Nikon sb-600 flash alternatives

davenisbett

davenisbett

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Dave Nisbett
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Hi Guys - I have a Nikon D40x and have been wanting to get a decent flash to go with it. I've been looking at the SB-600 but I dont really have the budget. Its my birthday soon but I cant suggest a pressie that cists £170. I'm scared of alternatives in case they dont work too well. Does anyone have any experience of using alternatives to the SB-600 that could help me please? :help:
 
when i had my d40x i bought a sb-400, while not as powerful admittedly, it was a very very good speedlight for the compactness and the price, you can even flip the head to bounce it of the ceiling
 
davenisbett said:
Hi Guys - I have a Nikon D40x and have been wanting to get a decent flash to go with it. I've been looking at the SB-600 but I dont really have the budget. Its my birthday soon but I cant suggest a pressie that cists £170. I'm scared of alternatives in case they dont work too well. Does anyone have any experience of using alternatives to the SB-600 that could help me please? :help:
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Check as prices for new SB600s are now below £140 in some shops even Amazon are selling them near this price(y)
 
If you're a bit unsure about buying an SB-600 alternative, why not try and get your hands on a second hand sb-600?

I found myself a very nice near pristine (apart from some very odd marks from an attempted modification to the mounting base) SB-600 for a far more agreeable £100 the other week.

With regards to the Sb-400, while it does allow bounce flash, It hasn't got much expandability in terms of where you can progress with it; It's pretty much an extension of the on-camera flash.. which is fine if that's what you're only going to be wanting, but if you ever want to make the move off camera in the future, you're going to have to purchase another flash then with manual settings, which the SB-600 has. (and nice nifty CLS support)
 
Thanks Cannockwolf but I'd had feedback that the 400 was only a little better than the on camera flash - is that not the case??
 
Thanks DavePaliwoda - second hand might be worth exploring if I can find something in time - I'll have a look around
 
davenisbett said:
Thanks Cannockwolf but I'd had feedback that the 400 was only a little better than the on camera flash - is that not the case??
Click to expand...

It's got vertical bounce up to 90 degrees (straight on to straight up), which is far and away better than on axis (ie. straight dead on) flash (reflecting light off the ceiling in this case)

But since that is all it can really do as far as bounce goes (compared to the SB-600's pan/tilt head which lets you bounce it off any surface you want, even your own face (you will do it on the first day you try it out, by accident or out of curiosity :cautious:) and doesn't have any kind of manual controls beyond the on/off button, It's essentially an expanded upon on-camera flash.
 
the sb-400 is miiiiles better than the onboard, i have had one and i will go up against anybody that says that its not much better, i would bet those people have never touched one let alone used one.

on the other hand the comments above are very valid, if you want to do creative stuff with the flash then it is next to useless, BUT a d40x cannot control a sb-600 wirelessly for that you would need an su-800 and thats another £200 clams?

it depends totally on what your needs are rather than your budget
 
Thanks Throttle that material was really useful.

You guys have really made me think again about this. I'm now thinking that perhaos I would be better off shopping around for an SB-400 now as a pressie. This could be a good general purpose flash that would be easy to carry around. Then when I've got a bit more cash I could look out for something more sophisticated second hand. I'll have to sleep on this I think.
 
You can buy a lead to use the SB400 off the camera.
Great for bouncing flash off the ceiling in portrait mode etc.
 
i would look for a second hand one - i saw a SB800 for 225 in calumet the other day!
 
Hi there,

I had a similar question re alternatives to the SB600 and someone recommended the following: Sigma EF 530 DG ST and Metz 48 AF-1 Digital Nikon.

I've not done the research on these yet but it may be worth throwing these in to the mix. Anyone have any thoughts about these?
 
thanks RUP - I've chickened our and ordered a sb-400 to get me by for a while - I'll let you know how I get on with it
 
I stumped up for the sb600 after agonising for ages about the Nissin Di 622 and other alternatives. I am glad I went Nikon, it syncs at all speeds on my D90 and just playing with it the exposure is spot on and even taking a picture of my pitch black garage it came out perfectly lit!

I am sure the SB400 will perform as well.....
 
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