2. D850 Online Manual
  3. Using Shoe-Mounted Flash Units
  4. On-Camera Flash Photography

On-Camera Flash Photography

When a flash unit that supports unified flash control (an SB-5000, SB-500, SB-400, or SB-300) is mounted on the camera, the flash control mode, flash level, and other flash settings can be adjusted using the Flash control > Flash control mode item in the photo shooting menu (in the case of the SB-5000, these settings can also be adjusted using the controls on the flash unit). The options available vary with the flash used (0 CLS-Compatible Flash Units), while the options displayed under Flash control mode vary with the mode selected. Settings for other flash units can only be adjusted using flash unit controls.

  • TTL: i-TTL mode. In the cases of the SB-500, SB-400, and SB-300, flash compensation can be adjusted using the W (M) button (0 Flash Compensation).
  • Auto external flash: In this mode, output is adjusted automatically according to the amount of light reflected by the subject; flash compensation is also available. Auto external flash supports “auto aperture” (qA) and “non-TTL auto” (A) modes; non-TTL auto is selected automatically if a non-CPU lens is attached without specifying the focal length and maximum aperture using the Non-CPU lens data option in the setup menu (0 Non-CPU Lenses). See the flash unit manual for details.
  • Distance-priority manual: Choose the distance to the subject; flash output will be adjusted automatically. Flash compensation is also available.
  • Manual: Choose the flash level manually.
  • Repeating flash: The flash fires repeatedly while the shutter is open, producing a multiple-exposure effect. Choose the flash level (Output), the maximum number of times the unit fires (Times), and the number of times the flash fires per second (Frequency, measured in Hertz). The options available for Times vary depending on the options selected for Output and Frequency; see the documentation provided with the flash unit for details.

Unified Flash Control

Unified flash control allows the camera and flash unit to share settings. If a flash unit that supports unified flash control is mounted on the camera, changes to flash settings made with either the camera or flash unit are reflected on both devices, as are changes made using optional Camera Control Pro 2 software.