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I saw Wendell briefly today who was showing me the merits of off camera flash using the SC-29 (next on the want list). Here's a few taken, SB800 off camera, bounced off wall less than 1m away from Wendell. I really liked the soft lighting this effect produced especially in the 1st and 3rd images. Comments welcomed:

COlour ones work best for me Geoff.
Great soft lighting.

Tell me, why would you consder an SC-29 when you have the master mode on the D200 onboard? I was thinking about the cable too, but thought that the onboard made it obselete. Or is that me being very naive?

rokkstar wrote:COlour ones work best for me Geoff.
Great soft lighting.

Tell me, why would you consder an SC-29 when you have the master mode on the D200 onboard? I was thinking about the cable too, but thought that the onboard made it obselete. Or is that me being very naive?

I thought about this too Matt, and u are right, the onboard master mode with the D200 is a great idea. I guess Wendell's enthusiasm for me to get the SC-29 was catching. The D2X can't remotely trigger the SB800 without the SC-29 can it cos it's reliant on a flash. Am I right?

The master mode (flash) on the D200 is for difference use and won't fire the SB800 if the SB800 was setup in difference angle which the SB800 could not see the signal from the D200 master command.

The SC-29 can do all difference angles (the SB800) with its flexibility.

I guess the attraction of the cable is that you don't need the preflashes, which can get annoying, or might be mistaken for the actual flash by the model, who then moves.

Also, Birdy is right - the SBx00 flashes are pretty good at picking up the preflashes, but I would guess not as reliably as using the cable.

Excellent point Birdy.
The remote fire has to be line of sight doesn't it.

Geoff wrote:Excellent point Birdy.
The remote fire has to be line of sight doesn't it.

Geoff, you'd think so, but NO!

I just tried it downstairs, and it works quite well around corners - as long as you bounce the preflashes off something, and the flash can "see" them.

Also, OW. I really shouldn't look directly at the flash head when I'm trying to see if it's going off!! lol

losfp wrote: Geoff, you'd think so, but NO!

I just tried it downstairs, and it works quite well around corners - as long as you bounce the preflashes off something, and the flash can "see" them.

How do you bounce the preflashes if the SB800 in on top or over or under the camera and on the same side?

On the shooting scenes: you have to be very flexible to hold the flash on one hand and other hand with the camera and both devives facing the subject, the flash maybe off to the left or right, preflash won't help but the SC-29 can control all.

losfp wrote:I guess the attraction of the cable is that you don't need the preflashes, which can get annoying, or might be mistaken for the actual flash by the model, who then moves.

Also, Birdy is right - the SBx00 flashes are pretty good at picking up the preflashes, but I would guess not as reliably as using the cable.

des are you talking about the pre flashes in TTL Balanced mode?

the main benefit of the sc-29 is that the auto assit light sitting on the hotshoe is always in the line of sight of the subect

this is handy in low light in instances where you have the flash facing away from the subject, the camera can still focus without relying on the assist light on the flash

otherwise you will have to make sure when holding the flash in one hand it points directly at the subject which is not easy in a crunch and if you wanted to bounce it off a wall or something you would have to adjust the head

sc29 gives you more freedom than the sc28

if your taking stuff in good light the sc28 is all you need

Geoff nice one, they are different and the bounced flash softens the light well, even though the lighting style is dramatic

Des,
Rob the purse of your Financial Controller and get one of the SC-29, then you'll see what the sc-29 can do for you more than the onboard commander (flash).

Wendell, I was talking about the metering pre-flashes from the on-board flash in commander mode. Obviously with the SC28/29, they won't be necessary.

It is actually possible to use the on-board AF assist lamp with the SB800 attached, therefore it would be possible to use it with the SB800 on the end of an SC28 instead of an SC29

However. Unless you have a tiny lens on the camera, the lens tends to block the onboard lamp

So in conclusion, yes, I will be getting an SC29 at some point

But for now, I will make do with the wireless flash.. I don't really do a lot of off-camera flash work at the moment.

losfp wrote:Wendell, I was talking about the metering pre-flashes from the on-board flash in commander mode. Obviously with the SC28/29, they won't be necessary.

It is actually possible to use the on-board AF assist lamp with the SB800 attached, therefore it would be possible to use it with the SB800 on the end of an SC28 instead of an SC29

However. Unless you have a tiny lens on the camera, the lens tends to block the onboard lamp

So in conclusion, yes, I will be getting an SC29 at some point

But for now, I will make do with the wireless flash.. I don't really do a lot of off-camera flash work at the moment.

if you use a sc28 and camera set to single servo mode the AF assist lamp works on the sb800

I have been astonished at where you can place remote SB800s and they still get triggered by the master on the camera. You don't need line of sight. It appears the sensors are very sensitive and will pick up the prefashes bouncing off a wall or ceiling. You can hide the guns behind all kinds of objects and they usually work.

Matt. K wrote:I have been astonished at where you can place remote SB800s and they still get triggered by the master on the camera. You don't need line of sight. It appears the sensors are very sensitive and will pick up the prefashes bouncing off a wall or ceiling. You can hide the guns behind all kinds of objects and they usually work.

Matt.K
Not always true and work as you mentioned, also depending on how and where same as what do you shooting, some shooting will be outdoor or indoor without any surfaces or angle for bouncing and the SC cable is the ones for use.