Nick Didlick Photography

Lighting Gear

Here is the list of Photo gear needed for a simple 2 light set-up with a D200, D80 or D70 in Commander Mode.

1 - Photoflex 60 inch Umbrella

1- Manfrotto Light Stand Model 050

1- Manfrotto Umbrella Stand Adapter 026

1- HAMA Mounting Shoe with Insulated Base

1- Nikon SB-600 or SB-800 flash unit

For the background light I use

1- Manfrotto Light Stand Model 050

1- Photoflex Light Disk Boom to hold background

1- Black material cloth for background

1- Nikon SB-600 or SB-800 flash unit

Nikon Wireless TTL Flash Settings

Camera Bags

A photographer can not live with one bag alone! Each different shooting assignment requires a different set of gear and depending on the conditions you are working in a different bag to suit those needs. The bags I use come in these basic categories.
Shoulder Bags used for quick and easy access, protection and transport of cameras, lenses and other stuff that I will not be carrying over long distances and I use them for day to day assignment work.
Roller Cases got a heavy load to carry over long distances like an Airport or lighting gear you want to roll to a location these are for you.
Backpacks - I can not live with out these and I use them when I am going to be shepherding heavy gear over varied terrain like downhill skiing assignments. They fall into to classifications for me water proof and water resistant.
Camera Vests - When I need to have my cameras, lenses and flashes at the ready like during an election champaign, or on a protest march I will use a vest to distribute the weight of the gear on both shoulders around my center of gravity.
Protective cases - These are either hard shells cases for traveling or padded pouches to ship lenses and other gear in.

Here are my current choices for bags, backpacks, rollers and protection.

Lowepro - If Lowpro does not have the bag you are looking for it it probably does not exist!

ThinkTank - The ultimate in form, function and quality.

Domke Bags - The old standby and favorite bag of photojournalists.

Newswear - If you have to walk long distances with a moderate amount of camera gear the Newswear vest is for you.

Manfrotto - Look to Manfrotto for a tripod bag but these handy cases double as light-stand bags.

Pelican Cases - When I am looking to protect my gear in a hard shelled case to go in the bottom of a white water raft, airline cargo hold its to Pelican cases I go.

Lightware - Well if I can't find that just right case for the job I can always look to Lightware and see if they have what I need.

Remotes and Cables

Remote Resources
Pocket Wizard - Paramount Cords - Manfrotto Clamps - Overexposed Mounting Plates - ThinkTank Remote Cover

Using cameras "on remote" has long been one of those options that professional photographers will carry in their bag of tricks (techniques). Cameras tied, tethered, strapped and mounted to places that photographers wouldn't or couldn't go during an event, produce pictures with a special appeal and provide a unique view on our world.

Making your own custom remote release cables for Nikon Professional Digital Cameras has the same basic set of instructions as for film cameras and these cables can be used to "hard wire" a digital camera to a position or plugged into a "radio remote control".

Important Note: Before proceeding you should understand that the cutting and splicing of Nikon's remote cords and attaching them to Nikon or other products will void the manufacturers warrantee in most cases. So please check with your dealer or equipment's manufacturer before proceeding!

Nikon manufactures six - ten pin remote accessory cords for use with the D1 Digital Camera, the F5, F100 and F90X. They are the MC-20 Remote Cord, the MC-21 Extension Cord, the MC-22 Remote Cord (pictured right), the MC-23 Connecting Cord, the MC-25 Adapter Cord and the MC-30 Remote Cord. The most common and cost effective cord to work with when making a remote cable is the MC-22 Remote Cord which has the camera connector at one end and three banana plugs at the other. To make a remote trigger for this cable follow the instructions below.

1: Cut off all the banana plugs.

2: Splice the Yellow (Shutter release) and BLUE (Meter Wake-up) cables together and attach them to one end of your remote triggering device.

3: Splice the remaining BLACK (Ground or Common) cable and attach it to the other pole of your remote triggering device.

4: Make sure you insulate all the splices with heat shrink tubing or a little electrical tape.

When the Black wire is connected to the Yellow/Blue the camera will wake-up and fire. All that is left for you to do is figure out how to make a triggering device that fits your application.

If you cut the main wire away from the banana plugs you will encounter a 10 wire plus a shield wiring configuration. You should note that the Yellow Wire and Yellow banana plug is connected to the 10 pins Purple wire, the Blue Wire and Blue banana plug is connected to the 10 pins White wire and the Black wire and Black banana plug is connected to the 10 pins Yellow wire. And you would follow the wiring instructions below.

