Review: Sonia Optical Slave

As I mentioned last week, I love my Nikon SB-20s but I could not get them to reliably sync with my cheap Chinese optical trigger from eBay. So I went ahead and bought an alternate optical slave trigger from an Indian company named Sonia and put it through its paces this week.

My one-sentence review:

The Sonia slave syncs great with the SB-20, but it's still an inexpensive optical trigger and has limitations.

Hardware and Build Quality:

Most eBay Sonia slaves have a female PC-sync and are packaged as a pair with a hot shoe -- at least, that was what I purchased. Sonia slaves are available individually with other connection mechanisms (FlashZebra has a range with male PC, female PC, microphone jacks). While I'd love if they'd packaged the male PC-sync slave (so I could slap it directly on an SB-20 if I desired) I expect it was probably a safety-type issue to make sure the multiple-sync capability worked.

Yes, I said multiple sync. But more on that later.

I went with the hot shoe option because the price was about the same as the peanut alone and I need a 1/4" screw mount to fit my flashes to my tripod/light stand/monopod. For the record, I paid $12.95 + $2.01 shipping, which is relatively cheap for a slave + hot-shoe mount, but still the cost of half an SB20.

Actually, maybe I should refer to everything in terms of SB-20s now... I get paid about one SB-20 an hour at my job and my rent is a little under 100 SB-20s a month! Yes, I know my hourly rate is too low compared to my rent -- I live in the bay area after all! Anyway, back on topic...

First, the slave itself.

There really isn't much to it -- a few components soldered together and epoxied into one solid little package about the size of my thumbprint. By inspection, it looks like a few resisters, a cap, a transistor, and a phototransistor at the business end. My phototransistor isn't centered very well which may be influencing my sensitivity (or maybe that's by design). The female PC connection is solid and unlikely to break (good thing too -- I could never fix it if it did). I'd have no qualms about letting these little guys float around in a gear bag -- they'd never break. FYI, all pictures are clickable if you want to see the units larger.

The hot shoe is definitely a big step up from the Chinese optical triggers. Instead of plastic, the entire unit is made from metal. I suspect it is machined because I see no obvious mold marks, which is remarkable for such an inexpensive unit. It really is a tank and you'll break your hot shoe before you break the foot of this thing. The back is marked with "Sonia, multi-terminal slavettach solid state" in retro RCA fonts. Somebody in India likes their antique radios. And you gotta love the solid state to let us know they didn't cram any vacuum tubes inside!

The most important part of any hot shoe is the connections, and there's no disappointment here. The peanut attaches to the shoe very securely. All three PC connections (two female, one male) are a step above what you usually get in a cheap unit. I don't foresee anything breaking in the future. And the hotshoe on the top is simply a tank. Overall, the whole thing is the most solid accessory I've seen. As you'd expect, it has some mass to it, but it's small enough that it doesn't really matter.

Funny thing actually -- the other day I found that the back of my Chinese optical slave had fallen off. Apparently it had gotten hot enough in the garage to make the adhesive fail and the back just popped off on its own -- luckily it wasn't structural and I snapped it back on easily.


Functionality:

Of course, what really counts is how an optical slave trigger works. And in that respect, I can't tell it apart from my Chinese optical slave other than the fact it works with a Nikon SB20. That's not necessarily a good thing.

Indoors, it works pretty well as long as there is a direct line of sight from another flash to the eye, or at least a line of sight from a bright reflection (like white paper) to the eye. The only time I've had trouble getting sync was when the trigger was in shadow, as you'd expect. Once you get things set up, the triggers work as their supposed to near 100% of the time.

Outside, though, it is a whole different story. In deep shade with the source flash on high, close, and directly illuminating the trigger you may have a chance. In the sun, or near sunlight, the Sonia unit will just not trigger. When I was shooting the bees I tried a lot of different approaches (including shading the sensor) and nothing worked. So with cheap triggers, the verdict is still OUTDOORS = BAD, INDOORS = GOOD.

I should also mention that there are reports of the Sonia slaves not working with the Canon 580 EX II. I believe I read something somewhere about a mod to the Chinese slaves to make them work on the 580 EX, but it isn't really possible on a Sonia since everything is encased in epoxy. Anyway, you've been warned.


Multiple Sync:

If the solid build of the hot shoe unit wasn't enough to motivate you to pay the extra few bucks for it, they've also added a multiple-sync capability with 'built-in diodes'. What this means is, if you attach the peanut slave to the male sync socket, you can attach a flash to a hot shoe and two other flashes to the female PC sockets on the sides with PC cables. And yes, everything will trigger at the same time!

It turns out I have PC cables for my Sunpak 383 and another hot shoe around the house (I had totally forgotten about them), so I verified multi-sync capability with all three flashes. Of course, I couldn't get a picture because my 20D refused to omit the preflash.

