# Novatron?



## Reyna (Jan 18, 2011)

A photog friend of mine is loaning me her novatron lighting kit to see if I like it. She has alien bees so never uses it. She does not have the plug to sync with my camera though  and I don't want to buy anything just yet until I figure out what I want.

So, the other day, I get to it, to see how I like it. I set up white seamless paper, & put the 2 umbrellas on each side of the subject. There is one other naked light but I didn't use it. (Not to sure where to put it)

Anyway, to my issue. I was taking pictures of my husband and 2 boys. In order to have them all in focus, I used f/5.6 but in turn, this made my shutter speed extremely low! (ISO-400). I wasen't able to get a good picture b/c both boys are toddlers and were moving around. 

Then I tried f/2.5 1/60 sec. ISO-400 which gave me a lot more light but it was hard to get everyone in focus. So I used my flash and got shadows!

I was just wondering if someone could offer any advice? I have been doing some research, (I know, google is my friend) but still wanted to get some advice from y'all on here.


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## BuS_RiDeR (Jan 18, 2011)

Are these flashes/strobes  or continuous lighting?

If they are strobes, then the shutter speed is somewhat irrelevant.  The shutter sync speed on your flashes/strobes is likely 1/200 of a second or 1/250th of a second.  So set your shutter to that.

If they are continuous lights...  Make sure you are using a tripod.

On a personal note: I invested in a set of low wattage continuous lights. It was a bad investment, pretty much a waste of money. I soon after purchased a set of monolights/strobes and am now quite happy with them. If you are in the states, I would look at the Adorama Flashpoint lights.  They are relatively cheap and I have heard very good things about them.


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## Derrel (Jan 18, 2011)

Reyna, It sounds like you were using the Novatron flashes' modeling lights to shoot by...you definitely need some way to synchronize the flash units with your camera's shutter!!! I would suggest buying a synch cord, and connecting the Novatron power pack to your camera using the synch cord, and discovering the world of flash photography.


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## KmH (Jan 18, 2011)

When you use strobed light, shutter speed is used differently than how it is used for available light photography.

The duration of the strobed (flash) light stops motion, not the shutter speed. Shutter speed is used to control the ambient light exposure and the lens aperture controls the DOF and the strobed light exposure.

You can also set your camera so the strobed light fires when the shutter first opens (front curtain sync) or just before it closes (rear curtain sync). (Page 66 of your D60 users manual.).


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## Village Idiot (Jan 18, 2011)

Reyna said:


> A photog friend of mine is loaning me her novatron lighting kit to see if I like it. She has alien bees so never uses it. She does not have the plug to sync with my camera though  and I don't want to buy anything just yet until I figure out what I want.
> 
> So, the other day, I get to it, to see how I like it. I set up white seamless paper, & put the 2 umbrellas on each side of the subject. There is one other naked light but I didn't use it. (Not to sure where to put it)
> 
> ...


 
OK, stab in the dark, but you say your friend didn't have the cord to sync the lights with? I'm taking it that they're flashes and you were attempthing to take photos with just the modeling lights.

If I'm right, I'd like a gold star, a cookie, and 10¢ sent to me in small unmarked coins.

If so, I believe you need a cable with the H connector on it like this one:






The cable you need will depend on your camera. Also, optical triggers are available so you can trigger the strobes with your pop up flash. That's if they really aren't continuous that is.


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## Reyna (Jan 18, 2011)

Yes, I was using continuous lighting. 

I have not purchased anything b/c I'm not sure what lighting I want to buy. I don't want to buy a sync cord and then buy some other lighting kit that comes with it.


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## BuS_RiDeR (Jan 18, 2011)

Derrel said:


> ...It sounds like you were using the Novatron flashes' modeling lights to shoot by...



Ahhh yes...  if this is the case, then I agree. Get a sync cord or if the lights support it, a wireless trigger system, like the Pocket wizard...


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## Village Idiot (Jan 18, 2011)

KmH said:


> When you use strobed light, shutter speed is used differently than how it is used for available light photography.
> 
> The duration of the strobed (flash) light stops motion, not the shutter speed. Shutter speed is used to control the ambient light exposure and the lens aperture controls the DOF and the strobed light exposure.
> 
> You can also set your camera so the strobed light fires when the shutter first opens (front curtain sync) or just before it closes (rear curtain sync). (Page 66 of your D60 users manual.).


 
Will rear curtain sync work with a non Nikon off camera flash?


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## KmH (Jan 18, 2011)

Village Idiot said:


> KmH said:
> 
> 
> > When you use strobed light, shutter speed is used differently than how it is used for available light photography.
> ...


Yes. The trigger signal is generated by the camera.


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## BuS_RiDeR (Jan 18, 2011)

Woops disregard please


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## Reyna (Jan 18, 2011)

I just found a cord for only 9.99 at a local camera store so I will go and buy that tonight.

I'm going to be honest, this is all pretty confusing to me. Guess I will try again tonight with my sync cord, set my shutter to 1/200 and see how it works. One more question... I won't need my flash with this??


