How to use Nikon CoolPix 990 / 995 / 4500 with studio strobes or off-camera (external) flash units

Using your Nikon CoolPix 990, Nikon Coolpix 995, or Nikon CoolPix 4500 with non-Nikon off-camera (External) flash or a professional strobe (strobes) for serious digital studio work. This page does NOT apply to CoolPix 880, CoolPix 900, and CoolPix 950 (Updated July 20, 2003) Photo taken with Nikon CoolPix 990 (CP 990) with Novatron 120ws strobe unit. Photo was taken over a light box with white backdrop paper used as reflector. The exposure was determined using a Minolta IVF with the ISO of CP 990 set to 100. Exposure: 1/1000 sec @ f:8.
CoolPix 990 with off-camera metz flash mounted on stroboframe bracket with AS-E900 cable/wein HSHS safe-sync bounced from the white wall and the ceiling behind me. 1/15 sec. @ f-3.2 on Manual mode - Flash set to Auto.
Nikon CoolPix 990- 1/1000 sec (to blacken the indoors background in a bowling alley) @f:4 dictated by auto setting of an on-camera VIVITAR 285HV flash unit mounted on a stroboframe extender connected to the 990 via AS-E900 cable and Wein's Safe-Sync. To soften the harsh flash effect, a LUMIQUEST PROMAX MINI SOFTBOX was attached to the flash using a thick rubber band. The image was converted to B&W then back to RGB. Added +20R -20B to tone the image.
-1- Buy yourself a Nikon AS-E900 cable- it costs around $35 and you must have it. it screws under the flash on your CoolPix 990 (CP990) camera. You can try the following links: http://www.atman-usa.com/ http://www.helixcamera.com/ http://www.central-camera.com/ http://www.truedataonline.com/ If You still can not find it please click on http://www.altavista.com Use AS-E900 and sale as search keywords.	AS-E900 Cable
-2- You MUST have a SAFE-SYNC HS Voltage Regulator - This is to prevent frying of your $1000 camera. Generally this camera can handle a 240VOLT triggering voltage- This safe-sync device reduces the triggering voltage of a powerful flash or a strobe (up to 400 volts) to about 6 (six) volts which is well below the recommended max. voltage of 240 volts (1/40th). It slides in the Nikon AS-E900 hot-shoe slot and need to be tightened. SAFE-SYNC HSHS (Hot Shoe to Hot Shoe) is made by WEIN products INC. 115 WEST 25th STREET, LA, CA, 90007 and marketed by The Saunders Group, 21 Jet View Drive, Rochester, NY, 14624. This is a great investment for any strobe unit. For more info you can try: saundersphoto.com or to purchase try: camerasbrookwood @ 1.800.559.6543 So far (October 22, 2002) I have used this set up for more than 13,000 flash pictures with a Speedotron strobe, a Novatron strobe, a Vivitar 285 HV, and a Metz 45 flash units.	WEIN SAFE-SYNC HSHS 2.1
-3- CONNECTING TO AN OFF-CAMERA (External) FLASH UNIT: Connect the standard sync cord from your flash to the PC terminal on Safe-Sync. Now you are ready to go. To test, take a picture. If the flash does not work, do not panic! Change the hot-shoe position and try again. If it fails again, compare it with the following diagram (a working unit) . Also make sure the screw of AS-E900 is tight under your CoolPix 990 (CP 990). If it still does not work, set your CP 990 to "A" (Auto), point it at a dark place (with the uncircled lightning bolt showing on screens) and take a picture. That should do it. If it still does not work, get a very thin piece of wire and connect the two connectors of AS-E900 (what is screwed into 990) as shown above. If it does not flash, check each component OUTSIDE of the camera if not check the camera settings Please note: If you are not familiar with CoolPix 990 and its flash applications, I promise you that in the beginning it WILL frustrate you because the flash would not fire. After taking 14000+ flash pictures, I reached the conclusion that most of my problems were caused by a faulty synch cord! Have plenty of them	AS-E900 Connected to a CoolPix 990/995/4500 camera 3.1
	3.2 Wein HSHS Safe Sync (top), End of AS-E900 cable (bottom)
-4- CONNECTING TO A STUDIO STROBE: Follow the same steps as 3 and the strobe should fire. If it does not fire, don't give up! Try the following: REPLACE the STROBE with a small FLASH and see whether the flash fires. If it does not, you have a problem with the wiring or camera set up. If the flash fires, then the strobe's POLARITY must be changed for it to function. Simply PULL THE SYNC CORD OUT OF THE UNIT, TURN THE SYNCH CHORD BY 180 DEGREES and plug it in. With my set up, my old (17+years) Speedotron STROBE would not fire until I unplugged the connection to the sync chord, turned it 180 degrees and then plugged it in (as shown)


