testing the sb-600

[davew]

First tests with the sb-600 ( picked it up 20 minutes ago) on the D50
I am impressed what a flash bounced off the celing can do for images
these blow me away so far..
flash bounced off celing
http://images20.fotki.com/v373/photos/1/1065564/4435785/29_dec_06_sb600_test_018-vi.jpg

sb-600 direct at subject
http://images14.fotki.com/v377/photos/1/1065564/4435785/29_dec_06_sb600_test_019-vi.jpg

I love the difference in these photos

http://images14.fotki.com/v378/photos/1/1065564/4435785/29_dec_06_sb600_test_29-vi.jpg

[LR Max]

You've convinced me.

I want it...

[davew]

I am quite impressed with it myself
It was on sale for $229.00 at C city so I had to pick it up:D

[LR Max]

Damn. I kinda hate to say this, but B&H had em for 190 bucks...

Still, even at that price its worth it.

[jcon]

$229 is a bit much for the SB-600.... BHPhoto has it for $180.

Congrats on your new toy, its a great flash!

EDIT*** LR, you just beat me to it..... LOL

[shoeytennis]

hey dave i am also thinking about getting one and i am just curious.
in the first two pictures is that little light to no light or is just an averga elit dining room?
what about the dog?
im mainly wondeirng cuz i want to sue it in little light rooms and get the look as in the first picture.

[davew]

The first 2 pics there was an overhead fluorescent light although only 1 bulb

the last pic of the pup there is alight above and right
but i bounced the flash off the ceiling to the left of her
I will take a few test shots in a low lit room 1 with no flash
1 with flash straight ahead and 1 with flash bounced off the ceiling

I also ordered a diffuser for it as well that should arrive next week
http://www.adorama.com/SFOMNK6A.html?sid=11675052881004295

I know the sb-800 comes with one but the 600 does not

[davew]

no Flash at all

http://images14.fotki.com/v379/photos/1/1065564/4435785/no_flash30_dec_d50_019-vi.jpg

flash on object
http://images18.fotki.com/v376/photos/1/1065564/4435785/flash_object_30_dec_d50_020-vi.jpg

Flash bounced
http://images18.fotki.com/v376/photos/1/1065564/4435785/flash_bounced30_dec_d50_021-vi.jpg

no post processing other then image size to 500
no sharpening in adobe no auto levels nothing
hope this helps

[gmtech79]

Speaking of the SB-600 can you use it with the D80 in commander mode and not use the flash on the D80? I know you can with the SB-800 and I seem to get mixed answers about this wherever I look. If the SB-600 can I am just gonna get it and save some money over the SB-800.
BTW, nice shots, love the look on the dog, it is amazing what an external flash can do, I have played with my Dad's SB-800 and the shots are nice.

[wh0128]

I just got the sb600 also and I couldn't believe how well it does with bouncing light and stuff. I shot a couple of test shots direct, bounced and with no flash and couldn't believe the difference in lighting. I'm gonna start loving flash photography now:D

[LR Max]

So I played around with the 800 today. The guy behind the counter *claimed* to be a professional photographer and he *claimed* that the 600 is not powerful enough to use with the bouncers. Does anyone else have any input on the subject?

If I procure a flash, I will be buying a bouncer. Like the remote, its more like a toy than a real piece of equipment but I think it would be a good use of 20 bucks. I don't see any reason why said bouncer couldn't be used effiecently on the sb-600.

[K1W1]

The guy behind the counter *claimed* to be a professional photographer and he *claimed* that the 600 is not powerful enough to use with the bouncers. Does anyone else have any input on the subject?

Take your money somewhere else. He does not deserve to make the sale or get the commission.

[LR Max]

Take your money somewhere else. He does not deserve to make the sale or get the commission.

LOL. I assure you, there was no way I was gonna pay 240 for a SB-600. I was just getting info from the guy. He did have quite a chip on his shoulder, I wouldn't have given him squat. The kid that works there is very nice, not as "seasoned" as this guy is but he has his stuff in order.

I guess I'll just go for the 600 and then buy the $20 bouncer-dome thingie.

[K1W1]

I guess I'll just go for the 600 and then buy the $20 bouncer-dome thingie.

Try this.

http://www.joedembphotography.com/flipit/

[Rooz]

lol i never seen that before, what a great idea ! i used to hold up an a4 page folded in half or a business card. technology and ingenuity are wonderful things are they not ?:D

[davew]

Looks Nice:)
Might have to get me one of those
Right now I use a piece of felt and a rubber band and it works pretty Good

[Rooz]

Speaking of the SB-600 can you use it with the D80 in commander mode and not use the flash on the D80? I know you can with the SB-800 and I seem to get mixed answers about this wherever I look. If the SB-600 can I am just gonna get it and save some money over the SB-800..

good question. i just bought the 600 and so far haven't been able to get it to operate without the d80 flash. if someone can answer this it will save me some fiddling around.

