Three new flashes

So I got trigger-happy. I ended up bidding and winning three eBay items this past week. I won a Nikon SB-25, a Metz 32 MZ-3, and a Canon Speedlight 199A, all of these for $110 USD + tax. In addition to my SB-800 I will have four flash guns in total! Ok, that is a little too much, but I guess this will give me more freedom to play with lights now, although I have only three remote flash RF triggers. I knew I should have bought four triggers! I wonder if I could set my SB-800 as a IR slave to my new D7000 that will arrive in a couple of weeks and then use the remote RF triggers for the other three.

You may wonder why I am buying all these equipments all of a sudden. Well, I am building a mobile home studio. I still need some umbrellas, stands, a light meter, and a back drop. More money to spend. Hey, the xmas season!

... In fact, I'm still bidding on eBay for a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens. :)

Wireless flash trigger, part II

I received the package in the post yesterday morning. It might have arrived the day before actually. In any case, I had a chance to unpack and test it out last night.

My first impression after seeing the transmitter and receivers was, el cheapo, price-wise and construction-wise. They were all plasticky and cheap to the look and feel. Everything is plastic. The base of the receivers is all plastic and feels flimsy. I wonder if I should place a $500 speedlight on it. Well, I guess it would not break that easily and the speedlight is not all that heavy. Nevertheless, it does not give much comfort knowing how flimsy it is.

The receivers require two AAA batteries to operate. Rechargeable batteries work well. I used to have many rechargeable AAA batteries. Now, I don't know where they all went. The transmitter came with a battery. I have not opened the transmitter yet to see the battery but I bet it will be fun trying to find one.

Does it work? Oh yeah, just set the flash guns on manual mode and you are all set to go. There are no TTLs of any kind, just pure manual. The receivers have just one middle contact. It's either fire or not. Really, you should have a hand-held light meter to figure out all the flash output strengths. I wonder if I'd be better off getting a fluorescent light that stays on all the time so you could meter the light with the camera.

Wireless flash trigger

So, along with a brand new Nikon D7000 that I just placed an order for a couple of days ago, I have decided to delve into lighting. I have been using the SB-800 and it has been a great tool, but it was clear from last April's Henry's photo show that lighting is everything. So, I went on eBay and am bidding on a couple of older flash guns and purchased this set of wireless flash trigger units.

Sure, Nikon does have the CLS but whenever I think of IR, I think restrictions. So, I thought let's open all possibilities and go with RF instead, hence these RF trigger units.

The wireless flash trigger units are no-name but they look awfully like the Phottix brand. I expect them to arrive in a couple of days. When I get the flash guns and either soft boxes or umbrellas, it will be fun playing with light!

D300 gone

Well, after six months, I decided it was time to upgrade, again. This time, instead of keeping the camera as I did with the D80, I sold it. I need the money to upgrade. Will it be the FX D700 or the DX D7000. Either way, it will be my backup to my D80 -- when I travel it's the D80, and when I'm shooting weddings and the like, it's the new one. :)

Hilton Falls, Ontario

If you get a chance to do some hiking, pay a visit to Hilton Falls, Halton, Ontario. The fall is small but it offers natural sounds mixed with bird songs to relax to. They have a nice hiking trail and some nice spots for shooting nature.

Still looking

I woke up this morning thinking, why am I still searching for "Nikon" on various ads websites? It seems like an addiction. I would open my notebook and search looking at the ads and see what my fingers can land on. What I realized though was that, first, I really buy anything, and yet I still keep on looking for that elusive thing! That thing was, more flash guns!

I have enough lens and camera bodies to satisfy most of my hobby needs, but I also am not impressed with portrait pictures I take. Some turned out great because of accidental lighting conditions I happened to work with, but really, I typically do not have control of the lights. So, that is what it was. I was looking for a couple more speedlights and maybe a couple of remote triggers too.

Ok, I am going to finish my sandwich and go back to take a nap. If some ideas pop up, I might go out and so some shooting!