I picked up a SB-600 for my D70 and I woundering if anyone had any tips on how to use a flash unit, I am having a little trouble getting started, thanks
Try this... //www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d70flash.htm#flash maybe not quite as helpful, but a little info. I'm planning on buying one too and if I can find the rest of the sites I visited, I'll post them.
Perhaps if you were a little more specific about what "having a little trouble getting started" means, you would get more response.
I have the SB-800 and it's the coolest flash I've ever had. Don't really know the difference between a 600 and 800, and would rather use them than learn the differences to tell the truth.
But if you have specific questions, let us (the DPC gang) know and you'll find better responses.
Look forward to reading more from you, and hopefully helping out.
Well, that's encouraging! Guess I have something to look forward to...
hehe, yeah me too, after i drop some cash on it it will be great to know that i will be driven nutts trying to work with it..........lucky for me i already know the basics and am just too cheep to get it :OP
anyway if u say what u are having troubble with maybe my feibal mind can give so helpful info...
I have the SB-800 and it is amazing. I opted for the 800 with a view to getting an additional 600 in the future as the 800 can be used as a controllor (master controller) for 600s. However i think that apart from that, there is little difference except the 600 is a tad less powerful and you don't get the diffusion attachment or the ability to do stroboscopic effects. The best thing though, is the iTTL feature when using it for fill flash. Just set the mode to iTTL and it will balance the ambient light with the flash perfectly, even if you bounce the flash. I use my SB-800 as a slave a lot, controlling it with the built in flash. This takes a little bit of setting up (getting it to "talk" on the same channel) but I figured it out from the manual. In this way you can do cool lighting effects and the 600 does this just as well as the 800. I think that experimenting is the best thing to do. The flash will sync right up to 1/500 on the D70 which is a HUGE advantage with daylight fill. Check out Ken Rockwell's site as suggested earlier, and good luck!
I have the SB800 its a beast for sure.. I have not got it sorted out yet either and I would love to use it with my Pentax645 too but im not sure it will behave itself on that camera. my manual is in Japanese but I was able to download the english manual from Nikons website, now all I need is a brain so I can understand it LMAO.
Youll love it though, even on auto settings its a super flash
I use a SB600. It is exactly the speedlight I wanted.
If you use rechargeable AA's, try to get the 2500mAh and have a back up set of 4 ready to go. Place the speedlight into the hot shoe, lock it in place, and turn it on. Set the mode to TTL and start shooting. It will automatically turn on and off as you turn on/off the camera. If you have a Nikkor 24-85 affixed to the body, then the zoom range on your SB600 will be in sync with your lens. Choose your shooting mode (automatic or manual overides) and take pictures.
Always have freshly charged batteries for your shooting sessions. When shooting many flash pictures in succession (as in indoor events), give the flash time to come to full power and recognize when the batteries need changing........otherwise you will loose shots.
The wide angle cover is also a "diffuser" on the SB600. Remember to slide it back into its slot when you want full flash results. Learn the head adjustments. Practice bounce techniques on a stationary subject in a room where you know the dimensions. This will allow you to adjust for variances on location. Learn where the shadows will be. Become proficient in these predictions. It will save alot of time and duplicated efforts.
I love my SB800. It's so much fun to use and such a powerfull flash. But I can't figure it out also. But in TTL it does everything for you.
There's just one thing that bothere's me about it: when I put the diffusion cupule on it the distance mettered becomes 14mm. Is there any way to change this feature, because sometimes I wanto to use it with it (for example inside churches to get softer direct light) but I'm not in the 14mm range. Or do I have to put it on manual and give it more flash power?
You can use the sb 800 to control the sb 600, the sb 600 will not control anything. But you dont have to worry about that because you d70 will control them when the are off your camera. The sb600 is an excellent flash for the money. I just picked my second one for $209.00 including shipping. Along with the 4 umbrellas I have it makes a pretty good setup. But seriously you will learn somthing new everyday.
The sb800 will also alow the flash to travel farther than the sb600. At least thats what I'm told.
