Electronic Flash, Nikon RF

[B-9]

Does anyone use Electronic flash with their Nikons?
What flash are you using currently?
Would you recommend a particular flash? If so why?
Do you go as far as a radio/optical trigger?

Lets discuss modern lighting with our classic camera's!
I cant imagine many of us using our old S's in the studio.
And I can imagine alot of us dont use flash at all, but for the sake of discussion lets elaborate on our artificial lighting kits!

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Mostly I shoot for available light (or available darkness), its only been in the past few years that ive started to become interested in artificial lighting. Now it seems I have a side hobby collecting small and large flashguns, with either the reasoning of using them eventually, or "hey that little guy would fit nice on my _____"

As I dive deeper and deeper into photography at night, im learning to love a little fill flash!

Currently I use a Rollei flash on my Hi-matic (modified to fit standard shoe) along with a handful of small vivitar flashes like the 2500 series. I really like my Metz 34bct on my larger interchangeable lens camera's, but it is rather large. I also own a nice strobist kit containg 3x HH283's and 2x 285HV's along with a few potato mashers. The later are all much to large to use on a rangefinder camera, or even a small SLR for that matter.

I wouldnt mind hearing what you guys have used,
what you are currently using,
and possibly some techniques you employ!

Please feel free to post examples of your kit, camera, and results!

 

[B-9]

Excellent article! Thanks for sharing Bryan, the only difference is I'm using optical slaves, they won't have the same range or consistent firing of your radio poppers.

I use the generic sonia extended range slaves, which I've found to be superior to Wein's peanut slaves.
Especially at half the price, you really get a good deal. Not to mention Flashzebra.com sells them in just about every type of connection you can imagine, or imagine adapting to. I especially like the HH and Vivitar sync models. The vivitar sync models also work on older Minolta flashguns like the 320px.

 

[Corran]

Thanks. FWIW, the radio triggers I've got are ridiculously cheap Chinese things:

Something like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/180928297826

They are pretty short range, as well as real battery-hungry things. I'm going to get some of the new Yongnuo triggers sometime soon. These were really just for testing the waters.

 

[VinceC]

I've always been fond of carrying a Sunpak with tilt and swivel head & a series of auto-ranges that accommodates the slow sync speeds of RF camera.

The tilt/swivel allows a very wide set of options for bounce flash, and it uses a PC socket for the sync.

http://www.sunpak.jp/english/products/auto383super/index.html

 

[FalseDigital]

I don't have a Nikon RF but I just bought a Nikon SB-30 and I'm using it with my Voigtlander Bessa-R RF and Fuji X-E1. It's REALLY small but very powerful and quick! Perfect for RF! It also comes with a built in wide-angle diffuser and can wirelessly trigger flashes without firing!

Here's a photo to show the size. (not my photo)

 

[furcafe]

Using a PC cord w/the Bessa (or does that have a hot shoe)?

I don't have a Nikon RF but I just bought a Nikon SB-30 and I'm using it with my Voigtlander Bessa-R RF and Fuji X-E1. It's REALLY small but very powerful and quick! Perfect for RF! It also comes with a built in wide-angle diffuser and can wirelessly trigger flashes without firing!

 

[FalseDigital]

Using a PC cord w/the Bessa (or does that have a hot shoe)?

The Bessa R has a hotshoe.
The Nikon SB-80 doesn't have a sync cord input.
I guess that's its only downfall if you need one.
It uses CR123 batteries but I have rechargeable ones so that's not an issue for me. It's perfect for compact street shooting!

 

[furcafe]

Cool, asked because none of the Nikon RFs have a hot shoe (unless you count the Bessa R2S).

The Bessa R has a hotshoe.
The Nikon SB-80 doesn't have a sync cord input.
I guess that's its only downfall if you need one.
It uses CR123 batteries but I have rechargeable ones so that's not an issue for me. It's perfect for compact street shooting!

