Nikon SB-80DX Flash

Nikon SB-80DX Flash The SB-80DX is by far the best flash that Nikon has come out with for the Nikon DSLR shooter. It's not perfect but that goes with the digital territory. Generally speaking though, I can set the flash to DTTL Matrix and it does a good job. I do find myself chimping the first flash photo just to make sure but rarely do I have to make much change to my standard flash settings. The most common change is to add more minus compensation when using the SB-80DX for flash fill. The one area where the SB-80DX does fall short is in multiple flash.

While giving a demo to folks on the very first day of a safari, I was moaning about the flash problems I was experiencing. Some would say "I haven't had that problem" or "it works for me" when without touching any of my flashes the flashes started to "reprogram" themselves right before our eyes. Simply put, shooting digital DTTL with the SB-80DX wired or wireless doesn't work! Where does this leave you?

We're left with what worked best with the D1 - A, or AA mode as on the SB-80DX. For multiple flash work set the main flash, the one physically connected to the camera's hot shoe either directly or via the SC-17 to AA. Set the slaved flash units to AA as well. Then set the slaved unit to wireless operation and you're basically good to go.

There are a couple of limitations you need to be aware of. Make sure the f/stop you have selected provides the proper flash to subject range. You cannot have the flash physically too close for the f/stop selected or you'll get incorrect exposures. Look at the distances noted on the flash's LCD to verify that you're not too close.

You need to work within the limitation of the wireless sensor. The sensor is on the right side of the flash so only flashes to the right of that will trigger the flash. I'm not sure who didn't think this through, but it can really limit your flash setup when all slaved flash units have to be left of the main flash. And this sensor can be blinded by the angle in which it is being set. You can bounce the light from the main flash into the sensor by taping a reflector to the slaved flash. It works just fine and doesn't mess up with exposure.

I truly wish what I had written in the last Journal worked all the time for everyone. That is simply not the case much to my regret! It took multiple samples of flashes and camera bodies along with a lot of shooting time to find out this is a digital shooter's only multiple flash option. If things change and I find better options or until Nikon provides us digital shooters with clean operative, effective DTTL, we'll always be wondering, what's up with this multiple flash stuff?

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