So, the image at left only shows two flashes going off. But I was seeing all three go when I fired my 20D.

I love the idea of using this little baby to triple the power of the flash (or cut the recovery time). Sadly, the best place to use that feature would be outdoors, where the trigger refuses to even go. But, I may try adapting a radio trigger to female PC-sync to make a super-powerful three-flash rig.

While multi-flash capability isn't really a killer app inside, I'd rather have the capability than not. And if I had a longer PC-sync cable, it'd let me add even more to a studio rig.



Conclusions:

If you use SB-20s or might buys some in the future, you need to buy this optical trigger, period. Chinese triggers just don't cut it with those units.

If you don't use SB-20s, I still might recommend the Sonia triggers because of their superior build quality and multi-sync capability. I'm not sure I'd pay double for Sonia triggers, but a few bucks is definitely worth it.

If I get another flash, I'll likely pick up another Sonia trigger and/or another wireless trigger. Either way, I'm definitely not buying any more of the cheap Chinese triggers.

If you're curious, here are the current Sonia trigger listings on eBay. eBay seems to have the best prices for the triggers, but that could change -- make sure you look around!






Note: I recently posted an update about some problems I've been having with the trigger.

Some SB-20 Sync Problems

I set up a little studio in my garage (details forthcoming) and in doing so I learned a few more things about the SB-20 that I'd like to share. Namely, it is a little quirky when it comes to syncing, and I think I've finally figured out some of the problems.


The Multiple Trigger Problem:

First, I've known for a while that if an SB-20 gets triggered twice in a row (rapidly) it seems to dump all the capacitor charge into the tube on the second trigger. In other words, if you have it set to 1/4 power and hit the button twice very quickly, the first flash will be 1/4 power and the second will be whatever is left (3/4 power).

In practice, this is less of a problem than it sounds, because even when my 20D is at full speed (5 fps) it isn't fast enough to cause a problem. But I noticed the effect a lot when I had a crappy connection between the SB-20 and my eBay wireless trigger. To solve the problem I rewired the connection (clipping the end of the trigger and attaching a separate 1/8" plug) and it has been very reliable ever since.

In other words, don't worry about it, but understand that a poor connection or rapid cycle time can cause the SB-20 to become inconsistent.


The Chinese Optical Slave Problem:

This second problem is a bit more serious and I had to find alternate hardware to get around it.

Apparently, the cheap Chinese optical slave triggers (seen in the picture above) lock the SB-20 up after each fire. The slave will fire the SB-20 the first time, but then it won't respond. Removing the slave from the flash will reset it as will pushing the test button on the back of the SB-20. Actually, the first time you push the test button on the SB-20 there isn't a flash, but then afterward, since it has reset, it will flash each time you push it.

Once I figured this out, using all three lights (I only have two radio triggers) meant firing a single shot, manually pushing the test button on the SB-20, shooting again, etc. In other words, it very much interrupted my flow.

FYI, I verified the problem on both SB-20s yet my eBay trigger works fine with both of them. So it is definitely some sort of incompatibility between the SB-20 and this specific model of optical slave. Sadly, this unit (a boxy little guy with a hemispherical clear window and a PC connection) is the primary optical slave available at the low end of the market.

But, there's another slave out there made by Sonia, an Indian company. So I ordered one of them (including a hot-shoe mount with two extra PC connections) and I really hope it won't cause the same problems on my SB-20s. If it works, I'll probably get one or two more to have the option.

If you are interested, the current eBay listings for optical slaves are below. The sonia slaves have a clear epoxy package with some sort of color to them (from the circuit board inside). The Chinese slaves are the boxy ones. I'll review the Sonia slave once I receive it!

Auto Mode Review: Sunpak 383 vs Nikon SB-20

If you are poor like me and can't afford the newest (newer) flashes ($200+ for a 430EX) you have to make due with less expensive or older flashes. In my case, I went with the Sunpak Auto 383 Super (review) and multiple Nikon SB-20s (review). While I was able to save 50-70% of the price of a 430EX on each, I had to give up some features.

These older flashes do not support the newest flash balancing algorithms like E-TTL II (for Canon -- Nikon has an equivalent). E-TTL II is pretty neat because it meters the flash through the lens, exposing based on what the camera sees, and also takes into consideration the focal distance of the lens (full description here at Bob Atkins' site). Of course, neither my SB-20 nor my 383 supports TTL (through the lens metering) of any sort with my 20D. Instead, I must either balance the flashes using manual controls (awfully slow and fiddly) or use the auto mode.

The auto mode is an automatic metering mode based entirely on the flash. First, the user sets the flash to auto and the camera aperture to the value specified for the given auto mode (often, flashes have a few options for auto mode for different apertures). As the flash fires a photocell on the flash records how much light is reflected back from the subject, and when a predetermined amount of light is recorded, the flash is quenched (shut off). Essentially, this lets the user get automatic exposure without any communication between the flash and the camera.