[davew]

Ken goes over usage here
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/sb600.htm

[eduardofrances]

Speaking of the SB-600 can you use it with the D80 in commander mode and not use the flash on the D80? I know you can with the SB-800 and I seem to get mixed answers about this wherever I look. If the SB-600 can I am just gonna get it and save some money over the SB-800.
BTW, nice shots, love the look on the dog, it is amazing what an external flash can do, I have played with my Dad's SB-800 and the shots are nice.

As I understand the the built in flash on the D80 will fire but you can dial down the flash exposure (FEC) the SB 600 is not a bad addition at all, I have one and I don't regret it at all, in the future if I buy a SB800 I will have a cool SB 600 in slave mode ;) :D

[shingfan]

good question. i just bought the 600 and so far haven't been able to get it to operate without the d80 flash. if someone can answer this it will save me some fiddling around.

SB600 can only act as a slave if that is the answer you are looking for........it is in the manual of the D80

i also have a SB600 and i love it.....havent had time to try out the quality of wireless flash though....but i did test it once as a slave for test purpose

[Rooz]

it works brilliantly as a wireless. i have yet to have misfires and i have put the 600 in some pretty wierd poistions with no line of site to the camera at all. this is a great advantge of a wireless mode cos you can put the flash literally anywhere.

when you say you have tested it as a slave what do you mean, you mean mounted on the camera ?? it's not really a slave then is it cos it's the only flash that functions ?? :confused:

i can't help but think that there will be times when i don;t want the d80 flash to fire but want some additional light from the 600 in wireless mode away from the subject. imo, this should be a key feature of wireless flashes and i'm a little dissapointed the 600 doesn;t do this.

[tcadwall]

Funny, but on the D70s I am pretty sure (it has been a while since I used it as a remote) that the D70s only fired pre-flash (the control sequence) and did not actually fire an exposure flash - when set up correctly the SB600 would supply the exposure flash.

I just pulled out my Thom Hogan guide to see what might be in there regarding getting the camera flash and the wireless flash to both fire for an exposure, and he claims it can't be done. That this only works with an SB-800.

But - I know that others have claimed no issue getting their D50 for trigger the SB-600. This would imply that it can be done with the D70s as well - maybe I'll get a chance to try it this weekend (but hopefully someone else has already done this and will post it)

[tcadwall]

ok this was driving me crazy - especially since it has come up in two threads at once. So I gave it a shot... I could not get the sb-600 to fire off camera unless I put the camera (D70s) in commander mode. I would imagine that the SB-800 Would do this, since it does the SU-4 synch.

So maybe I have to recant the statement that I made previously that the SB-600 can be TRIGGERED by the D50.... I was going based off of other people saying that they were successful with it, but I can't simulate that. I can't really find step-by-step directions on how to do it either. If someone knows how, please post.

Oh and also on the D70s I am not able to perform a iTTL AND exposure flash with the built-in flash. One or the other. If someone knows how to do that, I'd like to hear it as well. Thom Hogan's book explains how to do it with the SB-800 and D70s but that is in SU-4 synch (manual settings on flash) not iTTL.

[shingfan]

ok this was driving me crazy - especially since it has come up in two threads at once. So I gave it a shot... I could not get the sb-600 to fire off camera unless I put the camera (D70s) in commander mode. I would imagine that the SB-800 Would do this, since it does the SU-4 synch.

So maybe I have to recant the statement that I made previously that the SB-600 can be TRIGGERED by the D50.... I was going based off of other people saying that they were successful with it, but I can't simulate that. I can't really find step-by-step directions on how to do it either. If someone knows how, please post.

Oh and also on the D70s I am not able to perform a iTTL AND exposure flash with the built-in flash. One or the other. If someone knows how to do that, I'd like to hear it as well. Thom Hogan's book explains how to do it with the SB-800 and D70s but that is in SU-4 synch (manual settings on flash) not iTTL.


SB600 can only act as SLAVE.....if you need a commander....SB800 or your camera body (D70s/D80) must do the job....SB600 does not work in commander mode

[eduardofrances]

So I played around with the 800 today. The guy behind the counter *claimed* to be a professional photographer and he *claimed* that the 600 is not powerful enough to use with the bouncers. Does anyone else have any input on the subject?

If I procure a flash, I will be buying a bouncer. Like the remote, its more like a toy than a real piece of equipment but I think it would be a good use of 20 bucks. I don't see any reason why said bouncer couldn't be used effiecently on the sb-600.

Well he is only trying to get more money from you, I use the SB600 bounced from walls, ceilings, bounce cards, sto-fen omnibounce 100% without a problem, he is telling you a lie so you spend more money.