Setting up your Nikon

speedlight / flash to work

wirelessly

Please note that while I am using the Nikon SB-800 in this wireless CLS (Creative Lighting System) demonstration, the procedure is similar for both the SB-600 and SB-R200. SB-R200 being slightly different as there is no LCD screen, you simply choose the channel and group manually with the top switches but the D300/camera settings remain the same.

This video will walk you through how to setup your Nikon speedlight / flash to work wirelessly with your Nikon D300, D200, D80, D70(s) in commander mode. I start out using the SB-800 and I should apologize for the somewhat fuzzy media in the first half of the video as getting the camera to focus close enough whilst keeping the screen legible was a bit of a balancing act but the second half of the video is much sharper.

I’ve had a few emails asking what is the panel I am using on the top of the camera body. It is the Nikon SG-31IR panel that comes as part of the R1 or R1C1 kit. I find that it is useful to use in all circumstances where I am using the speedlight/flash wirelessly as it seems to help the reception somewhat and more importantly it helps with squinty eyes as people don’t have a pre-flash going off in their faces from the camera. It is available to purchase separately apart from the R1/R1C1 kit for about £10 or $12. One last addition, when setting up your flash or speedlight to work wirelessly with your camera is to keep in mind the sensor on the flash. The Nikon SB-600 & SB-800 both only have one sensor and it is important to keep it pointing at the commander flash, which will often require you rotating the head of the speedlight to ensure the best reception. Thanks for watching and I hope you find this video helpful when setting up your Nikon flash to work with the camera body wirelessly.