How to use my Yongnuo 560 ii on my nikon d3100?
I'm considering getting a Yongnuo 560ii for my Nikon d3100.
I heard that it is a totally manual flash, how can I fire it when I release my shutter button from the camera? Do I need to get something else for this?
The settings to control the flash POWER are manual. All flashes sync with their camera when a shot is taken (otherwise, what the heck would be the point of having one?). However, if you want to use the flash off-camera (not on the hotshoe), you will need some sort of radio/infrared trigger. Yongnuo makes their own that I have heard is pretty darn good, look on their website for it.
Stick it in the camera's hot shoe, turn it on, and it will fire when you release the camera's shutter. That's all you have to do to get it to fire.
Being "manual" means it won't automatically adjust the amount of light it puts out for a proper exposure. YOU need to set it to the proper power setting (manually) depending on your ISO, distance to subject, and aperture. It's not that hard to do, but if you've never done it you might be better off with a TTL flash to begin with.
By the way, I have two YN 560s, and adore them. I mostly use them for off-camera flash work using Yongnuo radio triggers. They're great flashes.
As above, although they leave out the important part… You MUST use your camera in full manual mode. The camera and flash do not communicate settings to each other as in a TTL flash system, so the flash doesn't know about such things. All it does is flash when it receives the sync signal.
This means you must set the ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed manually.
Shutter speed controls background lighting. You can use anything up to the max sync speed of your camera, which is either 1/200th or 1/250th second (it's in the manual) or less. The flash manual will tell you if there are further limitations. A slower shutter speed, like 1/60th or so, will allow the background to be lit, while using the max sync will give you a dark background.
Aperture controls depth of field as always, but also determines how far away you can be from your subject and still get a proper exposure. At full power, the flash has a claimed Guide Number (measure of flash power) of 58 meters. So you divide that number by your aperture to get your range. Example, your aperture is at f/5.6, you range is just over 10 meters (about 35 feet). At f/8, your range is now reduced to 7 meters. At f/2.8, your range is 20 meters.
It isn't as complicated as it sounds, you get the hang of it pretty quick. You also have the ability to change either flash power or aperture to adjust the lighting if you don't like the results as calculated.