Both the 383 and SB20 support auto mode. The 383 has a photocell just above the hot shoe (the green circle on the left of the image):
And the SB-20 has a photocell in the lower right of the large red window on the front of the flash:
Auto mode is very easy to implement because it is directly on the flash but has a few limitations because there is no camera-flash communication during the exposure. First, since the photocell can't see exactly what the camera sees through the lens, the results will be inaccurate for very wide or very telephoto lenses. Also, since the photocell is at a different level than the lens, it could be occluded by objects or not aimed at the same place when in close. Finally, since the photocell measures all the light coming in, you'll get a bad exposure if something bright is closer to the camera than your subject.

That said, if you just want to get some snapshots and don't want to worry about balancing the flash in manual mode, auto mode is very useful. Put another way, auto mode lets the flash automatically adjust for distance -- in manual mode, every time you move closer or farther away from the subject, you'd need to adjust the exposure. For kids, that kind of constant adjustment isn't possible!

When I got my Sunpak 383, I quickly realized the auto mode wasn't very good. I just couldn't seem to get a good exposure! After that, I kind of abandoned auto mode until the other day when I thought I'd try an SB-20 in auto mode and did a little comparison. Turns out my 383 just has a crappy auto mode (not sure if I can generalize it to all 383s though -- does anyone else have a 383 that works well?).

To start out, I tried my SB-20 in auto mode by switching the main switch to A, set the ISO 100 with the slider at left, and set the desired f-stop using the slider at right (F/8 in this case -- note the yellow indicator). This means I should be able to set my camera to F/8 and get good exposure no matter what my distance to the subject is. The back of the SB-20 looked like this:

So, I fired off the following shot of the stuff sitting on top of my television (all of these shots are pretty much straight from the camera):

SB-20 (auto f/8) @ 17mm, f/8

Chimping the result, I thought it looked a little hot, so I dialed it down one stop, and got:

SB-20 (auto f/8) @ 17mm, f/11

Then, stepping back and zooming in to test if the auto mode was working, I got:

SB-20 (auto f/8) @ 50mm, f/11

So, by the looks of it, the auto mode on the SB-20 works very well. And, in hindsight, I really didn't need to stop down below the SB-20's settings -- it was very close to good exposure and the stopped down version is a little too dark. Since I usually underexpose flash shots a little bit (you can always increase exposure from the RAW file, but if you blow whites out, you can't get that detail back), I'll probably stop down 1/3 of a stop compared to the flash setting, but it really seems like the SB-20's auto mode is right on.

Now, on to the Sunpak Auto 383 Super. Auto settings on the Sunpak are a bit more confusing. First, I set the left-hand slider switch to the red A setting and the top slider to ISO 100. In the F/stop window, f/5.6 shows up (actually, more like f/6.3) which is what I should set my camera to. Also, I set the bottom slider to full (A) -- my understanding is that the auto only works when the slider is set to full (disclosure: I faked the f/stop value because it was in shadow, but that's how it looks!).

Note that the 383 has three auto settings, but as far as I can tell, it is only a mechanical calculator. Going from red to yellow doubles the distance and opens up two stops (consistent with the inverse square law: doubling the distance should require four times as much light).

So, given these settings, I set my camera to f/6.3 and took a shot under the same conditions as above, and got:

SB-20 (auto f/6.3) @ 17mm, f/6.3

Obviously, way too bright and I completely lost all the highlights on the fan. So, after some playing, I settled on f/11 as a similar exposure to the SB-20 (yes, that's 1 2/3 stops down!):

SB-20 (auto f/6.3) @ 17mm, f/11

SB-20 (auto f/6.3) @ 50mm, f/11

So, obviously, the SB-383 works, but it needs to be stopped way down. Consistency (in this tiny test) seems to be good across images, but it disturbs me that the Sunpak runs about 2 stops too hot.

Another thing that worries me about the Sunpak's auto mode is the photocell is very, very narrow (less than a millimeter in diameter, about three millimeters deep). I wonder if it gets very good coverage of a wide angle lens. Even more problematic is the height of the photocell on the 383 -- with a hood on a lens (or even a relatively large lens) the cell will be occluded for at least part of the range. I feel like the SB-20 has a much better design.

My conclusions? I like the SB-20 auto mode a lot better, and it just reinforces that if you are on a really tight budget and need a flash, start with an SB-20! For just $30 you get a flash with zoom, bounce, manual mode, and auto modes. The only thing the Sunpak has that SB-20 doesn't is a rectangular head (useful for putting modifiers on it), a little more power (GN120 vs GN100), and a swivel head (so you can bounce of the ceiling in a portrait orientation. While each of those is significant, paying three times as much tempers the advantages. There's a reason I have three SB-20s and may buy up one or two more...

