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Off-Camera flash has become all the rage these days, and nobody wants to be left behind. However, remote triggers can be expensive, with the pro-level PocketWizards retailing at hundreds of dollars for a transmitter and receiver. Granted, there are cheaper options, such as the AlienBees Cybersync, which have received some good reviews, and the infamous eBay and Cactus triggers, which you should keep away from no matter how strapped for cash you are, since the only thing they will trigger is your rage.

Thankfully, Nikon has though about the amateur photographer who wants to get into creative lighting, and has shipped the D300 (D70/s and D200 also come with this feature, let me know if there are others) with a built-in commander so you can trigger flashes wirelessly without purchasing any additional equipment.

What Is Commander?

Setting a flash to Commander mode means that it will flash briefly before you take the picture to set off the other strobes, but will not add to the lighting in the scene itself. A very close relative of this is Master mode, where the strobe will also fire all the other flashes, and will add to the lighting of the scene. On the D300 there is no dedicated Master mode, but you can set it up under Commander mode. So let me show you how to set up your D300 (you should still be able to follow this with a D200 or D70/s, although the menus may be named slightly differently.

Setting Up The Camera

So, turn on your D300 and hit the menu button to bring up the camera menu on the screen. Scroll down through the submenus (the icons on the left) unitl you get to the Custom Setting Menu, the pencil icon third from the top. Once there, scroll down and select option E, Bracketing/Flash.

You will now be at a menu like the one you see below. Scroll down to option E3, called "Flash cntrl for built-in flash".

This is the point where you can select the mode of your flash. By default, it will be set to TTL. We want to set it to Commander.

In the Commander sub-section you will see a screen like the one below. Set up your options like I have, making sure that your built-in flash is set to "--". If you set it to TTL, your flash will not act as a Commander, but rather as a Master, firing to trigger the off-camera strobe as well as adding light to the scene. By setting it to "--", we are telling it to fire ONLY to trigger the Speedlight, and not to add to the scene. Also be sure to note what Channel is selected at the bottom, since this will be have to set up the same on the Speedlight. Logically, if you set your camera and flash to different channels, they will not communicate.

Setting Up The Speedlight

Grab your fancy SB-800 (this will work on an SB-600 too, check out this website for instructions) and power it up. Hold down the center SEL button for a few seconds to get to the menu. Use your keys to navigate to the icon that looks like two flashes with two squiggly lines, and press SEL to select it. In the menu that will show on the right, set the flash to "Remote".

Once done, hit the on/off button to get back to the home screen, which will now look a bit different. The important setting here is the channel setting in the top left. Make sure it is set to the same channel as your camera. If not, then hit SEL and use the up/down keys to scroll through the channels.

Voila, No Cables

You now have a wireless off-camera flash. When taking your next picture, make sure that your on-camera flash is popped up and you will be ready to go. Remember: The on-camera flash WILL fire, even if set to Commander, but it will not add to the scene. This flash is only to fire the Speedlight. So don't panic. Now, have fun, and replicate some of those great Strobist effects.