Digital camera accessories

[Bob]

Hi,

I'm thinking about getting a slave flahs. Do they work well with digital cameras (I've never used one).

bob

[Bob]

I mistyped. I meant slave FLASH, of course.    

bob

[bdery]

Hi Bob and welcome!

Slave flashes work as well with digital cameras as with film cameras. However, there are a few things to keep in mind:

1-some cameras fire a pre-flash before taking the picture, and this can fool the slave into thinking it needs to fire before it's supposed to. So it's better to choose a slave on which you can select yourself the number of pre-flashes it needs to wait for before firing.

2-your camera will not know there's a slave flash firing in sync with it, so you'll have to experiment to see how this affects the exposure. It's different for each camera, and sometimes you can lower the power of your built-in flash, which helps.

3-if you're in a place where many cameras are firing, it's possible those other flashes will fool your slave. Some slaves have a "manual set" button that tells them to fire on the next flash after you press the button. Handy.

4-Make sure your built-in camera flash reflects on something when it fires, so that the slave can see it.

5-If your camera allows for first or second curtain, be sure to use first or the slave will fire after the shutter closes.

I hope this helps you!

[Bob]

Yes, it helps alot!

I'm unclear about the forth point and hope you can explain the part about reflecting on something.

4-Make sure your built-in camera flash reflects on something when it fires, so that the slave can see it.

What do you mean so the slave flash can "see it?"

Bob

[bdery]

Sorry I wasn't clearer on this.

A slave flash is basically a standard flash with a photocell that detects when another flash fires near it. It then fires itself and the scene is lit.

But that photocell is looking forward, so what it will see is light from the built-in flash reflecting on the scene, and this will tell it to fire.

On some occasions, for instance if the scene is mostly empty, the light from the built-in flash will not reflect on anything that can be detected by the slave flash. So the slave will not fire.

Honestly, there aren't many situations when this could happen, but it's still something you have to be aware of.

[Bob]

Very helpful information. I appreciate the responses.

Bob