Anyway, if you'd like to get an SB-20, check eBay. Prices seem to be pretty stable at $30 (including shipping) but there are often even better deals if you look hard enough. Here's the current listings if you are curious:

Neutering a Nikon SB-20

As I've said many times, I think the Nikon SB-20 is the best used flash deal out there. How else can you get a reliable, powerful shoe-mount flash with manual and auto modes for $30?

In my SB-20 review I mentioned that I neutered my first SB20 to allow me to use it on my Canon camera. This post is a picture-heavy walk through of how I executed this (really easy) modification on my second flash. It doesn't damage the unit at all and allows you to safely mount it in any hotshoe without worries of malfunction or damage.

To start, here's my victim... ahem... my SB-20:

Note the four pins on the bottom of the foot (hotfoot?) shown in more detail here:
The center pin is the standard flash trigger which any hot shoe short to the base connection to cause the flash to fire. The outside pins are for TTL control and other fancy camera functions with acronyms. Since I have a Canon, and the SB-20 TTL only works with Nikon film cameras, those outside pins aren't needed and I'll be disabling them. If I left them in, the flash may malfunction or cause damage if mounted on a non-Nikon camera.

For the record, I don't know if any damage would result for sure (actually, I doubt it), but I like to play it safe with these things. The good news is the pins are easy to remove and replace, so it'd be easy to add the pins back if I sold it again.

Standard Disclaimer: Shoe-mount flashes contain high voltage capacitors which maintain their charge for a long period of time (possibly days). If you've used the flash in the past few days, dump the charge by triggering a full-manual flash and immediately turning off the unit before it recharges. That said, you should be nowhere near the capacitor for this mod and it is about as safe (and easy) as they get.

The first step is to remove the bottom plate by unscrewing the four attachment screws (visible in the picture above):
Use a small Phillips-head screwdriver for this task to avoid damaging the screws. Yes, I know I'm using a flat head screwdriver -- do as I say, not as I do.

Once done, the bottom plate should easily tilt off as shown:

Carefully pull the plate out to expose the wiring harness:

And gently disconnect the white connector (it is pretty tight, so you might need to wiggle it to get it to slide out):
Now, see those three screws in the image above on the circuit board? Unscrew them and set them aside. Note those screws are a little longer than the four that hold the base on -- don't get them confused!

Removing those three screws will allow the foot to pop off (don't try to pull the circuit board out -- the springs get in the way!) exposing the pins floating on springs:

Remove the three outside pins from their springs. The end of the pin fits into the spring by friction, so pull gently and give them a twist and they should come off pretty easily. The result is this:

Here's more detail, with the unmounted pins sitting to the side:

And really, that's it. All you need to do now is reassemble it in the reverse order. You'll want to stow the pins in a safe place. I just wrapped mine in a non-conducting package and jammed them in a space near the back circuit board (see white packaged near the bottom of the unit below):

When completed, the foot looks like this:

And the modified Nikon SB-20 works on any camera and in any hot shoe you'd like to use!

Microstock: Update and Random Comments

Some my recent activities relating to MicroStock and ideas floating around in my grey matter:

• Approx 68 hours left until my first image is reviewed.
• The search function at Dreamstime is working for me again, and the word of the day is intimidating. Yes, I knew Dreamstime has a few million photos (currently 3,668,371 from 44,500 photographers) but until I actually started searching and see the competition, I didn't really comprehend what that means. To put it narrowly, a search for snowy egret yields 235 images. Some are worse than my image, but many are better; think about it -- how can you compete with over 200 other images?
• I'm not too convinced my egret image will be accepted... See above point.
• I received $5 in my account for linking Dreamstime. That was pretty easy money.
• Yesterday I spent over 10 hours tutoring and driving between sessions... on Labor Day. How'd most people's day off get to be my busiest day in over six months? But I made way more than I will make in microstock in the forseeable future.
  
• I've started searching through my archives for stock-worthy images. I've chosen out maybe 100 images so far (about half-way done) of which maybe 20-30 will be submitted. I'm really liking Bibble Pro for the job though -- tagging can be done within the program so I can save a lot of time (hypothetically, we'll see when I start uploading). The goal is to upload a bunch to Dreamstime, then the ones that succeed will be part of the pool I draw from to go through the multi-image application at other sites.
• I just bought a second SB-20 on eBay today for $25 (inc. shipping). It's no secret I think the SB-20 is the best used flash deal out there (see my review)!
• The motivation for the SB-20 was to allow me to try out Zach's white seamless tutorials... which has really inspired me and I think I can pull it off in my garage with not much trouble. But I need that second background light!

That's it for now!