Remote wiring for the MC-20 Remote Cord (pictured right), the MC-21 Extension Cord, the MC-23 Connecting Cord, the MC-25 Adapter Cord and the MC-30 Remote Cord (trigger).

The MC-20, MC-21, MC-23, MC-25, MC-30, cables have the standard 10 pin camera connector at one end and a device at the other end used to control different devices attached to Nikon Digital and Film Cameras. They are more expensive and finicky to work with than the MC-22 (above) but will work just as well in a squeeze. When you cut the end off your cable you will find ten wires.

To create your remote cable follow these step by step instructions

1: Cut off all the wires except for the WHITE, PURPLE and YELLOW ones.

2: Splice the WHITE (Meter Wake-up) and PURPLE (Shutter Release) wires together and attach them to one end of your slave cord.

3: Splice the YELLOW (Ground or Common) wire to the other remaining end of the slave cord.

4: Make sure you insulate all the splices with heat shrink tubing or a little electrical tape. Also make sure that the remaining 7 wires are cut off and insulated from each other.

I have used these wiring schemes with my Pocket Wizard Max radio slaves and in different hard wired situations with no problems. The Nikon D1/D1X/D1H will go to sleep and then be prompted to wake-up and then shoot pictures with a slight delay. If the camera is in the awake state it will be triggered with no delay.
Remote Wiring Rules:

1) Never work on your remote wires while the camera is attached to the end of the cable.

2) Never cross over the polarity of your remote cables.

3) Always make clean splices and solder the ends together.

4) Always cut off the wires not used, tie them back and insulate them from each other.

5) Carefully wrap the patched sections of your remote cord with electrical tape or heat shrink tubing.

6) When your remote camera is in place, test fire it, then tie wrap or tape your cables, camera straps and other bits of equipment out of the way to give you access to the camera controls and compact flash card. Test fire it again and then format your card, place a fully charged battery in it and set the camera's controls for the exposure and fine tune your camera's view.

Tips: I have two basic remote set-ups the first uses a PocketWizard MultiMAX radio transceiver and the second is for hard wiring cameras using telephone accessories.
Pocket Wizard Set-up (pictured upper left)
Splicing the cords as outlined above and on the spliced end of the cable I use a 1/4" (3.5mm) Mono Phone Plug available at Radio Shack (Part #274-868) or other retailers which is the standard used on Pocket Wizard input. I use the center pin as the common and solder the BLACK wire when using the MC-22 cable (or the YELLOW wire when using the MC-20). I then take the YELLOW/BLUE combination from the MC-22 and solder it to the outside position of the plug (or the WHITE/PURPLE combination of the MC-20). Care must be taken when soldering these contacts so that the wires do not heat up excessively and cause the wire's insulation to melt off.
Carefully insulate the wires from each other and reassemble the plug and you are set to go.
This works on a simple close switch principle any voltage going down these wires will damage your Digital camera or Pocket Wizard

Remember the splicing of cables yourself may void the warrantees of the equipment you are using.

Hard Wiring using telephone cables (pictured upper right)
Using telephone accessories to "hard wire" single or multiple cameras is a simple process and with ease of purchasing of telephone cabling you can quickly modify and add length to your set-up with a visit to your local electronics or hardware store.
When you start you have to make some basic decisions about wiring color coding and write them down and stick to them I use the following rules.
A telephone mini plug has 4 wires BLACK, RED, GREEN and YELLOW. I use the BLACK wire when using the MC-22 cable (or the YELLOW wire when using the MC-20) and solder it to the BLACK wire of the telephone cable. I then take the YELLOW/BLUE combination from the MC-22 and solder it to the RED wire of the telephone cable (or the WHITE/PURPLE combination of the MC-20). The same care must be taken when soldering these contacts so that the wires do not heat up excessively and cause the wires insulation to melt off.
Carefully insulate the wires from each other and wrap or heat shrink the entire assembly and you are set to go.
You can add length and additional cameras using this set-up, or add cameras on a different wiring configuration using the Green and Yellow wires on the telephone cables. Mark all your cables and NEVER use them with any other telephone equipment as a standard telephone line has a current running down it that could damage your cameras.

And once again: Remember the splicing of cables yourself may void the warrantees of the equipment you are using.