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How to Substitute a Nikon Flash Cable

When external camera flashes were manual units firing the same amount of light for every scene, triggering them was accomplished using a sync cord. The downside was being limited by the length of the cord. Many of today's external flashes can automatically adjust their power outputs to match the exposure determined by the camera. While there are still dedicated flash cords that will communicate this information, using one still limits you by the length of the cord. You can substitute this cable with a remote trigger, giving you the ability to walk around without being tethered to the flash. The trigger can be a wireless unit or the camera's built-in flash.

Things You'll Need

Nikon D70 digital single lens reflex camera
Nikon SB600 external flash
Nikon Commander remote trigger (optional)
Light stand or mini-stand (mini stands usually are included with the flash unit)

Instructions

Set the Flash to Work by Remote.
- 1
  Set your flash to fire remotely by pressing and holding at the same time the "Zoom" and "-" buttons on the back of the Nikon SB-600 flash.
- 2
  Press the "+" or "-" buttons until you see the flash lightning bolt symbol, when you see this icon, press the "Mode" button and switch to "On."
- 3
  Press the "Zoom" and "-" at the same time to exit the setting mode. Your flash is now ready to be triggered remotely.
Set the Camera to Trigger the Flash Remotely
- 4
  Turn your Nikon D-70 on and turn the exposure mode dial to either "P," "S," "A" or "M" for your shooting mode.
- 5
  Press the menu button and toggle to the menu that has a "Yellow wrench" icon.
- 6
  Move the cameras cursor to the "Purple pencil" menu and toggle to setting ", Flash mode." Set this mode to "Commander mode," right click and set this mode to "TTL" for through the lens metering.
- 7
  Attach a "Nikon Commander" remote trigger to the cameras hotshoe or activate the pop-up flash by pressing the "lightning bolt" button on the front side of the camera to activate the flash.
- 8
  Attach the external flash unit to light stand or mini-stand, direct the flash to where you want the light to be aimed and you are ready to start taking pictures.

Photography