Nikon SB-800 AF Speedlight

I bought this over a year ago and haven't really used it a lot, just enough to write a review.

Overall, it's a powerful flash but it has a lot of strange characteristics that, considering its price, are disappointing.

My constant issue with this flash is its horrible user interface. Its buttons and settings are so confusing that even after a year, I have a hard time figuring out what its current settings are, and this is bad.

On the bright side (chuckle), it's fairly powerful. See below for more details.

Fairly powerful.

Has wireless operation capability, a REALLY nice feature to have if your camera has a Commander mode.

Spins, angles, etc.

Has a built in defuser.

The user interface is a nagging issue: It's poorly organized, has a very cluttered display and its buttons are hard to press and provide very little feedback.

I don't know if it's the Nikon camera or the flash, but shots often has a very "flashy" look to them. I have friends who have Canon cameras, and their pix look much more natural.

Expect strange things to happen when the batteries get weak. Mine makes a 'cycling' sound when I turned it on. It also failed to fire sometimes, or fired 2-3 stops under, though other times it worked fine, without regard to amt of time between shots.

The locking mechanism sometimes fails to fully disengage, making it hard to remove from the camera.

When shooting in Aperture priority, the flash locks the shutter speed at 1/60 of a second. You have to switch the camera to Manual for higher speeds. This is more of a issue that it seems; I normally shoot on Aperture priority, zooming in and out on the fly and turning the flash on and off. But if I turn off the flash for a few natural lighting shots, I sometimes forget its on Manual and ruin a few pix.

Never tried them.

Great flash for the money. Does everything I need it to very well at a reasonable price. Works perfectly with my D50 not one single problem. If you own a Nikon I don't think you could do better for the same price.

Cost, performance, flexibility, awesome battery life.

None

Generic flashes

Not needed.

Awesome product. Really, really awesome.

# 1 is that it works as an optical remote slave directly compatible with most Nikon DSLR's. That is just awesome for a photographer like me who's on a budget.

FAST.

Not too hard on batteries.

I got one of these for my Old D2H when they first came out and it has stood me in good stead ever since and has seen off 3 body upgrades and the D200 second body so no complaints as to reliabilit, battery life is awesome. I have a second one now because the remote flash options are so useful, as has been said it's great as an ad-hoc studio. With the D200's built in flash this is a 3 head wireless battery powered set up I can keep in a small gadget bag. You can have as many as you like and even have 2 seperate groups of flashes So for instance to photograph wedding guests as they arrive you could have 2 different lighting moods set up in seconds depending on the type of picture you want and switch according to the subject.

With the 5th Battery recycle times are comparable to quantum packs on a hammerhead but with full TTL and sync speeds up to 1/8000. Its got enough power when you consider it's a 38-125 GN depending on zoom at ISO100 . This was also hammerhead territory not so long ago.

The controls are straightforwards but can be fiddly to get to. I'd like to see a direct position 3 position switch for normal, master and slave modes.

On it's own it performs very well and gives good well illuminated exposures including fill. As part of a wireless group it's sensational and the fine adjustment it allows is great.

If you need these functions and performance you will not be dissapointed, but if all you want is a corded or on camera flash there is better value for money out there and the price of the TTL cord is just a rip off.

Performance, accuracy of exposures, build quality, battery life. Wireless remote multi flash system.

Price, silly price of sync cord.

After having two SB-600s and using them for portraits, I decided that I needed to get the SB-800 so I could control my 600s and set their power seperately. After already being familiar with the 600s, the 800 was pretty easy to figure out and get it running. Using it on my D70, I get the exposure I want and have had no problems with it.

I also use it on my D1h, and I love the high speed sync already!

The controls are easy to use and see, and the menus are easy to navigate.

I currently mostly use the setup doing product photography as well as portraits. I also wish I had gotten the SB-800s instead of the SB-600s for the features & extra power.

Powerful, easy to use

I-TTL BL is great for just slapping it on the camera and shooting, and is very accurate.

Build quality is good, it has a plastic body, but still feels pretty solid.

None so far that I've discovered

2 Nikon SB-600's

Sigma EF-500

Sent my D70 in for a general check up before the warranty expired, came back quickly. Also sent a flash in to get the bulb repaired, and got it back quickly as well.