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I have a question for the tech brains here. Now I have my Elinchrom FX200 kit which has the EL Skyport Speed trigger that has 3 channels, 4 groups and 8 frequencies as 2456, 2458, 2460, 2462, 2469, 2472, 2473 & 2475 Mhz (ELINCHROM - EL-Skyport Transmitter SPEED).

My last addition to the strobe group is Nikon SB700 ( Nikon | Imaging Products | SB-700 ) which does not have an external socket for wireless receiver jack. I sold my Yongnuo RF 602 kit which had trigger and 3 receivers. Now, what would be the best option to get the SB700 into either the similar frequency ranges of skyport speed or a compatible receiver that can accept similar frequency numbers. This is electronics, which I am bad at :). I would look for an economical but reliable option as 42k is burnt on the table for FX200 kit and SB700.

Friends, your comments and personal experiences please. Dont point me to google, I may not understand half the stuff discussed at various places.

Robi,

You have shared some of your pictures here on the forum and they have been awesome. Can you please also share some of your technique and information on shutter speed that you use.

TIA

Hello Gurus

I am also going through same confusion of whether to buy Canon eos550d or Nikon d5100, after reading through previous posts found that Canon is good for Video and Nikon is better in Still photgraphy. I have also read that these brands are almost the same.

Since i have no knowledge about DSLRs and this would be my First DSLR, i have few questions.

1) Whether the difference in image quality of both the cameras would be visible to a normal person like me or not ?

2)I tried both these cameras at a retail store, and noticed that Nikon D5100 was slower to focus than Canon and was also slower in displaying the captured image. Whether this observation of mine is correct or not ?

Basically i want a fast DSLR, similar to the speed of digital camera. So if i go for Canon eos550d would the image quality suffer ?

I am not keen on buying Nikon d5100 since i found it slow.

Gurus please guide me in this regard.

Thank You in Advance.

Thanks kartik!
As for me the things that have really helped when using a telephoto lens (or when shooting anything above say 200mm) are:
A sturdy tripod (don't skimp on it, if you are buying a 30k DSLR with a 30k lens I am sure you can afford a tripod worth more than 2k). Then again at times when its not possible to use a tripod, use a bean bag / pillow whatever. The point is you should try to have some short of support for your lens. Next up I press my face against the back of the camera body with my right hand on the camera grip and rest my left hand on the lens above the tripod head/sometimes just at the point where the hood is attached. Even when handholding you need to find the best posture you are comfortable with so as to minimize camera shake.

Secondly, never jab the shutter button just roll your finger over it. Moreover, try to avoid shooting everything at 5fps/8fps etc just because your camera is capable of doing so. I often use a Canon 1DMkIV and although its capable of shooting at 10fps I rarely keep the shutter pressed for more than 3 frames. (Its not like you will shoot 20 frames and get lucky rather anticipate and click..it ain't a machine gun):)

Regarding shutter speed, the thumb rule is that it should be atleast as much as the focal length you are using (in 35mm equiv.). Say you are using a 300mm lens on a Canon 550D (APS-C 1.6crop factor) then you SS should be atleast say 1/500. Then again IS/VR helps to some extent to get sharper results at slower SS. But shooting at 500mm with a SS 1/100, you have to be very lucky to get a sharp image (IS or no IS)

Finally, the aforesaid is just from my personal experience and I am just a serious amateur so the gurus of photography like Rudra sir, TG, Shaju to name a few can give you more valuable input.

Besides the internet is an awesome resource and you can learn a lot by going through the websites of famous natural history photographers

@Rajvir Bains; According to all reviews the Nikon d5100 is better than canon 550d. Maybe the 600d is closer, but of the two you sain D5100 seems better.
But I'm no expert. Am just shopping for my first DSLR.

Shouldn't you be able to fire SB-700 by the camera itself and the strobes with skyport? If the first option doesn't work, I'd suggest the other (cheap) option is to get an optical trigger and use that with the SB-700. When the strobes go off, the SB-700, if in line of sight, will also go off. But, I am pretty sure the first option will work. Do read up on CLS.

