[whennies]

I am trying to use the 540FGZ II as wireless off camera and also to trigger strobes set as slaves. I cannot figure out the settings in the flash.
Is it M and then slaves? I tried many different settings but none worked. Is it possible to use this flash remote on its own?
Can someone please walk me through the settings on the flash to make it work?
When using the flash on camera the shots are too dark when the strobes are fired as slaves from the flash. What should the setting be on the flash when used as catch light only? The flash should only work as catch light and not influence the strobes.
I use the same set up with another camera and flash and have no such problem.

Thanks a lot.

Werner

[konraDarnok]

How are you planning on triggering this flash off camera? On dSLRs the on board flash can act as a controller. The 540FGZ should have two modes for off camera use. Slave 1 and slave 2. Slave 1 is a "smart" trigger, allowing the on board flash to control but not contribute to the exposure of the image. This is pretty handy. This works for either P-TTL or manual mode. Slave 2 makes the flash "dumb." It will fire in the presence of any flash.

As far as I know, the 645D has no on board flash. Meaning you'd need another P-TTL flash to use as a controller in the hot shoe, or you're going to need a radio transmitter, or a wire.

That said, I've never tried to get wireless controlling to work with other "dumb" slaves, and that might be problematic if you're planning on using P-TTL features.


What you could do is use your AF540 in the hot shoe in manual mode on the very lowest power setting to trigger the other to "dumb" slaves, and hopefully it won't contribute too much to the exposure.

[Class A]

Good info by konraDarnok.

If you are tired fighting the auto modes, you could try a pure manual setup by using Cactus V6 radio triggers to remote control the power of off-camera flashes manually. Unfortunately, the "II" version of the AF540FGZ is not supported (yet).

For most scenarios, setting the power levels (of up to four groups) is quick enough and yields more predictable and consistent results.

You don't need to waste a flash on-camera just for optical (aka "wireless") triggering, but if you still want to have an on-camera flash for catch lights, you can put it on top of the on-camera V6 and either control it manually or using P-TTL (by using P-TTL pass-through).

P.S.: What are you using as "strobes" off-camera? If they are studio strobes, you cannot remote control their power levels with a Cactus V6, you could only trigger them.

[whennies]

Thank you very much for your responses.

I selected the Flash Wave - III ( by SMDV) and it works flawless. I can now use the 645D with off Camera flash, and without flash for the strobes only.

Reducing power on the flash resolved the over exposure problem.

The trigger is a Korean product and can be used also as a wireless shutter release up to 180 meters.

Thanks a lot.