The humble sync chord.

So how many have forgotten about this little cable in your camera bag? I had, up until yesterday it was a long forgotten accessory that at one time seemed to be of use.

Well, turns out it is useful once again, mixing and matching camera systems and flash systems, with or without TTL can sometimes seem to be a difficult path to walk, even more so if you are a slave to TTL. I like to get the flash off the camera and just use them both in full manual, partly due to cost, TTL things are expensive, secondly for the purpose of continuity as sometimes TTL can give you different lighting results in what you think is an unchanged scene as it is constantly re measuring and the third and I think most important reason to go manual is to learn how flash and ambient work together, giving you the two independent exposures you need in your image.

Heres a link to David Hobby, The Strobist about two exposures in one image and controlling daylight.

Anyway, back to the sync chord, its a tried and tested way to hook up your camera and your flash to get that better looking off camera light. Sometimes I can't be bothered with PocketWizards and cables and batteries to get a quick shot done working close quarters or I don't have them with me. I've found recently that the SB800 plays really nicely with Fuji using a standard sync chord and setting the flash in 'A' mode. 'Automatic Mode' is a setup whereby the flash uses an onboard sensor to cut off the light / power at the correct level relevant to subject distance, ISO and aperture, its a real quick and easy way to get great results using your existing kit across platforms.

You may have to do a little Google search to make sure that you have the correct chord for your camera and flash combination but you'll find its one of the best accessories under £10 to have in your bag. You may even find it helps you get a little more reliable sync speed and sometimes better than the manual advise, for example Fuji state 1/180 and I get reliable results with the SB 800 up to 1/250.

Most importantly, get out there and practice!