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#1
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nikon sb600 vs sb800
Hi all... any thoughts appreciated...
Seems like the SB800 doesn't have more going for it to justify a price difference of $150 (eg 180 vs 320 at amazon) I will be using it on a D80, bouncing and/or diffusing, often and most demanding application would be shooting performances from 20 feet back (or so), often using my 55-200 VR lens which is great for available light musicians but dancers are too blurry at the shutter speeds required by available lighting. Thanks in advance for any wisdom |
#2
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nikon sb600 vs sb800
"bohemian" wrote in message ... Hi all... any thoughts appreciated... Seems like the SB800 doesn't have more going for it to justify a price difference of $150 (eg 180 vs 320 at amazon) I will be using it on a D80, bouncing and/or diffusing, often and most demanding application would be shooting performances from 20 feet back (or so), often using my 55-200 VR lens which is great for available light musicians but dancers are too blurry at the shutter speeds required by available lighting. Thanks in advance for any wisdom The SB-600 is a terrific bargain at the price, no doubt about it. And it's smaller and lighter than the SB-800. I have both, and it's usually the SB-600 that I take with me when I'm going to need a flash. (I seldom use the flash built in to the camera.) Apart from its extra power, the SB-800 does have some nice features the SB-600 doesn't have, like a built-in white card, Commander mode, the ability to tilt down slightly for close-ups, the ability to add a fifth AA cell for faster recycling, etc. But I don't think any of those are terribly important for the average user. A white card you can easily add yourself with a bit of paper and a rubber band, and your D80 has Commander mode built in. The SB-800 also comes with a snap-on diffuser, but you can buy a Sto-Fen diffuser for the SB-600 for about $17 that's similar and works very well. If no special reason to get the SB-800 occurs to you, then get the SB-600. If you decide at some later date that you do want an SB-800, you can buy one and you'll already have the SB-600 to use with it as a remote flash, which by then you would probably want anyway. Also, you can download the user manuals for both of these flash units from www.nikon.usa.com. This is a good way to learn all about the features of both. Neil |
#3
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nikon sb600 vs sb800
On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:25:07 -0500, Neil Harrington wrote:
Apart from its extra power, the SB-800 does have some nice features the SB-600 doesn't have, like a built-in white card, Commander mode, the ability to tilt down slightly for close-ups, the ability to add a fifth AA cell for faster recycling, etc. But I don't think any of those are terribly important for the average user. A white card you can easily add yourself with a bit of paper and a rubber band, and your D80 has Commander mode built in. The SB-800 also comes with a snap-on diffuser, but you can buy a Sto-Fen diffuser for the SB-600 for about $17 that's similar and works very well. If no special reason to get the SB-800 occurs to you, then get the SB-600. If you decide at some later date that you do want an SB-800, you can buy one and you'll already have the SB-600 to use with it as a remote flash, which by then you would probably want anyway. You're right, most users would be fine with the SB-600. But to be slightly more complete it should be noted that the SB-800 is more powerful, has an external power socket and (unless I'm mistaken) has a more flexible commander mode than the D-80. If one expects to have multiple flash units there would be a cost advantage if some are SB-600s. But there are also advantages to having all SB-800s, in that you'd only have to learn to use and become familiar with the idiosyncrasies of one flash unit, and you wouldn't have to worry that if one speedlight dies, you might be stuck without a speedlight that could function as a commander. There would be other considerations (pro and con) for the SB-600 and SB-800 if the camera they'd be used with was smaller, commander-less D40. |
#4
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nikon sb600 vs sb800