A Canon Starter Bag

Well, looks like I'll be updating the blog weekly...

One thing caught my eye as I was skimming through Strobist (between the move and the trip, I am about a month behind on reading Strobist and other photography blogs -- I really need to add them to my Bloglines feed).

In a recent post Hobby described his ideal 'starter' bag for an aspiring photographer on a budget and I was surprised how similar his views were to mine. Of course, he went with Nikon, but the Canon equivalents are pretty much what I bought. Of course, I'm starting to wonder if I have too much gear because I've been shooting so infrequently lately.

From the sound of it, the D70s is somewhere between the Rebel XT and 20D, making it pretty much perfect for new photographer. I'd recommend a used 20D for someone getting started, but an XT (350D) will do just fine too. Just make sure you get a warranty on a refurbished camera, IMHO. Although, I'm super jealous of the crazy-fast sync speed of the D70s. If I started over with new gear, I'd probably go with Nikon.

The Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8 is a great lens. Enough said.

Light stand, umbrella adapter, and shoot through umbrella. Again, pretty necessary, I agree totally that these should be early purchases. And they don't have to be expensive to work.

The only item I disagree with is the Nikon SB-800. At $300+, I feel like you could get a Sunpak 383/Vivitar 285/Nikon SB-24 plus an eBay trigger for a third of the price, and then you'd have extra money to get a few more important extras, like batteries, CF cards, etc. Or heck, you could get 2-3 flashes for the same cost and they'd all sync. Yeah, the eBay triggers aren't perfectly reliable, but they are good enough to start with. And saving $200 (a little less than 20%) is a big deal.

Other than that though, it was uncanny how Mr. Strobist picked out a starter bag pretty much exactly like what I bought over the past year. Listen to his advice, you can't go wrong.

Anatomy of a Photo: eBay Photos III

[This is the third entry in a series of simple eBay shoots. I recommend reading the first and second before you read this entry. And as usual, I should to reference the source: Strobist's DIY Macro studio.]

With my recent Canon EF 70-200mm F/4 USM purchase, it is time to unload my Tamron AF 70-300mm F/4-5.6 LD Macro on eBay to clear space and more importantly, scrouge money for future purchases. And part of any eBay post is the pictures.

I shot the pictures on Sunday, and at the time, I didn't want to drag out the beat-up box I've been using for my eBay shoots. I wanted to put the Tamron and Canon side by side for the review, so I needed a little more room than I can get in that little box. And I didn't really want to take a lot of time to adapt another box that day.

Then I got to thinking about the Cooler Method (sticking the item in a cooler in the shade outside) but my cooler is pretty dirty. And I don't know where it is. So I was looking around the house for something else that would suit my purposes (large, white, boxy) when I saw the laundry hamper my wife had left by the washer. Perfect!

In case you don't know what I'm talking about, a laundry hamper is a large, tall basket similar to a garbage can with holes on one or more sides so damp cloths don't get moldy. Actually, a white kitchen garbage can would probably work even better than a laundry hamper, but my garbage can is off-white and happens to have garbage in it. Yuck!

My big criticism of the cooler method is that you can never bring the background up to full white and make the object look like it is floating on the page. You can with the box method, but you need to cut out the back of the box or aim a light at the background. A big advantage of the laundry hamper is the semi-transparency of the bottom which you can easily raise to full white by positioning a light behind it.

So here's the set up (see left, click to embiggen). I used my wife's sneakers as light stands (again, thanks for the idea, Stobist). I would have used mine, but I have stinky feet. You can see in the picture my trusty eBay radio triggers, a kleenex box to raise one of my sneaker/light stands, and my sweatshirt keeping the hamper from rolling off the table.

My SB-20 aimed at the bottom to make it white (see right for a view with only the background light on). It was zoomed all the way out and didn't need to be high at all, maybe 1/16 or 1/8 power (I never write that stuff down).

On the left side of the picture, you can see a piece of white cardboard I used as fill for the left side, and arranged my Sunpak 383 on camera right to go through the holes and hit the top of the hamper, in front of the lens. The Sunpak was also set pretty low, I believe 1/8 to 1/4 power. No gels were used on either lens.

That's it, not much too it. The raw image (converted from RAW) is at left -- note the holes that I needed to clone out for the image at the start of the entry. Not a big deal, and it might be possible to reduce the trouble further by using a garbage can or covering the holes with paper. To get the background white, there is a lot less dodging and curves required. In my images, I may have gotten the background too bright because I think there is a bit of blooming (light spill across adjacent pixels in the sensor) along the edges of the lens. That also may be reflection though. Either way, I found I needed to edit these images less than with the box method.

