D200 w/SB800 washing out shots!

David_Buzzard · #8 09-20-2006, 05:30 AM

I find that the SB-800 on the D2x will blow out skin tones of grooms in black tuxedoes unless you turn down the exposure compensation by about 1/3 of a stop. I have the same problem in reverse for brides in white dresses, they tend to be under exposed unless you dial the compensation up. So much for the vaunted iTTL flash exposure. The LCD monitors aren't anywhere near accurate enough to check exposure from.

A funny thing happened to me at a wedding the other day. After the wedding, but before the family shots, I did some off camera couple portraits in the church, as I had to clear off before the next group showed up. I always set my flashes to 1/4 manual for off camera work (that way I can use a $25.00 paramount cord instead of the crazy and delicate TTL cord that Nikon makes). Anyways, I went back to do the family shots, and forgot to set the flash back to TTL. The shots turned out to be some of the best exposed on camera flash shots I've ever done. Mind you, the light was very flat and overcast, which helped, but they did look very good.

David Buzzard

AngelMorales · #9 09-20-2006, 10:38 AM

Thanks for the info' Dave! I will try messing around with the flash and see what results I get. It's a very different world for us now. Use to be so easy with my old Nikon F3's and Vivitar 283 (5)'s. Never had an exposure problem.
-Angel

AngelMorales · #10 09-20-2006, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David_Buzzard

A funny thing happened to me at a wedding the other day. After the wedding, but before the family shots, I did some off camera couple portraits in the church, as I had to clear off before the next group showed up. I always set my flashes to 1/4 manual for off camera work (that way I can use a $25.00 paramount cord instead of the crazy and delicate TTL cord that Nikon makes). Anyways, I went back to do the family shots, and forgot to set the flash back to TTL. The shots turned out to be some of the best exposed on camera flash shots I've ever done. Mind you, the light was very flat and overcast, which helped, but they did look very good.

David Buzzard

Hey Dave,
I was wondering about the Paramount cord. Can they make a shortened version of the SC-28? It's so long that I have to wrap it around the bracket 3 times. Kind of annoying to have to do that. Especially since I work wit the smaller Newton Bracket.
-Angel

David_Buzzard · #11 09-20-2006, 03:14 PM

Paramount cords don't have any TTL capabities, they just trip the flash. By off camera, I mean 4 to 5 feet at a 30 to 45 degree angle. I tried the TTL cords for doing that kind of thing, and found the results not that great, so I just leave the flash on manual and control it by adjusting the f-stop. An SB-800 flash will give you an exposure of between f4 to f4.5 at 1/4 power from 4 feet away, with the strobo-fen on, and an ISO setting of 100 ISO. Start there, and adjust to suite.

I used to go through a TTL cord a year, and at almost $100.00 CAN each, that's pretty crazy. All you have to do is stretch it bit too far, and all those wires in the cables start failing. I also used to get loose conections in the parts that attach to the camera and flash shoe. I've been using the same Paramount cord for over 5 years, and it's still going strong.

David Buzzard

larry_angier · #12 09-20-2006, 07:33 PM

With the commander flash mode on the D200, I don't even bother with the SC 29 or SC 17. No more strangulation for me!

You can use the built-in as a kicker or turn it off and use the remote as the only light. One way that I like is to cut-back on the internal flash about -2/3 and keep the diffuser on the remote. Gives you a catch light in the eyes and the other gives nice diffused lighting to fill in the nooks and crannies.

David_Buzzard · #13 09-20-2006, 09:42 PM

For multi flash set ups, I use the same manual techniques, but I use a radio slave to trigger the lights. From experience, I know what the exposures are that I get from each light, and that works fine for me.

David Buzzard

LouOutlaw · #14 09-21-2006, 01:29 AM

Angel,
As others have recommended, I, too, propose you shoot aperture priority and while indoors set the SB800 to TTL, not TTL BL (for balanced fill, which works very well with lots of ambient light, as when shooting outdoors in daylight). These days, however, I shoot manually, RAW capture, checking the historgram as I go, with blinkies on to check for blown highlights. I seldom get blown-out pics unless I'm much too close to my subject.
Lou

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