The Nikon CLS (Creative Lighting System) is a methodology that assists in the process of automagically measuring the amount of light needed, set the strobes to that power level and trigger the strobes. Of course, the system offers you the flexibility to set the levels yourself for best range of options... and all without wires between the flashes and camera.
Now this page's information is specific to the following equipment:
- 1 X Nikon D200 camera
- 1 X Nikon SB-800 speedlight
- 2 X Nikon SB-600 speedlights
- 1 X Nikon SB-800 speedlight
- 2 X Nikon SB-600 speedlights
A brief description of the settings is discussed on this page using the above equipment. In the following configurations, I will outline the process. The main methods I will explain are:
#1 - D200 built-in flash triggering 1 or 2 groups of speedlights in iTTL format
#2 - D200 built-in flash triggering 1 or 2 groups of speedlights in full manual format
#3 - SB-800 in commander mode, mounted on the D200 triggering 1, 2, 3 or 4 groups of speedlights in iTTL format
#4 - SB-800 in commander mode, mounted on the D200 triggering 1, 2, 3 or 4 groups of speedlights in in full manual format
These are the four main scenarios that I see being of greatest use to me and that is where I will focus the information on this page. In the future, becuase I will have the Gadget Infinity triggers coming soon, I will add a section specific to their configuration later on. I also may add information on how I plan to modify the trigger to increase distances between receivers/transmitters.
#1 Settings - D200 built-in flash triggering 1 or 2 groups of speedings in iTTL format:
In this configuration, we use the integrated flash of the D200 camera to trigger the off camera flashes:
On the D200, the following settings are used
- Turn camera ON
On the D200, the following settings are used
- Turn camera ON
- Hit the MENU button
- E3 Commander mode
-- Select Commander Mode
---- Built-In Mode: TTL (if you wish it to contribute to the picture, or...)
---- Built-In Mode: -- (if you do not wish it to contribute to the picture)
---- GROUP A Mode: TTL
---- GROUP B Mode: TTL
On the SB-800, the following settings are used:
- Turn the flash ON
- Press and hold the SEL button for 2 seconds
- Press the Pine Tree icon once
- Press SEL once
- Press the - (minus) button 3 times (selects the REMOTE option)
- Press the SEL once
- Press the ON/Off once
- Press SEL once to selec the Channel
- Press the + (plus button) to select the channel (I prefer CH3)
- Press the SEL button to select the GROUP (A is suggested)
- Press the + (plus button) to select the desired group
- Press the SEL once to set the group
- Press the + or - buttons to set the zoom range on the speedlight to the desired range
On the SB-600, the following settings are used:
- Turn the flash ON
On the SB-600, the following settings are used:
- Turn the flash ON
- Press and hold the ZOOM and - (minus) together for 2 seconds
- You are immediately in Wireless mod settings, press MODE to set it to ON
- Press the + to move amongst the other settings:
- Sound (off is my preference)
- Press the On/Off to return to main menu
- Press the ZOOM button multiple times until you see the setting you desire
- Press the MODE button once to activate CHANNEL selector
- Press the + or - until Channel 3 (my preference) is displayed
- Press the MODE button twice to activate GROUP selector
- Press the + (plus button) to select the desired group (B is suggested)
Final Result: The way that this will function is that when the D200 triggers the lights, Group A would be set for the off camera SB-800 and Group B is set for the two SB-600s. As a possible setup, I would place the SB-600's to the sides and the SB-800 to the center. Of course since all speedlights are set to iTTL, all will match needed circumstances for a broad area of proper exposure.
#2 Settings - D200 built-in flash triggering 1 or 2 groups of speedings in full manual (optical trigger) format, all settings controlled from the camera:
On the D200, the following settings are used:
- Turn camera ON
- Hit the MENU button
- E3 Commander mode
-- Select Commander Mode
---- Built-In Mode: M and in the power level settings, set it to anywhere between 1 and 1/128th based on needs
---- GROUP A Mode: M and in the power level settings, set it to anywhere between 1 and 1/128th based on needs
---- GROUP B Mode: M and in the power level settings, set it to anywhere between 1 and 1/128th based on needs
Final Result: The way that this will function is that when the D200 triggers the lights, Group A would be set for the off camera SB-800 and Group B is set for the two SB-600s. As a possible setup, I would place the SB-600's to the sides and the SB-800 to the center. Of course since all speedlights are set to iTTL, all will match needed circumstances for a broad area of proper exposure.
