Sb 600 or 800?

ben g

ben g

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Hello all, I want to get a flash to go with my D40 and I'm not sure whether to get the Nikon sb600 or 800. I am relatively new to taking photography seriously so not sure if the extra features on the 800 would really be of use now or in the future. It would be nice to save a bit of money by getting the 600, but i don't mind spending a bit more if its worth it. Thanks for any ideas on this, ben :)
 
If you can afford it the SB800, i'm a canon man but my mate has both and the SB800 trounces the SB600 in features and abilities, buy the best you can afford, it will save you in the long run.
 
Thanks Brains, still left me a bit undecided though!:)
Unless someone tells me it's not worth the extra money I will probably end up going with the 800. :shrug:
 
I think the main thing to think about is do you want functions or usability?

SB-800 has all the functions, but after reading this, i know which i would go for...

Code: 
                                     SB-600                  SB-800
Full-power battery life (13)  	    220 flashes            150 flashes
Full-power recycle time (13) 	    2.5 seconds             4 seconds
 
The 800 would be handy if you wanted commander function and used say two or three extra flashes, as the D40 doesn't have this feature. However as said if you just want one flash go for the sb600, I did.
A friend has the 800 and I have used it as commander on my D50 with 600 flashes as slaves but it starts getting expensive at this point.
 
If price is a deciding factor and you're not too bothered about a multiplicity of functions. Why not consider the new SB400? Only an idea.....;)
 
Wile E. coyote said:
A friend has the 800 and I have used it as commander on my D50 with 600 flashes as slaves but it starts getting expensive at this point.
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Blimey - I bet it did.... all those batteries!

Oh, you mean SB600 slaves. I thought, that's a huge great number of flashguns :help:
 
chuckles said:
Blimey - I bet it did.... all those batteries!

Oh, you mean SB600 slaves. I thought, that's a huge great number of flashguns :help:
Click to expand...

I thought someone might pick up on that when I typed it :lol: Yeah lots of batteries, even when just using 4 flashes, rechargables are a godsend with fast charges.
 
ifotou said:
If you can afford it the SB800, i'm a canon man but my mate has both and the SB800 trounces the SB600 in features and abilities, buy the best you can afford, it will save you in the long run.
Click to expand...

I dont know,... my SB-600 has covered many a wedding and I have never thought about needing anything more powerfull/feature-rich.

If you have a home studio the SB-800 is handy for multi wireless flash with a 2nd/3rd SB-600 in the loop.

King.
 
I got the SB-600, I couldn't justify the extra cost of the 800 for what little extra it gave me. Plus I tend not to use flash anyway, I only bought one because the D2x doesn't have a built in flash.
 
I bought the SB600, and it's been very good. I run it on 2700mAH NiMH batteries (which are rechargeable, obviously).
 
Thanks everyone for all the replies. I am leaning a bit more towards the sb600 now although Kerso has quoted me a really good price for the sb800. I don't know much about using more than one flash, its something I have never been able to try. In multiple flash set ups would you normally have a flash actually mounted on the camera or is it more likely you would want flashes mounted to the sides? If this is the case maybe it makes more sense for me to buy the sb600 now and if I want to do multiple flash stuff in the future i could buy the SU 800 controller + another sb600. Alternatively I guess I could have the sb800 on a cord to get it at an angle to the camera and than buy another slave unit in the future if i want to.
Does anyone have any experience of using multiple flash units?
Thanks again for any help, ben :)
 
the SB800 can be had from onestopdigital for £200 or the SB600 for £140,hong kong based but very good to deal with,only take 5 days to deliver, personaly i would go for the SB800, but just my opinion.
 
Or if simply want a cheap flashgun, amazon are doing a cracking deal on SB-400's :) About £70 IIRC
 
ben g said:
Alternatively I guess I could have the sb800 on a cord to get it at an angle to the camera and than buy another slave unit in the future if i want to.
Does anyone have any experience of using multiple flash units?
Thanks again for any help, ben :)
Click to expand...
I bought a cord when I got the SB600, and the cord cost £30. Then I bought some radio triggers off eBay for £20, and they work better. A cord will give better results and is more reliable, but the triggers give more freedom to move things about. Plus extra receivers are £7 - I've got three flashes working off my camera and the whole trigger system cost me £34!!
 
Ian T said:
I bought a cord when I got the SB600, and the cord cost £30. Then I bought some radio triggers off eBay for £20, and they work better. A cord will give better results and is more reliable, but the triggers give more freedom to move things about. Plus extra receivers are £7 - I've got three flashes working off my camera and the whole trigger system cost me £34!!
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Could of bought an SU-800 controller unit? I know they arent exactly £34 but you have the ability to control all settings individually on camera then.
 
King_Boru said:
Could of bought an SU-800 controller unit? I know they arent exactly £34 but you have the ability to control all settings individually on camera then.
Click to expand...

It better buying the sb 800, not much more than su 800 and you still get the flash.
 
Thanks again everyone for all the advice. I have just ordered a sb800 + remote lead from Kerso. I thought I may as well go for the option that will definitely meet all my possible future needs. ben:)
 
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