level that worked last time in a similar situation. After a very short time, this will be much closer and easier than you might imagine now. Then, you tweak it in by eye, or guided by histogram (but eye is the final criteria). Or in the studio with multiple lights, you probably use a handlheld flash meter.

b) Using TTL, almost at all times the images are underexposed... is this normal?

Frankly yes. SB-700 does TTL BL, which is fill flash. It tries to be less level than ambient levels. Which is about right for outdoor shorts (if there is a normally exposed ambient, flash has to be held back so the sum of two correct exposures does not overexpose a stop).

Indoors, experiment with making +1 EV Flash Compensation your starting base. You still have to watch it, and adjust it, by applying whatever FC seems correct. Some other flash models can override with real TTL Mode (instead of TTL BL), which needs less of that.

Just use whatever level of Flash Compensation is needed. This too becomes very easy, you just know ahead of time.

c) i have only 1 flash, if i need to use it in 'Remote' mode am running into some issues....
- Though the red light would be blinking stating the flash is ready, it does not fire & the only flash is from the on-camera flash which should ideally be only for triggering the 700

I don't understand the question. Ready light is on steady red when it becomes ready. Blinking three times immediately after a shot is a warning that the flash fired at full power, often meaning it did not have as much power capacity as you were requesting. SB-700 is slightly different here, not sure I can answer, this blinking is something new to me..

See pages C-5 (hotshoe), D-27 and D-28 (remote), and D-29 about "how much underexposed" (pages of English version anyway).

d) Still on the same point as (c), only TTL mode & GN mode works.. i can not choose M mode when the 700 is in Remote mode.


Remote IS THE MODE, period (speaking of Advanced Wireless, i.e., the Commander). In Remote mode, you choose flash parameters (like TTL or compensation) in the Commander menu at camera.


And in GN mode, i seem to be able to choose the power like it should ideally give me that option in M mode.

Manual, you set everything (power), and the result is up to you and your skills. If result is not good, make some other manual flash settings (power level or aperture or ISO or distance).

GN Mode, you set distance, and it does all else (power), automatically, by using GN computation. It knows ISO, aperture, etc.

TTL, you set camera aperture and ISO, and it does all else (power), automatically. You can control or guide this TTL automation with Flash Compensation.

e) the camera is in 'advanced' mode as opposed to 'SU4' mode.. if that matters.
in the SU4 mode, the flash does not go into standby mode.


It has two very different concepts of "remote".

Remote is truly remote (AWL with Commander). There are no more settings on the flash. It is triggered by the Commander on camera, and the settings are there, Commander menu.

or... SU-4 is called remote, but it is a simple optical slave, manual flash, triggered by any other manual flash (NOT the commander). You probably want its Manual mode, where you set its power manually. Auto (follows trigger) is really a film-type TTL.


Standby:

On the hot shoe, you press the shutter button half way to wake it up.
But there cannot be any standby in either remote mode, as there is no communication to reactivate it.

If the remote mode says Standby, it likely means it shut down because the batteries are dead.
There is no Standby, and no way to wake it, remotely.
Leaving it in Remote all night probably is sufficient to drain the batteries.
 

WhiteLight

Senior Member
Thanks for the inputs..
i think the first mistake i recognize is i had not set the D7000 on commander.. it was still in TTL mode..
Hope that fixes one in the list :)
 
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