# Nikon D90 and using a Sb-600 Speedlight...



## HonCBRf4i (Dec 27, 2010)

Hello, I was am trying to keep my D90's main flash to stop flashing when using a SB-600 as a remote light source.  I have read the manual a few times and I have the camera set to where the manual states that the main flash wont fire but still send out the trigger signal and my main flash keeps flashing.

Is there something that I am doing wrong here...help?

Jeff


----------



## Patrice (Dec 27, 2010)

The on camera flash while set in commander mode and power set to "----" will still need to send preflashes to the sb600.


----------



## cnutco (Dec 27, 2010)

Patrice said:


> The on camera flash while set in commander mode and power set to "----" will still need to send preflashes to the sb600.



Yep, he nailed it. 

Or, pick up a couple PW's!

Good luck


----------



## HonCBRf4i (Dec 27, 2010)

I'm just going by what the book said...thanks for the replies and I will look into the pocket wizards.


----------



## Garbz (Dec 28, 2010)

Note pre-flashes happen before the shutter opens. They won't be part of the photo.


----------



## KmH (Dec 28, 2010)

And the popup flash still has to send the trigger signal to the SB-600 but with the popup set to -- the power level is at it's lowest power setting so it does not contribute significant light to the scene. It will however create a pin light in a subjects eye's.

Nikon has/had an accessory that would block that little bit of light. Their USA web site isn't available right now, or I would give you the model name for the piece.


----------



## djacobox372 (Dec 29, 2010)

You will see the main flash go off, as that's how it communicates with the slave flash; however, this happens before the shutter is opened so it will not show up in our pictures.


----------



## TerribleWone (Dec 29, 2010)

Also don't forget to set the group on the 600 to same one you have set on your commander menu in the D90. If the 600 is set to group b and your D90 only has lets say group A set to manual 1/2 power it wont cause the 600 to fire since its in a different group. Lastly make sure you turn off the sleep mode on the flash as they tend to go into these at the worst of times (mainly on a low battery they go into sleep mode uber fast).


----------



## OrionsByte (Dec 29, 2010)

KmH said:


> Nikon has/had an accessory that would block that little bit of light. Their USA web site isn't available right now, or I would give you the model name for the piece.



I usually just rest my hand on top of the lens with an open palm facing the flash.  It's still enough light to set off the SB-600, but not enough to show up in the picture.

I'm using a D70 by the way, which has no option to set the commander flash level separately from the slave.


----------



## KmH (Dec 29, 2010)

Here is what I was referring to in my post. The SG-31R IR Panel for built-in flash:

SG-31R IR Panel for Built-In Flash from Nikon


----------



## kundalini (Dec 29, 2010)

KmH said:


> And the popup flash still has to send the trigger signal to the SB-600 but with the popup set to -- the power level is at it's lowest power setting so it does not contribute *significant light* to the scene. It will however create a pin light in a subjects eye's.


Operative words....  On reflective surfaces, it WILL show up as Keith mentioned.  See *this*.



OrionsByte said:


> I usually just rest my hand on top of the lens with an open palm facing the flash.


 Chances are that your hand will give off a slight color cast.  When I was using CLS, I chose a white business card or aluminum foil to bounce the pre-flash.


----------



## TerribleWone (Dec 29, 2010)

Sorry I reread your question and now I can better answer it. 

D90:
I will assume that the D90 is the same as the D80 in that the main flash can add to the picture AND act as the commander if wanted. From what I can gather you DO NOT want the built in flash adding to the picture, you only want it acting as the commander. All you would need to do is set the built in flash to commander mode and set say group B to SLS or a manual setting of some kind. You will then turn on your SB600 and set it to remote group B. Now the flash on the camera will only act as a commander to set off the SB600. When you fire off a photo the built in flash WILL fire, but only moments before the shutter actually actuates. That built in flash will fire but will not add to the photo, it will only tell the SB600 to fire and at what power in a few moments for the real photo. 

If you do want the built in flash to add it will be firing twice in the photo. Once to communicate (act as the commander) to the other flashes and then it will fire again in unison with with remotes and your shutter. This feature is not available on the D70s for example


D70s:
The built in flash can ONLY act as the commander, thus it will never add to any photo. It is just used as a means to communicate with the SB600 and SB800s that you have set to wireless.

Note:
When using the built in wireless functions with SB600 and SB800 you will be forced to deal with lag due to the operation of a commanding flash before the actual photo takes place.


----------