Yes i agree with this. But what i feel is that the reviews of Nikon d5100 are better because it is a new camera, whereas Canon eos 550d is an older model.
Also Canon 550d and Canon 600d are similar cameras, with Canon 600d having tilt screen.
Have you used both these cameras ? Did you find Nikon d5100 slower ? (like i have mentioned above in my previous post)
Also how much difference 2 mega pixel would make in real life. ?(as Canon 550d has 18 mega pixel and Nikon d5100 has 16 mega pixel)

SB700 can fire on camera or as a remote/slave and other strobes can work through skyport too, but question is combining all of them into one frequency range.

SB700 as a remote/slave will go off if its in line of sight of the pop up camera flash (already tested and ok) but yet to test if it can work the same way in line of sight with the FX200 strobes because they need skyport trigger to be on the camera mount. Even if it works, that solves only the line of sight method. Again, I am not sure if this 'line of sight' thing is applicable when its bounced off a reflective umbrella or through a white umbrella or through softboxes. Not sure how the infrared waves change by the 'through or bounce' methods.

Again, this line of sight might have distance limitations too. A radio trigger solves the entire doubt/issue, but I really wish my skyport speed can act as the single trigger for the entire set up, that would be lovely. I believe most of the receivers are in the 2.4 frequency range. Need to borrow one from someone and see if it gets fired from skyport trigger. That would be the best and simple method to solve it.

I have tried triggering old flash - a small Nissin bought way back in 1983 and the SB with the onboard flash and it works. I think that these are triggered by the flash light intensity, hence work, as long as the flash sensor can "see" the flash in the room.

@Rajvir Bains: I've used a 550d with Tamron lens belonging to my cousin. I've never used a D5100. But i've compared the Canon 1100d and Nikon d3100 and found the D3100 to be better. I've a budget to 30K for a new camera and both your options are beyond me.

If you want to avoid the "line of sight" issues, then the only option is to get another Elinchrom skyport receiver. Costs about $120. Else, get the RF-602 again, with 3 receivers, which should cost cheaper than $120.

Hi,

I did my research and just picked up a new D3100. Initial feedback this looks awesome. I bought it for 28k with the free 8 GB card and an HDMI cable .

Do not know details of the SB700 if it can act as slave to light from any other source, try if you can use the Fx200 light to fire the SB700, might work.
As for the bounced/through light to fire a slave flashgun, that is not an issue, doesn't have to be pure line of sight as long as the sensor is not covered by something.
Give it a try, may work out just fine. Otherwise there are some cheap generic optical slaves which you can use to receive the light from the Fx and trigger the SB. You can use some silver foil to gather the light from the strobes and bring to your SB sensor i.e. if the flash placement means that the sensor of SB is facing in some other direction and also if the SB can work on light from any source of course :)
Regarding distance for optical firing, anyway your lights would be in an area not far from each other, as long as you are not using the pop-up flash to fire the SB remotely, you should be fine using the Skyport->Fx->SB path.
Do update your findings, good luck!

Thanks guys, I am updating my findings here, so that it might help someone else too. SB700 is a very sensitive to light flash from Nikon and I really underestimated its capabilities. It can fire in the following ways:

1. On camera
2. Off-camera through pop up commander mode
3. Off camera through remote/slave mode from pop up flash
4. Off camera through remote/slave mode from any strobe

Interesting finding here is the 'line of sight' point which we discussed. It does not need to be in line. Throw it anywhere at any angle, even a tiny ray of strobe passing through any side of this product fires him, regardless of 'direct' or 'bounced' or 'diffused'. I covered the button size sensor part with my thumb and it still fired !! Excellent !!!

Only negative: When you use it on remote/slave mode, even a mobile camera user's flash might fire this guy. So if its a function where many cameras are around, this poor guy will lose his life by discharging his battery within no time. Only solution for that will be a radio receiver :)