V1.02
Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D300
Page 636
to trigger a multiple wireless TTL set up when you
don’t
have
i-TTL flashes as remotes
153
.
For example, Nikon sells a wireless flash accessory called the
SU-4, and some Nikon flash models can emulate that wireless
function without being connected to an SU-4 (for example,
the older SB-26). The critical element of the SU-4 circuitry is
this: it triggers the flash connected to it to fire when it sees
another flash fire, and it shuts down its connected flash when
it sees the other flash stop firing. Since the D300’s internal
flash is already set to the right flash exposure via FV Lock, the
flashes connected to the SU-4’s just do the same exact thing
as they see the internal flash do during exposure.
As long as the flashes aren’t all throwing their light on the
same spot (e.g. one is used for filling light on one side of the
face while another is used for the background while the
internal flash is used for key light), this trick works well. But
even if they are all firing their light on the same spot, you can
easily control this by simply dialing down the internal flash
with flash exposure compensation—every other flash will
respond in kind, so it’s usually pretty easy to dial in the right
compensation.
Here’s the trick in more detail:
1.
Set the Custom Setting #F4 on the D300 to
FV Lock
.
2.
Set Custom Setting #E3 to
TTL
(if it isn’t already set to
that).
3.
Pop up the internal flash (press the Flash Release
button to do this).
4.
Before
turning on your remote flashes, fire off a test
exposure by pressing the
Fn
button on the camera (the
internal flash should fire). Get your main flash setting
correct before proceeding.
153
Okay, it’s not perfectly TTL, as the other flashes aren’t considered in the exposure
setting, but with a little trial and error, it effectively works like TTL.
