sb800 + umbrella


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allcowsmoo

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Mar 17, 2004
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hi. im thinking of getting a white umbrella for my sb800. so how is it going to mounted on to the tripod. lets suppose the umbrella does not have a handle. and can someone tell me where to get the umbrella for a cheap price ? thanks in advance =)
 

you can get both a umbrella and a special head for it from CP. i just tried the same combination over the weekend and the results were excellent...
 

You need an umbrella mount with a hot-shoe. See link for product info at B&H:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=42160&is=REG

Does SB800 has built-in slave trigger? If not you will also have to get one, plus another flash unit mounted on the camera to trigger the SB800. If you use slave trigger mode than you will need to put SB800 in manual mode as there will not be TTL. In that case a flash meter will come in handy. Alternatively you can bracket a few test shots and use your camera's histogram to determine if the correct power setting for the flash.

Alternatively, you may also try to use auto mode on SB800, just make sure that the sensor on the flash is pointed at the subject, which means that the flash head is turned backwards towards the umbrella.

Also you can use a SC-17 type of TTL flash extensin cable to connect the flash to the camera hot shoe. That is more cumbersome and limits your camera placement, but it gives you TTL exposure control.

Finally, you may find that one light source is not good enough for a studio setup, so you will need a second umbrella aet up or at least a reflector...
 

Like the others said, just get the hotshoe flash bracket. But i enquired at Ruby and it is pretty expensive, abt $50. Not sure about the size but i think it should be rather big. What i have is given to me free but i am looking for options.

Don't get too big or too much away from the umbrella central axis, else your flash won't be centralised and difficult to "diffuse". Unless your umbrella is very big like > 36". :) I use 17mm on the SB800 for my umbrella.

Just use the SB-800/umbrella combi as what you'd do with CLS off-camera flashing. Set it to Grp 3, A and D70 in commander mode and let the system decide. Usually more than adequate.

If you are looking for a stand for it, try to get at least 8 foot too.
 

PS. The setup does not mount to your regular tripods meant for bodies, not tall enough and the base would be too big (clumsy). :) Though still mount in the same fashion with the screw.
 

I guess the umbrella is for home STUDIO? or do you use it as fill-in?
 

THanks a lot to those who haf contributed ! Larry, is the multiclamp screwed on to my tripod mount ? how much isit btw ? thanks again.

(ps : sorry for being such a pain. haha)

edited : how much is the umbrella and how big isit ?
 

nemesis32 said:
I guess the umbrella is for home STUDIO? or do you use it as fill-in?

Both.....can umbrellas for the small home studio, that's with a stand. Else just get 1 or 2 umbrellas/reflectors and some assistants to use in the field for fill in. It is very compact when folded (convenient) and very fast to setup in the field. The idea is diffusion of light, nothing more to it. It is also cheap, if you can't afford the ones being sold, any $5 white umbrella is up to task as you just saw one end. (just don't mind the loss in light intensity).

If you have a white umbrella and it is quite old, lagi better, warms up the shot and color temperature balance quite well to morning or evening sun. My 2 white umbrellas are slightly yellowish and result turns out nicely when shooting at 6-7pm. :)
 

allcowsmoo said:
THanks a lot to those who haf contributed ! Larry, is the multiclamp screwed on to my tripod mount ? how much isit btw ? thanks again.

(ps : sorry for being such a pain. haha)

edited : how much is the umbrella and how big isit ?


yah the multi-clamp is screwed onto a tripod or studio light stand. i use mine on a tripod. there's 2 sizes for the screw mount, one for standard tripods and one for lightstands. ask the CP guys to show you.

and the umbrella has different sizes @ CP. depends on your budget and the effect you want. generally for small speedlights like the SB800 i wouldn't think a very large umbrella is too useful, too much light loss. but that's AFAIK lah.
 

Some pics. For my case, I just screw the adaptor to the lightstand, there is a ballhead of sorts on my one so that you can angle here and there, the umbrella goes through the adaptor and the flash goes onto the hotshoe of the adaptor. All can be tensioned and released, see those knobs on the adaptor for your tweaking? :)

http://www.pbase.com/dh78/inbox
 

Larry said:
you can get both a umbrella and a special head for it from CP. i just tried the same combination over the weekend and the results were excellent...

Hi Larry...
How much you pay for the umbrella & special head :)
 

thanks 2100 for putting up the pix. wads the size of ur brolly ?
 

allcowsmoo said:
thanks 2100 for putting up the pix. wads the size of ur brolly ?

36 inches. I forgot to add, for a white umbrella, if you use it to bounce the light flash off the brolly and use the reflected light to light your subject, it will have a higher colour temperature. If you use it the other way round and aim the flash directly at the subject and the brolly diffuses it in between the flash and subject, the colour temperature will be slightly lower. Probably due to the light travelling past the material. Sometimes you may wish to colour balance with the ambient light, this helps a wee bit.
 

thanks everybody. and 2100, i will jus do trial and error lar. haha. den i see what type i like better. i learnt stuffs in photography thru T&E. heh. anyone noe if TK has the umbrella and the special head ? and if im there, how shd i ask them for the special head ? i cant possibly say " do you have the special head ?' haha. and btw, for portraits and maybe cluster photos of about 4, what size of the reflector shd i get ? and which type. the white one, the silver one or wad ? thanks alot man ! really appreciating it. =)
 

allcowsmoo said:
thanks everybody. and 2100, i will jus do trial and error lar. haha. den i see what type i like better. i learnt stuffs in photography thru T&E. heh. anyone noe if TK has the umbrella and the special head ? and if im there, how shd i ask them for the special head ? i cant possibly say " do you have the special head ?' haha. and btw, for portraits and maybe cluster photos of about 4, what size of the reflector shd i get ? and which type. the white one, the silver one or wad ? thanks alot man ! really appreciating it. =)

Aiyah, just go and tell them you want the adaptor which you can fit to a lightstand tripod and your regular Nikon flash (don't mix up with studio flashes). Don't have to be so technically accurate and specific, my colleague who gives me his stuff and who is a super lao jiao in photography also doesn't know what is the right name for this. :D

It seems that the silver one is more "harsh" than the white one, comparing the same size of course. But silver ones with black on the other side would have less light loss, while the white ones allow light to pass through and you can even bounce off the ceilings and walls (but a lot of light loss). To give an example, i couldn't illuminate properly my model with a white umbrella which is 3 metres away from the SB-800 while at ISO 200, 50mm or so, f8. It was an outdoor night shoot, eg free space with no assistance from wall/ceiling and no assistance from ambient. Think it was under by around 1.5 stops from the histo. Bo bian, switched to direct after that.

For family-sized portrait shots, 36" white or silver one should be ok lar. You may start with one, but later i can guarantee you will need reflectors and more lights.

I am not a pro in such stuff, so just sharing around, the fun is in the trying. :) You can read on the net for home studio setups, but it can get quite expensive with all the lights, backdrops, lightmeter, props, reflectors. Even the lighting accessories are not cheap. Depends on how far you wanna go. I am only an amateur, so i don't expect much and don't intend to spend much even if i can afford it. (it is a blackhole).

Alternatively, rent a studio or go for those you-pay model shoots. :)
 

PS. Read more about the techniques. You will need quite a fair bit of talent in this area, a talented photog can use good techniques with basic equipment and get good results. When you have the experience, you may then wish to invest more. Don't invest more first, not the opposite way. This is the good advice i have gotten from pros who are willing to share. :)
 

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