#2 Settings - D200 built-in flash triggering 1 or 2 groups of speedings in full manual (optical trigger) format, all settings controlled from the camera:
On the D200, the following settings are used:
- Turn camera ON
- Hit the MENU button
- E3 Commander mode
-- Select Commander Mode
---- Built-In Mode: M and in the power level settings, set it to anywhere between 1 and 1/128th based on needs
---- GROUP A Mode: M and in the power level settings, set it to anywhere between 1 and 1/128th based on needs
---- GROUP B Mode: M and in the power level settings, set it to anywhere between 1 and 1/128th based on needs
On the SB-800, the following settings are used:- Turn the flash ON
- Press and hold the SEL button for 2 seconds
- Press the Pine Tree icon once
- Press SEL once
- Press the - (minus) button 4 times (selects the REMOTE option)
- Press the SEL once
- Press the ON/Off once
- Press SEL once to selec the Channel
- Press the + (plus button) to select the channel (I prefer CH3)
- Press the SEL button to select the GROUP (A is suggested)
- Press the + (plus button) to select the desired group
- Press the SEL once to set the group
- Press the + or - buttons to set the zoom range on the speedlight to the desired range
On the SB-600, the following settings are used:
- Press and hold the SEL button for 2 seconds
- Press the Pine Tree icon once
- Press SEL once
- Press the - (minus) button 4 times (selects the REMOTE option)
- Press the SEL once
- Press the ON/Off once
- Press SEL once to selec the Channel
- Press the + (plus button) to select the channel (I prefer CH3)
- Press the SEL button to select the GROUP (A is suggested)
- Press the + (plus button) to select the desired group
- Press the SEL once to set the group
- Press the + or - buttons to set the zoom range on the speedlight to the desired range
On the SB-600, the following settings are used:
- Turn the flash ON
- Press and hold the ZOOM and - (minus) together for 2 seconds
- You are immediately in Wireless mod settings, press MODE to set it to ON
- Press the + to move amongst the other settings:
- Sound (off is my preference)
- Press the On/Off to return to main menu
- Press the ZOOM button multiple times until you see the setting you desire
- Press the MODE button once to activate CHANNEL selector
- Press the + or - until Channel 3 (my preference) is displayed
- Press the MODE button twice to activate GROUP selector
- Press the + (plus button) to select the desired group (B is suggested)
Final Result: The way that this will function is that when the D200 triggers the lights, Group A would be set for the off camera SB-800 and Group B is set for the two SB-600s. As a possible setup, I would place the SB-600's to the sides and the SB-800 to the center. Of course since all speedlights are set to MANUAL, a light meter or a lot of chimping will be needed to get proper exposure. You will set the output levels of each channel individually from the D200's menuing system. You may measure one channel and then the other and finally both channels together for final viewing and results.
#3 - SB-800 in commander mode, mounted on the D200 triggering 1, 2, 3 or 4 groups of speedlights in iTTL format
Not yet completed... patience please.
#4 - SB-800 in commander mode, mounted on the D200 triggering 1, 2, 3 or 4 groups of speedlights in in full manual format
Not yet completed... patience please.
Bonus Hint #1:
Caution! Any time you place the flashes in SU-4 mode, ANY flash light source will trigger that speedlight! That means if the guy beside you with the point & shoot kodak fires off a shot and his flash goes off... so do your strobes. This is not very desireable.
Bonus Hint #2:
- Press and hold the ZOOM and - (minus) together for 2 seconds
- You are immediately in Wireless mod settings, press MODE to set it to ON
- Press the + to move amongst the other settings:
- Sound (off is my preference)
- Press the On/Off to return to main menu
- Press the ZOOM button multiple times until you see the setting you desire
- Press the MODE button once to activate CHANNEL selector
- Press the + or - until Channel 3 (my preference) is displayed
- Press the MODE button twice to activate GROUP selector
- Press the + (plus button) to select the desired group (B is suggested)
Final Result: The way that this will function is that when the D200 triggers the lights, Group A would be set for the off camera SB-800 and Group B is set for the two SB-600s. As a possible setup, I would place the SB-600's to the sides and the SB-800 to the center. Of course since all speedlights are set to MANUAL, a light meter or a lot of chimping will be needed to get proper exposure. You will set the output levels of each channel individually from the D200's menuing system. You may measure one channel and then the other and finally both channels together for final viewing and results.
#3 - SB-800 in commander mode, mounted on the D200 triggering 1, 2, 3 or 4 groups of speedlights in iTTL format
Not yet completed... patience please.
#4 - SB-800 in commander mode, mounted on the D200 triggering 1, 2, 3 or 4 groups of speedlights in in full manual format
Not yet completed... patience please.