 

[B-9]

Is the SB-30 and "auto" flash? (Does it have its own light sensor)
Looks like it would be a nice little unit, I'll keep my eyes peeled.

Do you mean it can trigger other Nikon strobes without firing?
Or does it indeed send out an IR signal that would trip an optical slave?

 

[FalseDigital]

Cool, asked because none of the Nikon RFs have a hot shoe (unless you count the Bessa R2S).

Ah! I wasn't aware of that. Well then...I guess my suggestion is moot.
But for any RF with a hotshoe, I think it's superb.

 

[FalseDigital]

Is the SB-30 and "auto" flash? (Does it have its own light sensor)
Looks like it would be a nice little unit, I'll keep my eyes peeled.

Do you mean it can trigger other Nikon strobes without firing?
Or does it indeed send out an IR signal that would trip an optical slave?

It has quite a few options, TTL, Auto, and Manual +exposure compensation.
It can also be set to put out only an IR Signal to trigger an optical slave.

If you can see those tiny tabs on the front just below the flash. If you pull up the one on the right it's a wide-angle diffuser.
If you pull up the black one on the left it disables the flash and only outputs an IR signal. Pretty handy.

Here's a picture of the front/back:

I actually found this flash by accident because I was looking for a similar one that I saw posted on "Tokyo Camera Style"

 

[B-9]

Might be worth a try with a PC/hot shoe adapter.

 

[FalseDigital]

Here's a test shot I took yestereday. X-E1 w/ CV 15mm f/4.5 lens (this one is set to f/8)

 

[B-9]

Not bad, was this shot at night or twilight?

Looks to be a decently powerful little flashgun, with a few great features!
Thanks for the reccomendation, might have to grab on for my X100.

 

[Takkun]

Might want something like this:
http://www.paulcbuff.com/slfa.php
Turns a cold shoe into a hot shoe.

I'm right now using an old Quantaray QA25 auto flash, a particularly small non-bounce one. As I mentioned in another thread, I'm fairly certain this has a high trigger voltage. Obviously a non-issue with mechanical cameras.

 

[B-9]

Might want something like this:
http://www.paulcbuff.com/slfa.php
Turns a cold shoe into a hot shoe.

I'm right now using an old Quantaray QA25 auto flash, a particularly small non-bounce one. As I mentioned in another thread, I'm fairly certain this has a high trigger voltage. Obviously a non-issue with mechanical cameras.

Exactly the accessory I was thinking off! Thanks for the link!
A quick search on eBay also shows a few smaller options with PC cable built in.

I've been using a small Vivitar flash without bounce or swivel, it even has a sync port for an optical slave if I need a little fill flash without much power.

Most older Vivitar, Quantaray, and Metz flashes have very high trigger voltages.
I went ahead and tested all my flashes when I first got a digital camera many years ago.
Surprisingly, one of my most powerful flash guns , a Canon 533G handle flash, has the lowest trigger voltage of any of them, at around 3v it works great with most Canon DSLR's and my Fuji X100.

 

[VinceC]

If you want to go classic, there's always the Vivitar 283/285. Those were/are real workhorses, but they do overwhelm the size of an RF camera.

 

[B-9]

If you want to go classic, there's always the Vivitar 283/285. Those were/are real workhorses, but they do overwhelm the size of an RF camera.

Vince, I have an extensive kit of HH(household base) 283's and 285HV's I use for location lighting, all outfitted with Sonia extended range optical slaves. I think these monsters weigh more than my S2 with batteries in them!

I totally agree, one of the best flash guns you can buy for the money.
I need to sit down one of these nights and mod a few for variable power, I've just been having a hard time finding the right potentiometers. I even have one I modified to bare bulb.

 

[FalseDigital]

The last one was in the shade around late afternoon. Here's a color one against the sun. (about midday)

X-E1 / VC 15mm f/4.5 (again shot at f/8)

and an indoor close up! (same camera/lens, same settings, no diffuser used)