How To Setup Nikon SB-600 Flash To Work In Commander Mode

If you want to use and control an external flash unit like SB-600, SB-800 or SB-900 through wireless media using your Nikon DSLR camera built-in flash, you have to setup a commander mode in your camera. If you have already setup commander mode, you can follow the steps below to setup your flash unit.

How to setup SB-600 as a Wireless Remote Unit?

1. On the SB-600, press the ZOOM and "-" buttons simultaneously for 2 seconds to display the Custom Settings mode. You will see OFF displayed by default.

2. Press the ZOOM or MODE button to select wireless mode ON. Now you have activated wireless remote mode.

Next step is to set the Channel and Group as per your camera settings.

3. To set the group and channel, press the ZOOM and "-" buttons simultaneously for 2 seconds. You can also alternatively press power (ON/OFF) button for one second. Default settings for Channel and Group are CH 3, Group A.

4. Press the MODE button to highlight the Channel (1, 2, 3 or 4 ) and it will display the blinking channel number.

5. Then press the "+" or "-" button to set the Channel number and press the MODE button to lock the selection and move to the Group display.

6. When you see blinking Group displaying on the screen, press the "+" or "-" button to set the Group and then press the MODE button to lock the selection.

Note - Please note that the Channel number and the Group settings should match with your camera's commander mode group and channel settings. Now you are all set to use SB-600 flash unit remotely to be controlled by your camera's built-in flash unit. But please remember to pop up the camera's built-in flash so that it can send the signal and the exposure information to the external unit, SB-600. Otherwise the setup won't work. If you want to turn remote wireless mode off after getting the job done, simply follow the last two steps.

7. Press the ZOOM and "-" buttons simultaneously for 2 seconds. Then the screen will display ON (Which we did on step 2).

8. Press the MODE button and the screen will display OFF. Which means wireless remote control is off.

If you are looking for how to configure a Nikon SB-800 and a Nikon SB-900 flash units in a wireless mode, here are the links for How to configure a SB-800 flash unit as a Master flash unit and How to setup a SB-900 flash as a Master flash unit.

July 4th Fireworks In Washington DC

Washington DC is probably one of the best place to celebrate fourth of July. July 4th celebration is an all-day event in the nation's capital, beginning with the parade along Constitution Avenue and ending with the fireworks. Fourth of July celebration is a great opportunity to shoot fireworks, specially in Washington DC. Shooting fireworks is always fun and new experience to me no matter how many times I have done it before. Usually, in the beginning of the shooting, I set my camera settings to basic for fireworks shooting and later play around with it and do new experiments. I have always learned more and more when I play around with the camera settings and adjust it beyond widely recognized industry standard settings. Last month I wrote a blog post about camera settings to capture fireworks using Nikon D90. Even though that camera setting was specifically for D90, it can be applied to any other camera. You may find different terminology for different brands of camera or menu settings will be in different places but the overall concept is same; lower ISO, 3-4 seconds of shutter speed and small aperture, f/12 for example. Other than following the basic camera settings, only way to master the firework shot is keep practicing and trying new ideas and play around with your settings.

Here are couple of shots from July 4th, last Sunday. In the first picture, you can see little smoke in the background which could have been avoided if I had closed the shutter right after the explosion but since my camera was not in the BULB mode, there was no way to close it manually other than waiting for the exposure time to be finished. But this is the part of the learning process.

In this second picture, smoke is not visible and fireworks looks crisp in pitch-black background. This time I learned from my previous mistake and changed the shutter speed from 4 seconds to 2 seconds, changed the aperture from f/12 to f/16 and snapped it right after I heard the explosion so that the shutter will be closed before the smoke is visible.

If you have any suggestions about shooting fireworks or learned new tips and tricks from your experiment, please share it with us. Happy Shooting!

MB-D80 Multi-Power Battery Pack

If you are shooting all day events using Nikon D90 or D80, MB-D80 might be your best friend. MB-D80 battery pack simulates many buttons of your Nikon D90 and D80 camera, gives you an extended battery life and provides easy, comfort and stable holding of your camera in different orientations. Specially, if you shoot portrait photographs most of the time, MB-D80 Battery Grip can make your life much easier. It will give you nice grip and provides stability for a long day shooting. MB-D80 runs on either one or two EN-EL3e batteries or six AA-size batteries. Nikon has listed AA-size alkaline, Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH), lithium and nickel-manganese as a compatible batteries for MB-D80. However, it is not compatible with non-Nikon EN-EL3e batteries.

The MB-D80 has a vertical shutter release button, main command dial (rear dial) and sub-command dial (front dial) which matches to the camera and it functions similar to the camera buttons as well. It also includes an AF-E lock button for an Autofocus exposure lock. In addition, you can also lock the shutter release button to prevent an accidental press.

Nikon D90 or D80 itself has a nice grip around the camera body but MB-D80 adds an extra grip for your camera. It is made out of very high quality materials from the Nikon products and feels solid and sturdy with the camera.

Even if there are lots of features and advantages of using it, some people are complaining about the softness of the shutter release button on MB-D80 grip. If you are used to with the camera shutter button, you may feel shutter release button on MB-D80 is little softer than real camera button and can have a chance of pressing it all the way down when you are just trying to press only halfway down for an Autofocus. But, I am sure you will be used to with it once you start using it more and more.

Nikon D90 with MB-D80 Multi-Power Battery Pack

Some people think it looks bulky on their camera and don't want to use it. But personally, I think it adds great benefits to the camera by giving an extra battery life and an emergency backup for a long day shooting until the next recharge.