Bonus Hint #1:
Caution! Any time you place the flashes in SU-4 mode, ANY flash light source will trigger that speedlight! That means if the guy beside you with the point & shoot kodak fires off a shot and his flash goes off... so do your strobes. This is not very desireable.
Bonus Hint #2:
With the off camera strobe scenarios, there are two challenges that I encountered that reduced the effectiveness of the CLS system. The first was that in faster moving actions, the preflashes took time to occur, often, just long enough to permit us to miss the shot or event.
The solution to this was no further away than the D200's menu. We could reconfigure the D200's FUNCTION button to become the FV LOCK button. In effect, we would aim the camera in the area we wished to shoot, press the FUNC button and it would fire the CLS TTL pre-flashes and then lock in the settings. This is done by going into the menu and assigning the FV LOCK option to the FUNC button at the F4 menu to FV LOCK and select OK.
The next time you pressed the shutter (after hitting the FUNC button before hand ONCE), there was NO delay becuase there were no pre-flashes and the settings were properly calibrated and locked in for as long as the FV LOCK was in place. You can then take 100 pictures in a row with the same exposure values and NO metering pre-flashes! There was the one single preflash to trigger the off camera flashes, but that was so fast, it was NOT noticeable.
Now, there are three ways that the FV LOCK is deactivated. These are:
1 - camera is turned off
2 - the FUNC button is pressed a 2nd time
3 - the camera falls into Stand-By Mode
The second challenge came in primarily because of option #3 above... meaning that the camera was wanting to go into stand-by mode after 4 seconds of inactivity. Though this was desireable for power savings and extention of battery life, every time that the camera went into stand-by mode, it lost the FV LOCK settings/values. This is a pain if you are in a fixed location and require settings to remain stable with lulls in the action that exceed 4 seconds.
Again, the answer was no further away than a D200 menu change. By going to C3 AUTO METER OFF and setting it to UNLIMITED, your camera doesn't fall into Stand-By Mode and therefore retains the FV LOCK settings as long as you need them. Should you wish to go into a battery savings mode, simply turn off the camera, and if there is a hot shoe installed speedlight on the camera, it automatically falls into a stand-by mode conserving it's batteries as well.
Bonus Hint #3
You can GLOBALLY raise and lower the power levels of all the strobes using the Exposure Compensation settings on the D200. Even if the setup is iTTL CLS wireless mode or all manual mode and there are different power level settings applied to each group.
Next: No CLS, no wireless iTTL, but wireless none the less...
The Gadget Infinity triggers and receivers !
The solution to this was no further away than the D200's menu. We could reconfigure the D200's FUNCTION button to become the FV LOCK button. In effect, we would aim the camera in the area we wished to shoot, press the FUNC button and it would fire the CLS TTL pre-flashes and then lock in the settings. This is done by going into the menu and assigning the FV LOCK option to the FUNC button at the F4 menu to FV LOCK and select OK.
The next time you pressed the shutter (after hitting the FUNC button before hand ONCE), there was NO delay becuase there were no pre-flashes and the settings were properly calibrated and locked in for as long as the FV LOCK was in place. You can then take 100 pictures in a row with the same exposure values and NO metering pre-flashes! There was the one single preflash to trigger the off camera flashes, but that was so fast, it was NOT noticeable.
Now, there are three ways that the FV LOCK is deactivated. These are:
1 - camera is turned off
2 - the FUNC button is pressed a 2nd time
3 - the camera falls into Stand-By Mode
The second challenge came in primarily because of option #3 above... meaning that the camera was wanting to go into stand-by mode after 4 seconds of inactivity. Though this was desireable for power savings and extention of battery life, every time that the camera went into stand-by mode, it lost the FV LOCK settings/values. This is a pain if you are in a fixed location and require settings to remain stable with lulls in the action that exceed 4 seconds.
Again, the answer was no further away than a D200 menu change. By going to C3 AUTO METER OFF and setting it to UNLIMITED, your camera doesn't fall into Stand-By Mode and therefore retains the FV LOCK settings as long as you need them. Should you wish to go into a battery savings mode, simply turn off the camera, and if there is a hot shoe installed speedlight on the camera, it automatically falls into a stand-by mode conserving it's batteries as well.
Bonus Hint #3
You can GLOBALLY raise and lower the power levels of all the strobes using the Exposure Compensation settings on the D200. Even if the setup is iTTL CLS wireless mode or all manual mode and there are different power level settings applied to each group.
Next: No CLS, no wireless iTTL, but wireless none the less...
The Gadget Infinity triggers and receivers !