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## CCericola (Jan 18, 2011)

Of course your pictures are not turning out like you want. You have strobe lights and you are not using them correctly. They are not meant to be used the way you used them. The modeling light in them is just for that, modeling so you can see where the shadows are before you take the picture.  They are not powerful enough to light a portrait. If you want to use continous lighting then you buy continuous lights. Sinc chords are only around $20. They are not camera specific, they are light specific. The chord plugs into your PC connector. If your camera does not have one you can get a cheap PC hot shoe cube. Back in 2001 when we first started using digital we always plugged the lights in a cube on the camera's hot shoe because we were worried about the electronics in the camera getting messed up if we plugged the lights directly into the camera. ( Yeah, we were young and stupid  )


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## Derrel (Jan 18, 2011)

Oh....Reyna...one additional bit of kit you will want if using a synch cord is a way to connect a synch cord to your camera....which in the case of the Nikon D60, happens to be a camera that does not have a PC connector. Sooooooo...the easiest thing to buy is the Nikon AS-15 (accessory shoe, style 15). The AS-15 slides into the hot shoe of any camera (Canon,Nikon, Pentax, whatever) and has a thumb wheel that locks it into place, and connects to the center contact of the hot shoe, and then on the front of the AS-15, thee is a PC connector outlet.

The AS-15 is actually very useful when doing PC connection flash, like on cameras that have an idiotically-positioned PC connector location, like the Canon 5's stupidly-placed one on the left hand side of the body, under a little rubber flappy thing. it re-located the PC connector to a place where one will not constantly cause the flash to come un-hooked.


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## Village Idiot (Jan 18, 2011)

Does the D60 have a PC connector? If not, you're probably not going to find a direct connection. You may have to get a hotshoe adapter to connect the sync cable to. Makes sure it's long enough as well.


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## Village Idiot (Jan 18, 2011)

Derrel said:


> Oh....Reyna...one additional bit of kit you will want if using a synch cord is a way to connect a synch cord to your camera....which in the case of the Nikon D60, happens to be a camera that does not have a PC connector. Sooooooo...the easiest thing to buy is the Nikon AS-15 (accessory shoe, style 15). The AS-15 slides into the hot shoe of any camera (Canon,Nikon, Pentax, whatever) and has a thumb wheel that locks it into place, and connects to the center contact of the hot shoe, and then on the front of the AS-15, thee is a PC connector outlet.
> 
> The AS-15 is actually very useful when doing PC connection flash, like on camera that have an idiotically-positioned PC connector location, like the Canon 5's stupidly-placed one on the left hand side of the body, under a little rubber flappy thing.


 
Really? Like Nikon's SB 800 doesn't have their PC connector on the left hand side under a "little flappy thing".

The flash is supposed to be weather resistant.


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## Reyna (Jan 18, 2011)

Derrel said:


> Oh....Reyna...one additional bit of kit you will want if using a synch cord is a way to connect a synch cord to your camera....which in the case of the Nikon D60, happens to be a camera that does not have a PC connector. Sooooooo...the easiest thing to buy is the Nikon AS-15 (accessory shoe, style 15). The AS-15 slides into the hot shoe of any camera (Canon,Nikon, Pentax, whatever) and has a thumb wheel that locks it into place, and connects to the center contact of the hot shoe, and then on the front of the AS-15, thee is a PC connector outlet.
> 
> The AS-15 is actually very useful when doing PC connection flash, like on cameras that have an idiotically-positioned PC connector location, like the Canon 5's stupidly-placed one on the left hand side of the body, under a little rubber flappy thing. it re-located the PC connector to a place where one will not constantly cause the flash to come un-hooked.


 
Thank you for this! I would have gotten the cord and not known! The hot shoe is a little more expensive, but I obviously need this to get it right. I just have having to spend $40 on something and have to give the novatron back and never use it, ya know!


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## Derrel (Jan 18, 2011)

Well, yeah, the D60 does not have a PC connector outlet, so the Nikon AS-15 accessory shoe with PC connector outlet is a very,very handy thing to have,and it is well-made and will last for many years--which can not be said of some of the cheap imitations.

Alternately--you COULD purchase the Household-style synch cord, like the one Village Idiot illustrated, and plug that into the Novatron pack, and then on the end of that cord, attach a "slave" unit, which is a light-sensitive triggering device that responds to photographic flash unit bursts of light....and then, you could use the pop-up flash on the D60 to trigger the slave, which in turn would trip off the power pack and the connected lights.


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## Village Idiot (Jan 18, 2011)

They make H plug optical slaves. The Spedotron one here is $40. You may be able to find one cheaper. PC connectors can often times be unreliable; if you don't have to deal with them then it's worth the extra money imho.

Speedotron Optical Slave Tripper - HH Male 23510 B&H Photo Video


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## Derrel (Jan 18, 2011)

I've had that same,exact trigger that V-I is suggesting since the mid-1980's...it is WELL worth the $39 price...older Speedotron gear used the "Household" two-blade synch connector system...as did Novatron. If that type of slave fails to trigger, simply pull it out and switch which direction it is plugged into the power pack.

Interestingly, the older Novatron power packs will accept and work with Speedotron Brown Line light units--same plug-in, same trigger voltage...


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