Official Ask a Photographer thread!

[hey_mikey]

i guess thats just a nikon thing then, i can put a plastic shoe in any of my canon camera hotshoes with no contacts and the on camera flash still wont try to pop up cause of that leaf switch

i didnt mention the fact that he had a cold shoe mounting pc-hotshoe cause others already did, i was just pointing out the one pin is really all you need for manual flash operation

i'm a canon guy too, but i could've sworn that i was still able to manually pop the flash if i had non-active adapter in the hot shoe

nm. i just checked and it doesn't. haha. must be a nikon thing.

 

[Monk]

http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Pr...5-Sync-Terminal-Adapter-(Hot-Shoe-to-PC).html
this maybe

I still don't know that you can fire a flash off camera with the 3200...without the top flash firing? Those are things someone else will need to answer, or nikon themselves.

Well I ordered the one I just showed you, so we'll see in about 4-7 days, if it works or not. The flexTT5 is about $350 to $400 for trans & receiver, this is $25 if it works. I've even gotten the 2 shoes/+ PC cord to work as is, just doesn't stop the pop up from popping.
Where this new one has all those contacts and says it will work with my camera.... we'll see.
I was just hoping I might find someone that has done it this way with out going to a $400+ system, me being new and all.
I've dumped a bunch already at about $500 a piece for parts.

 

[hey_mikey]

that cord works for triggering a flash off-camera, but it's not very long. what exactly was your setup? did you have two of those adapters you showed at first connected together somehow? if so, that's where the problem was. you had half of the system right (one of those on the flash unit itself would work), but you need one of these on the camera:

http://www.amazon.com/Seagull-SC-2-Flash-Adapter-Socket/dp/B00281Y6FO/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1377666844&sr=8-6&keywords=hot+shoe+to+pc

along with a cord like this to connect them:

http://www.amazon.com/Impact-Sync-Cord-Male-Female/dp/B0055P5BBS/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1377666927&sr=8-9&keywords=pc+sync+cord+male+to+female

edit: stupid links to adorama didn't seem to work right.

 

[Monk]

I've bought the camera and 3 lens 2x converter for my 300m and 80m(one works with both, ya'll know that part, Just didn't want ya to think I bought two). Flash $150.......
Never been one to use the flash so I'm trying to get off camera shots, but would like to see if I'm going to get into it enough to put up another $400 for something I might hate to do.

 

[hey_mikey]

I've bought the camera and 3 lens 2x converter for my 300m and 80m(one works with both, ya'll know that part, Just didn't want ya to think I bought two). Flash $150.......
Never been one to use the flash so I'm trying to get off camera shots, but would like to see if I'm going to get into it enough to put up another $400 for something I might hate to do.

you don't need those fancy pocketwizards if all you want to do is trigger the flash. those adapters i linked to would work with the ones you currently have. it would go like this:

Hotshoe to PC adapter on camera -> PC sync cord -> PC to hotshoe adapter (that you currently have) on flash

it's a great hobby, but there is a learning curve. if you put in the time i think you'll find it very rewarding and highly addicting.

 

[Monk]

that cord works for triggering a flash off-camera, but it's not very long. what exactly was your setup? did you have two of those adapters you showed at first connected together somehow? if so, that's where the problem was. you had half of the system right (one of those on the flash unit itself would work), but you need one of these on the camera:

http://www.amazon.com/Seagull-SC-2-Flash-Adapter-Socket/dp/B00281Y6FO/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1377666844&sr=8-6&keywords=hot+shoe+to+pc

along with a cord like this to connect them:

http://www.amazon.com/Impact-Sync-Cord-Male-Female/dp/B0055P5BBS/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1377666927&sr=8-9&keywords=pc+sync+cord+male+to+female

edit: stupid links to adorama didn't seem to work right.

I have a pc cord that has 2 male fittings that plug into the 2 shoes, this cord is real long, the one I just ordered is 9 feet and as you say should work but shorter than what I wanted ???

 

[hey_mikey]

I have a pc cord that has 2 male fittings that plug into the 2 shoes, this cord is real long, the one I just ordered is 9 feet and as you say should work but shorter than what I wanted ???

this cord? it's only 3 feet long. it basically just moves the same shoe that's on your camera 3' away.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0032FR0FS...00_pe_309540_26725410_item?tag=vglnk-c2189-20

 

[Monk]

you don't need those fancy pocketwizards if all you want to do is trigger the flash. those adapters i linked to would work with the ones you currently have. it would go like this:

Hotshoe to PC adapter on camera -> PC sync cord -> PC to hotshoe adapter (that you currently have) on flash

it's a great hobby, but there is a learning curve. if you put in the time i think you'll find it very rewarding and highly addicting.

