Nikon Speedlite SB-900 & accesories - Saxperience

Mystic^p · 4th January 2009, 19:01

Hey cyclopses,

Been thinking about getting a decent flash for a while now (the on camera one cant even shoot over half my lenses) and talked myself into an SB-600, but in typical fashion, at the last minute im thinking about just going for the SB-900. Is it really worth the extra pennies? What does it do more than the SB600?

Also i'd be looking to get a wireless trigger & one of these stofen filters too. What sort of triggers are you guys using & i seem to remember people talking about alternatives to the stofen filters?

Tar

Barry123 · 4th January 2009, 19:05

go for a second hand sB800 mate.

the sb900 is the newest, greatest nikon flash, but really it's a major overkill even if it's packed full of features - and costs a bomb.

However a lot of the diehard gadget lovers will be selling up their sb800's and going to the sb900's. Grab y0self a bargain

Barry123 · 4th January 2009, 19:08

Stofen Flash diffusers i guess you're meaning

this is where I get mine from

Don't get the crappy imitation ones. They're the wrong opacity and duffer diffusing material

Wireless triggers.... good man

you can get them from here

ads

Doug · 4th January 2009, 20:43

You could buy two 600's for the price of a 900, depends what you're wanting I guess...

Mystic^p · 4th January 2009, 22:13

Cheers Ads, Only seems to be about a £50 difference between the 800 & 900 so i'll just have to see what pops up 2nd hand.

Whats he deal with the triggers, recivers & the hotshoe slave thing? Im guessing for the time being i'll just need a trigger and receiver?

danbills · 5th January 2009, 20:39

Mystic, what focal length lenses are you using?
The great thing about the SB-900 is that it has coverage from 24-200mm unlike the SB-800 that has coverage from 24-105mm......if you have a 200mm lens that you use for portraiture the SB-900 would be a great investment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mystic

Whats he deal with the triggers, recivers & the hotshoe slave thing? Im guessing for the time being i'll just need a trigger and receiver?

You don't NEED any of these to use the flashgun, you only need these if you want to use the speedlight wirelessly off the camera.

If you have a camera with a pop up flash then you can use that as a slave to trigger the flashgun wirelessly but it's hassle.

You can get a cable to use the flashgun off the camera but it'll obviously be wired and you'll only have about 1 metre off cable but this allows you to be more creative with where your speedlight is positioned.

If you are really serious about off camera flash without wires then either the Nikon SU-800 or pocketwizards would be worth getting, these will allow you to trigger your flashgun where ever it is....the Nikon unit is simpler and easier to use but doesn't have as long as a range as pocketwizards.

Hope I helped

Mystic^p · 5th January 2009, 22:57

I've lenses that cover from 10mm to 300mm although i cant see myself doing much portraiture at 200mm, for the extra £50 now, i may well land up in a situation where im glad i went the whole hog.

I regret buying the D50 and not getting a D80. Same as when i was saxo hunting i had my heart set on a VTR, then had a last minute changed my mind and went for a VTS and never looked back.

I wish i wasnt so far away from all the action so i could actually try out some of th gear before i go spending all my beer tokens

Barry123 · 5th January 2009, 23:02

mate if you're doing portraiture you don't want the flash on the camera anyway... you can make a snoot (basically a long cone - made out of cardboard) to contain the spread of the light.

danbills · 5th January 2009, 23:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mystic

i cant see myself doing much portraiture at 200mm

You should give it ago man, long focal lengths distort the image by flattening which can be flattering with portraiture and the longer the focal length the more effective the depth of field will be so you can get a nice soft out of focus background without having a large aperture lens.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mystic

I regret buying the D50 and not getting a D80

Yer, I've tryed to get the best in my price range all the time with my equipment because you'll always end up getting it in the end. I went from a D40 to a D300 in one hit because I didn't want to get a D80 then a D300 later on. I'd shed the extra £50 if I was you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mystic

I wish i wasnt so far away from all the action so i could actually try out some of th gear before i go spending all my beer tokens

Where do you live? Isn't there a Jessops close buy....I find they're always helpful when you want to test kit out, all of the lenses I have bought from there I tried out on a D300 body so I could see how my camera and the lens perform together....it really helps you to see if you really want it or not.

Mystic^p · 5th January 2009, 23:16

Yeh, the wireless trigger would be for portraiture flash stuff. Also just to have the freedom to be a bit more experimental with the flash placement.

But say im at a wedding or something and want to take a snap of people at the other end of the church, isnt that where the extra length of the flash would come into play? Kinda al fresco shots

EDIT: Theres a Jessops near by i suppose i could have a play with, its where i bought the D50 initially, went in without knowing much atall about SLRs had a shot of a few canons and nikons and tried out a few expensive lenses too, although at the time there wasnt a hope in hell someone could talk me into taking the lens off the camera

funny how things change!

I'm considering getting a D90 towards the end of he year too, have had the D50 for a good few years now & i think its just about run its course!

danbills · 5th January 2009, 23:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by adsayer

mate if you're doing portraiture you don't want the flash on the camera anyway... you can make a snoot (basically a long cone - made out of cardboard) to contain the spread of the light.

Agreed. Also you can get a product called the Ezybox from Lastolite that fits onto the front of your flashgun that diffuses the light also more professionally than a diffusion dome/cap. Great for location portraiture

mul_vts · 15th February 2009, 13:25

i've tried following all this i just dont get it, but if it helps i think for the extra £50 on the 800 to the 900 i would jsut go for the 900 myself, if you decide to buy brand new.

mul_vts · 15th February 2009, 13:26

just my opinion and i this is not one of my strong topics if i'm honest