"ASAAR" wrote in message ... On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:25:07 -0500, Neil Harrington wrote: Apart from its extra power, the SB-800 does have some nice features the SB-600 doesn't have, like a built-in white card, Commander mode, the ability to tilt down slightly for close-ups, the ability to add a fifth AA cell for faster recycling, etc. But I don't think any of those are terribly important for the average user. A white card you can easily add yourself with a bit of paper and a rubber band, and your D80 has Commander mode built in. The SB-800 also comes with a snap-on diffuser, but you can buy a Sto-Fen diffuser for the SB-600 for about $17 that's similar and works very well. If no special reason to get the SB-800 occurs to you, then get the SB-600. If you decide at some later date that you do want an SB-800, you can buy one and you'll already have the SB-600 to use with it as a remote flash, which by then you would probably want anyway. You're right, most users would be fine with the SB-600. But to be slightly more complete it should be noted that the SB-800 is more powerful, Yes, since the OP indicates that he'll be using it "bouncing and/or diffusing," the extra power might be useful to him -- or not, depending largely on the height and reflectivity of the ceiling, which we don't know. At about the distance he mentions and a moderately high, peaked, white ceiling, I've had good bounce results with the SB-600. has an external power socket and (unless I'm mistaken) has a more flexible commander mode than the D-80. Personally I don't expect ever to use the external power socket on my SB-800 and my guess is only a tiny percentage of users ever do. I haven't used Commander mode enough to know if the SB-800 has more capabilities in that mode than the D80 body, but you may very well be right. If one expects to have multiple flash units there would be a cost advantage if some are SB-600s. But there are also advantages to having all SB-800s, in that you'd only have to learn to use and become familiar with the idiosyncrasies of one flash unit, and you wouldn't have to worry that if one speedlight dies, you might be stuck without a speedlight that could function as a commander. There would be other considerations (pro and con) for the SB-600 and SB-800 if the camera they'd be used with was smaller, commander-less D40. Sure, but we know the OP doesn't have a D40, and he probably isn't even concerned about Commander mode anyway at the present time. Neil |
#5
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nikon sb600 vs sb800
On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 23:19:36 -0500, Neil Harrington wrote:
There would be other considerations (pro and con) for the SB-600 and SB-800 if the camera they'd be used with was smaller, commander-less D40. Sure, but we know the OP doesn't have a D40, and he probably isn't even concerned about Commander mode anyway at the present time. Sure, that's the reason why "would be" . . . "if" was used. Not everyone reading this thread has a D80. In my case it's a D50, slightly larger than a D40 but fairly similar, at least from a speedlight's perspective. Left unsaid were considerations such as these bodies having no commander mode, being top heavy enough when used with the larger SB-800 to justify getting a bracket, etc. Thanks also for mentioning that the SB-600 doesn't offer the slight downward tilt. When I first started using the SB-800 I thought that it was defective until I figured out that it didn't behave quite the same way when the head was tilted down. |
#6
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nikon sb600 vs sb800
"ASAAR" wrote in message ... On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 23:19:36 -0500, Neil Harrington wrote: There would be other considerations (pro and con) for the SB-600 and SB-800 if the camera they'd be used with was smaller, commander-less D40. Sure, but we know the OP doesn't have a D40, and he probably isn't even concerned about Commander mode anyway at the present time. Sure, that's the reason why "would be" . . . "if" was used. Not everyone reading this thread has a D80. In my case it's a D50, slightly larger than a D40 but fairly similar, at least from a speedlight's perspective. Left unsaid were considerations such as these bodies having no commander mode, being top heavy enough when used with the larger SB-800 to justify getting a bracket, etc. Thanks also for mentioning that the SB-600 doesn't offer the slight downward tilt. When I first started using the SB-800 I thought that it was defective until I figured out that it didn't behave quite the same way when the head was tilted down. The SB-800 is one marbelous piece of design and engineering, no doubt about it. It'll be a while before I understand mine fully enough to really exploit its capabilities. Neil |
#7
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nikon sb600 vs sb800
"Yoshi" wrote in message ... "bohemian" wrote in message ... Hi all... any thoughts appreciated... Seems like the SB800 doesn't have more going for it to justify a price difference of $150 (eg 180 vs 320 at amazon) I will be using it on a D80, bouncing and/or diffusing, often and most demanding application would be shooting performances from 20 feet back (or so), often using my 55-200 VR lens which is great for available light musicians but dancers are too blurry at the shutter speeds required by available lighting. Thanks in advance for any wisdom Apparently you've never used an SB-800. Presumably that's why he's asking for advice. Neil |
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