There are some drawbacks to the method, but finding the right hamper (or garbage can) would alleviate a lot of them:

• The bottom of most cans are ribbed, making it difficult to bring them to a consistent full white without causing blooming on the edges of the object you are photographing.
• The sides aren't flat, allowing it to roll off the table if you don't prop it (hence the sweatshirt).
• Hampers aren't very wide -- in a perfect world, I'd like it to be at least 2 ft x 2 ft.
  
• The holes in the sides are useful to let light in, but prevent light from bouncing. A white fill card will help, but you might have to clone the edges of the card or holes if you do a wide shot.
• It can take some fiddling to get the light right, but that's true with almost any setup.
  

If you're looking for a quick set-up, grab your hamper (just warn your significant other first). And the translucent plastic offers many advantages compared to a box or cooler.

Review: Nikon SB-20

My original plan was to do a Sunpak 383 vs Nikon SB-20 comparison article, but the two flashes really are in separate price brackets. While I will compare the SB-20 to the Sunpak 383 in this review, it is primarily about the SB-20. So before I get into the SB-20, lets give an overview of the Sunpak 383 and the options for cheap off-camera capable flashes in general.


Popular Shoe-Mount Flashes for Off-Camera Use

The standard for low cost off-camera flash (learn to light at Strobist!) are the used SB-24 ($70+ including S/H on eBay) or the used SB-26 ($90+ including S/H on eBay). Many have written about these, so I won't spend any time on them (especially since I've never even touched one).

But, if you want to get a new flash with manual capabilities and not spend a lot, the Sunpak 383 ($80 including shipping on Amazon) and Vivitar 285HV ($95 including shipping on Amazon) are your main options. All of these have a safe sync voltage for modern digital cameras (including the Canon 350D/Digital Rebel XT. Please note theVivitar 285 (non-HV) does not have a safe sync voltage, so don't buy a used 285 and then get mad at me that it fried your camera!

If you have $80+ to spend and some time, get an SB-24 or SB-26 on eBay. It might take a while to find a good deal on a flash in good condition, but it is an excellent way to start.

If you have $80-$90 to spend on your first flash and you want a new one (or don't want to struggle with auctions), I say get the Sunpak 383. The Vivitar 285HV is a really close second, but the swivel option on the Sunpak 383 is worth it. The swivel option gives you a lot more flexibility with stand placement, allows ceiling bounce in portrait orientation (or wall bounce in landscape), and the ability to turn the sensor to face the subject when using an umbrella.

Both the 383 and 285HV are powerful, reliable, and can take a sync cable for off-camera flash. Be warned that the Sunpak has a proprietary sync connector (an extended 2.5mm phono jack), but I've found the standard length plugs from RadioShack work if you use a rubber band to hold the plug in. The 383 also lacks a zoom function, but I don't find that to be a big problem since any time I really want to control light spill I use a snoot.

Both flashes also work in auto mode: a photocell measures the reflected light from the subject and quenches the flash when a threshold is reached based on the aperture of the camera. This allows the flash to automatically compensate for a varying distance without depending on special circuitry in the camera. Both also have manual controls (switches) and no LCD screen, but sometimes I wonder if that is a problem or an advantage.



The Nikon SB-20

The Nikon SB-20 was originally designed as an autofocus flash for the F501 and the last Nikon flash which included manual settings but did not include an LCD screen. SB-20s are also very common on the used market now as people sell off their father's and grandfather's equipment. In my opinion, the SB-20 is now the best flash value on the used market. I got mine for $10.99 total because the guy didn't realize that corroded battery connectors prevented it from powering up. And I can even get a new battery door for $8 on eBay!

Look at what the Nikon SB-20 includes for the low, low price of $30 (including S/H) on eBay:

Nikon Quality: This unit actually feels a bit more solid than my Sunpak 383. Not that the 383 isn't solid, but the little things like the switches on the SB20 feel just a bit better. You know, even though the flash design is twenty years old, it still works like a champ. Overall, it is also a more compact flash than most and you won't worry about snapping the flash head off.

Manual and Auto Modes: The SB-20 includes both manual, auto, and TTL flash modes. Of course, TTL only works on older Nikon film cameras, but the manual and auto modes work fine on any brand of camera. In the manual mode, the flash will just pump out the desired power (from 1/16 to FULL). In auto mode, the photocell on the front of the flash will quench the tube when it detects enough light has hit the subject (exactly like the 383 or 285HV).

The SB-20 also has an infrared auto-focus assist light (behind the red transparent faceplate). So far, I haven't figured out a way to enable it (I'd love to stick a switch on somewhere) without taking the flash apart and risking damage.

Can Be Used on Any Camera: Wait, you may ask, aren't SB-20s Nikon-dedicated? Yes, but you can easily take out the Nikon dedicated pins and turn it into a generic flash just like the Sunpak 383 or Vivitar 285HV. See right for the finished product (I didn't have the right screwdriver so I couldn't take it apart again to show the inside).

