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View Full Version : My SB-600 hates me.


anco85
03-21-2009, 04:41 PM
I must be doing something wrong, because I doubt the SB-600 would fall out this easily.

I was trying to do an outdoor shoot today (SB-600 firing remotely) and anything other than standing right in front and facing it, refuses to pop.

This is useless to me as I need quite a bit of flexibility. It fires every now and then, but 90% of the time it miss-fires. I had to reschedule the shoot as I was wasting both the owner and my own time.

I don't think it's the batteries as it still recycles almost instantly. What could I be doing wrong?

When it does fire though, huge grins from both parties :D

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3432/3373737812_7b5e67eba3.jpg
XaiLo
03-21-2009, 04:53 PM
CLS outdoors without triggers can be a major pain, best you can do is make sure you have line of site with the sensor.
K1W1
03-21-2009, 04:59 PM
Did you have the body of the flash turned towards the camera?
anco85
03-21-2009, 05:07 PM
Yep. Had it turned directly facing the camera and at about 2-3 meters away, it would stop firing.

Triggers are such a pain to get. Urgh!
K1W1
03-21-2009, 05:14 PM
Were you overheating it with continuous shooting?
anco85
03-21-2009, 05:31 PM
I doubt it, when it did fire, it did so with a 100% fire rate. When I moved a little, nothing
Turo
03-21-2009, 05:50 PM
I've had trouble firing my 600 via CLS outdoors also. CLS only works properly for me indoors, not out.
Rooz
03-21-2009, 06:15 PM
I've had trouble firing my 600 via CLS outdoors also. CLS only works properly for me indoors, not out.

ditto. unless its real close, like within 1-2m outdoors then its unreliable. this is particualrly the case in bright sunlight.
Classic96
03-21-2009, 06:21 PM
I've had similar results in sunlight. CLS is nearly useless when it's bright outside for obvious reasons.

However it seems as though when I use the SG-3IR Panel (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/410445-REG/Nikon_4905_SG_3IR_IR_Panel.html) that I get better results outside regardless of distance. Maybe this helps distribute/bounce the IR signal better?
XaiLo
03-21-2009, 09:05 PM
Yep. Had it turned directly facing the camera and at about 2-3 meters away, it would stop firing.

Triggers are such a pain to get. Urgh!

Pain or no pain it's one of only two answers to solve your issue... It's either triggers or long cables which come with their own set of issues. We've been where your at... be nice if there was an easier solution, it would have saved me some dollars.
anco85
03-22-2009, 12:01 AM
Damn, that's a shame.

However, now that I think about it, it was just as shoddy in an underground parking lot. 4 or more meters, no pop.
achuang
03-22-2009, 05:51 AM
I understand the misfires at a couple metres away if the sensor isn't facing your camera. But I've been able to shoot at more than 30m using CLS as long as the sensor is facing the camera.
anco85
03-22-2009, 06:53 AM
The big red thing on the front the flash?

That was def facing the camera.

Here's a shot I took of the flash on the same shoot trying to see why it wouldn't fire. Using the 50mm, you can see how close I was and I was still miss-firing


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3537/3374777985_e508b5b22d_b.jpg
XaiLo
03-22-2009, 07:02 AM
The big red thing is AF-illuminator, the light sensor should be a small round circle on the side.
anco85
03-22-2009, 07:51 AM
Consider me a moron :D
Cyberwlf
03-22-2009, 08:13 AM
It makes the SB look quite quaint with it just sitting there by itself in the middle of the road, almost looks like it could be a character out of one of those animated 3D movies :p
anco85
03-22-2009, 08:15 AM
haha.

That was just a test shot to see why it didn't fire. The full setup looked much better :D
anco85
03-22-2009, 02:16 PM
Man I feel stupid now. Turning the actual IR sensor towards the camera, I had a much higher success rate. Even getting some semi publishable shots :D

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3605/3376073225_3eccf5a678.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3598/3373653826_e275a7e116.jpg?v=0
K1W1
03-22-2009, 03:24 PM
Man I feel stupid now. Turning the actual IR sensor towards the camera, I had a much higher success rate. Even getting some semi publishable shots :D


Gee I seem to recall asking you that exact question way back at the beginning of the thread. :):)
tim11
03-22-2009, 04:31 PM
I used 2 SB800s remote setup at a wedding reception and from some angles I kept getting misfired. I take it dued to electrical interference from amplifiers; etc. They work perfectly inside a room. Can your SB600 be interfered by some electrical current in the stree?
XaiLo
03-22-2009, 08:13 PM
Gee I seem to recall asking you that exact question way back at the beginning of the thread. :):)

There seems to be a severe case of I.do.not.read.manuals-i-tis going on :D