This is what I was trying to do, but I don't know which "Hot shoe" to PC adapter on camera.............. that I should get...... and it looks like the ends on the pc cord will be different....... It just gives me a headache........... I find search this stuff but don't know what correct when I find it, as I've already done when I bought these 2 shoes.
I guess what I need are all the components by name and/or link. ????

 

[Monk]

Why can't they make this with a longer cord, they should have length choices......

 

[hey_mikey]

wait, i guess i missed the part where you said

\I've even gotten the 2 shoes/+ PC cord to work as is, just doesn't stop the pop up from popping.

so you have the adapter in the camera's shoe and it triggers the external flash properly but the built-in still pops up? that shouldn't be the case

 

[hey_mikey]

i think i know what's happening. after you hook everything up, the flash fires, but not because of the cords. it's firing because the flash probably has an optical slave sensor (XIT calls it "wireless trigger sensor"). basically, since your camera doesn't see the adapter in the camera's hot shoe, it fires the built in flash. that flash from your camera triggers the optical slave on your flash and causes that to fire as well.

 

[hey_mikey]

i think all you need are these two:

hotshoe to pc adapter - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00281Y6FO/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
male to female pc cord - http://www.amazon.com/Impact-Sync-C...669486&sr=1-2&keywords=male+to+female+pc+sync

then you can use the PC to hotshoe adapters you already have on your external flash

 

[Monk]

i think i know what's happening. after you hook everything up, the flash fires, but not because of the cords. it's firing because the flash probably has an optical slave sensor (XIT calls it "wireless trigger sensor"). basically, since your camera doesn't see the adapter in the camera's hot shoe, it fires the built in flash. that flash from your camera triggers the optical slave on your flash and causes that to fire as well.

That sounds about right, I guess.

 

[Monk]

i think all you need are these two:

hotshoe to pc adapter - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00281Y6FO/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
male to female pc cord - http://www.amazon.com/Impact-Sync-Cord-Male-Female/dp/B0055P5BBS/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1377669486&sr=1-2&keywords=male to female pc sync

then you can use the PC to hotshoe adapters you already have on your external flash

OK... That looks good, thx......... I just ordered both of them.
That short one I ordered can come in handy for my Hand held times, when it won't be too far from the camera, right? I've got some light bracket that came with another order(That's cold) that attaches to my camera so it can be off centre, I guess that good for slight light changes and ppl wearing glasses or whatever.
Thx for taking time and effort to help me.......
You too @ethlar ..... Thx

 

[Monk]

And thank you as well @webby ......... For getting the ball rolling.......

 

[hey_mikey]

OK... That looks good, thx......... I just ordered both of them.
That short one I ordered can come in handy for my Hand held times, when it won't be too far from the camera, right? I've got some light bracket that came with another order(That's cold) that attaches to my camera so it can be off centre, I guess that good for slight light changes and ppl wearing glasses or whatever.
Thx for taking time and effort to help me.......
You too @ethlar ..... Thx

Yes those off camera shoe cords are perfect for using with flash brackets. Let us know how it goes when everything comes in.

 

[nat3d]

@hey_mikey quick question if you dont mind. me and a buddy want to do a shoot in our town square late at night so we cant really set up alot of camera equipment and all the test pics ive taken come out way too dark. any thoughts?

 

[hey_mikey]

night shots can be a little tricky if you're just trying to point and shoot. if all the pics are too dark, they're under exposed. either use a larger aperture (lower number f-stop), increase ISO, or increase your shutter speed. what kind of camera are you using?

 

[nat3d]

panasonic lumix dmc fz50. i got it a few years ago for a steal off my dads buddy.

 

[hey_mikey]

panasonic lumix dmc fz50. i got it a few years ago for a steal off my dads buddy.

Are you shooting in manual or auto? Most of the auto modes won't have a minimum shutter speed long enough to get good night shots. If you wanna shoot in auto, see if it has a dedicated night mode. You definitely need to have it on a tripod tho.

If it doesn't have a night mode, you need to shoot in manual.