Coolpix 990/Novatron actual setup (enlarged) Coolpix 990/Novatron actual setup (complete) Coolpix 990/Vivitar 285hv setup + Lumiquest Promax Ultrasoft + 35mm/Medium format flash bracket that I am using for the setup. The 990 could only be mounted this way on this bracket -------------------------------- Nikon CoolPix 990 Digital camera handheld - 1 sec. exposure at dusk with white balance set to Incandescent (Tungsten) from the sunroof of my car while driving home. If you like crazy stuff like this, please check out http://photocritique.net and look for Farzad as the Last Name and view images under "Using Coolpix 990 as a paint brush"
STEP BY STEP PROCESS TO DISABLE THE INTERNAL FLASH IN "MANUAL MODE"
-5- 5.1) Set your camera to "M"Rec (Manual mode). 5.2) Press MENU button, a drop down menu appears on the screen Choose option 2 (SHOOTING MENU) 5.3) Right click on the lightning bolt symbol 5.4) Down-click to highlight the "Speedlight Control" option, then Right-Click- 5.5) Choose "Int Flash Off" and then Right-Click (THIS TURNS OFF THE INTERNAL/ON-CAMERA FLASH) 5.6) Press the button under ISO on the back of the camera until the flash symbol without a circle appears on the back of the camera. VERY VERY IMPORTANT If you have done this correctly, there should be two lightning bolt symbols- * At the top RHS of the MENU (on the back of the camera) one without a circle and one with a circle If you only see the one with a circle, press the button under "ISO" on the back of the camera a few times until lightening bolt (flash) symbol appears as shown. AND/OR * On the Right hand side of the LCD panel (top of the camera) there should be a lightning bolt without a circle with a lightning bolt with a circle right under it SPECIAL NOTE: The screen at the back of the camera WILL show a brighter image (even when set to the darkest/lowest setting) than what you will see on your PC and in PhotoShop. For critical work you must use a flashmeter to determine the correct exposure of the subject. If you totally depend on what you see on the back of the camera, there is a good chance that you will be disappointed.
-6- 6.1- USING A STROBE: If you are using a strobe and have a flashmeter (I use Minolta IVF) You are in business. If you don't, for non-critical work trial and error is your best bet. To start: Set your shutter speed to 1/60 sec. (although the camera takes flash pictures with any Shutter Speed / Exposure Time (up to 1/1000 sec.)) and your aperture opening at f-8 or f-11 to try it out. If the smallest aperture of the camera is still too large for the strobe/flash unit (your pictures are overexposed) you can use Neutral Density filters to reduce the amount of light reaching the camera. ND of .3 reduces light by 1 stop, ND .6 reduces it by 2 stops, ND .9 reduces it by 3 stops, ND 1.2 reduces it by 4 stops, and so on... 6.2- Using an automatic flash with your camera set to Manual Exposure Mode (M) with your camera's shutter speed (exposure time) set to say 1/60 sec. If you are using an automatic flash (my favorite is VIVITAR 285 HV that costs under $100). Since the eye/sensor of *ANY* automatic flash unit sees and converts everything to 18% gray, you as a photographer MUST compensate for this shortcoming! Therefore: For a white subject, you can set the camera's aperture to two stop larger than what is indicated on the flash. For example if your flash indicated an F-STOP of "8", set the aperture opening of your lens to f-4. For brighter than average (Light Gray Toned) subject, you can set the camera's aperture to one stop larger than what is indicated on the flash. For example if your flash indicated an F-STOP of "8", set the aperture opening of your lens to f-5.6. For an average (Medium Gray Toned) subject (looks like an 18% gray card!) you can set the camera and the flash to the SAME F-STOP (say f-5.6) and shoot. For darker than average (Dark Gray Toned) subject, you can set the camera's aperture to one stop smaller than what is indicated on the flash. For example if your flash indicated an F-STOP of "5.6", set the aperture opening of your lens to f-8. For a black subject, you can set the camera's aperture to two stop smaller than what is indicated on the flash. For example if your flash indicated an F-STOP of "f-5.6", set the aperture opening of your lens to f-11. Good Luck Bahman Farzad If you find a mistake, please let me know. I will be thankful. If this page was helpful please drop me a note! PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE AUTHOR'S GALLERY Photographs taken with Mavica: A Sony Digital Camera
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