First, unscrew the four phillips head screws holding the bottom plate and hotshoe on. Pull the plate off, being careful to not tug on the connecting wires too much. Remove the screw(s) that hold the hot shoe circuit board to the hot shoe and pull out all the pins but the center one (if I remember correctly, the springs stay in place on the board). Put it back together, and stash the extra pins somewhere safe. I just wrapped my pins up in a plastic bag and stuffed them inside a cavity inside the SB-20 so I wouldn't lose them.

After taking out the signal pins, the SB-20 works just like an undedicated flash and I've successfully mounted it on my Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D). It actually makes a pretty darn good on-camera flash with the tilt, zoom, and auto settings. And, since the mod above isn't a permanent change, you could always put it back together in the future to resell it.

Tilt and Zoom: The real oddity about this flash is its zoom and tilt capability using a single rotating reflector around the flash tube. The tilt is adjusted with a dial on the side of the flash (shown at right) and it includes a -7 degree setting (which is very useful for close up shots and lacking on the Sunpak 383). The zoom is adjusted by rotating the outside diffuser cylinder (in the picture at right, turn the textured black wheel on the right of the image). The pattern molded into the plastic controls the spread of the light. The current zoom is also indicated through a clear window on the tilt adjust dial (upper left in the picture). For auto modes, I think you also need to flip the zoom switch on the back of the unit to get it to calculate distance correctly.

The nice part about this system is the entire tilt-zoom assembly is compact and relatively durable since it doesn't stick out. The down-side of using a rotating cylinder to control the zoom is a small amount of light leakage around the sides of the diffuser, making it a bit harder to control where the light falls. But that is easily addressed with some cardboard and tape!

PC and Power Connection: Like any good off-camera speedlight, the SB20 includes a standard PC connection and an external power connection (shown at right). I haven't actually used either (I use a hot shoe adapter to an eBay wireless trigger) but I'm sure they work fine.


Is the Nikon SB-20 Right For You?

If you've got the cash, make your first flash a Sunpak 383, Vivitar 285HV, SB-24, or an SB-26. Of course, if you have tons of cash, buy the newer model flash for your camera which supports TTL! But most people don't have that kind of cash just starting out. The SB-20 makes an excellent second or third off-camera flash because it can easily be stuck on an optical trigger or a wireless trigger. It would be super effective as a background light or kicker (you could probably gel and snoot it too, but it might be a bit harder with the rounded head).

If you are truly poor, you know, grad-student poor, then the SB-20 might make a great first flash. You could mod it and start out with it as an on-camera flash with a ton of capability, and then later on get a wireless trigger on eBay to start playing with off-camera flash ($27-$30 including shipping, I recommend magic_trigger). You'll probably also need a PC cable or hot-shoe adapter ($6 from magic_trigger). Yes, the trigger and connector are more than the flash, but it is well worth going wireless, and much more reliable. Then, if you decide it is for you, get an SB-2X, Sunpak 383, etc and keep the SB-20 as a second (or third) light.

I've used the SB-20 with both an eBay wireless trigger and an eBay optical trigger. The optical trigger won't work outside unless the triggering flash is directly facing it, but works great inside and is super reliable. The wireless trigger seems to work well, although a week ago it started malfunctioning (a full-power blast, then nothing until I unplugged and plugged it in again). After swapping batteries the problem went away, so I expect it was battery related.

How can you get one? Search for "Nikon SB-20" on eBay and you'll usually see around five to ten units listed. Easy as that -- I've seen a lot of SB-20s floating around and they often don't get a lot of bidders. Garage sales, flea markets, and swap meets might also be great places to get one -- especially from someone who thinks they won't work on digital cameras!

The Nikon SB-20 is quite an oddball as flashes go, but that works in a poor photographer's favor. An SB-20 will give you a lot of bang for your buck, and for some of us, every buck matters!


Update: Here's the current SB-20s for sale on eBay right now! Mouse-over to see the details, click to see more options. I love these little gadgets...

Anatomy of a Photo: eBay Part II

For many of you, getting a good photo of an eBay item using a DIY Macro Studio should be old news. I know I've talked about it before. So why do I have a Part II? Because I found a lighting scheme that seems to work pretty well (and only requires one flash or lamp) and also wanted to put in more details about the post processing. Don't worry though, this post will have less words and more pictures than the last few.

So, the task: to get some good pictures of my Nikon SB-20 for an upcoming post. Since I was already taking some eBay pictures of a video card, I used the same set up, but the first picture came out dark and I was momentarily confused. Then I realized that by taking a picture of my SB-20, I couldn't use the SB-20. Duh.

Lets start with the flash scheme. As usual, I can't take claim for coming up with the idea (darn that David Hobby guy). The basic idea is this: use a single source of light (in this case, a flash) but position the light box to provide a light source on both sides of the object. (Click to make the pic larger to see details)

In fact, the way I set it up, there is a ring light effect: the flash hits the near copy paper (diffusing through it), hits the far box flap (covered in copy paper, see at trend yet?), and also spills onto both the top and bottom of the box entrance. The result is pretty even lighting from all around the entrance of the box. The balance between the two sides is controlled by moving the flash closer or farther from the box (light intensity drops with distance, but the distance between the two sides will stay the same).

Total Cost: $0 (since I have plenty of copy paper, old boxes, and scotch tape)

And remember, I used a flash, but you can use any old light source (flashlight, desk lamp, etc). If you don't use a flash, use a tripod because your exposure time will probably be pretty long. I can't remember the exact settings (and they don't matter that much) but I think it was something like F/11 and 1/4 power on my Sunpak 383 for 1/200s (flash sync speed). Really I just kept shooting (in manual mode) until my histogram was nice and spread out and I liked the balance of lighting on the flash. FYI, I used an eBay trigger for synchronization.

So, now I have the photo at left. Not great, to be brutally honest.

You know, the more digital photos I take, the more I realize that post processing can take an mediocre photo and elevate it to a good or sometimes even a great photo. But, if you have to start with something, after all, garbage in, garbage out.

The first step is obvious. Crop it to get rid of the distracting stuff.

Then, time to fix the crappy color balance. I'll be devoting a future Quick Tip to color balance, so I'll just give a quick description here. When I took the photo, I set the 350D to the "Flash" white balance. For some reason, I got a redish tint (maybe some of the box wasn't covered in paper so it polluted my white light?). It also may have been the ambient, but I doubt it. The good news is that fixing the white balance afterwards is easy. The bad news is you lose a little color detail unless you shoot in RAW mode, but for this image, it doesn't hurt the quality much.

In this case, I adjusted the color balance in Paint Shop Pro XI as shown to the right. Photoshop has something similar, I am sure. Just click the Smart Select button and then put the target onto something that should be white in the original image (left image). The resulting color balance will be shown in the right image. There are other options too, but I find I rarely need them. Just make sure you select something that is supposed to be white.

Next, adjust the contrast and force the background to white; I usually use curves, but anything where you can see a histogram is useful works well. In the image at left you can see the PSP XI curves view with histogram. To be quick and dirty, I'll just bring in the left-hand curve to start at the first black pixels, and bring the right hand curve into a position inside the final peak (this is the white of the background). After all, you want to push the background to a pure white. Don't go too far or you'll start losing highlight detail.

Even after that one side of your image will still not have a pure white background because of variations in lighting. Of course, that wouldn't be a problem if you had a separate background light, but sometimes you don't have the time and money for that. But the solution is simple -- dodge (lighten) the background of the image as shown in the picture at right. Usually you want to use a small opacity (maybe 10% or so), soft edges, and set it to only modify highlights. This makes the dodge brush very forgiving if you accidentally touch the object edge. While it will take a few passes to bring the background up to pure white, it is worth it to protect the integrety of your subject. The end result is the image that started this entry.

So, that's it. The main thing I wanted to demonstrate was how easy it is to use a single light source to make a quality eBay picture with a white background to make the product jump out of the page. Once you've practiced the technique a bit, it really only takes 10 minutes total to set up, take the picture, and process it.


[If you missed it, read Part I.]

Lighting

Strobist has inspired me to really go after off-camera flash. Strobist is such an awesome resource for learning how to use cheap flash to get quality results.

I obtained a Sunpak 383 flash (~$80 new from B&H) along with a variety of connection devices like an optical slave ($11 on e-bay), wireless radio trigger ($30 on e-bay), and hot shoe to PC cable connection ($9). Then, I obtained an umbrella ($18 from B&H), umbrella bracket ($15), and stand ($20 from B&H). The combination, along with balancing ambient light, allows me to really control my lighting and put a nice polish on pictures.

For instance, about a week ago (right after I got the umbrella and stand) I set up a little studio in my kitchen. The picture of my daughter's "Teddy" above is a result of the set-up (trust me, the pics of my kids are much better than the lighting test above). I was amazed how easy it was to set up and balance yet get very professional looking pictures.

All told, I've maybe spend $200 on flash equipment, with more on the way. I'm trying to do it as cheaply as possible, but having large quantities of portable light allows you to be really flexible when you are taking pictures. If I did it again, I might save a bit and get an old Nikon flash to start. SB-24s are very popular, although I've just purchased a broken SB-20 on e-bay (hopefully I can fix it) and I'll purchase another when I can get a good price. If I can fix them both, that will give me two more lights. SB-20s go for $30 or so (including shipping) but they have all the necessary ingredients for a flash (although less power than the 383).