SB-600 or SB-800 Flash for Nikon D70 ???

Neophyte question.

I want to take photos at family gatherings and other indoor events. The
one time I've done this, the photos were not impressive because a lot of
the shots had bad shadows cast by the builtin flash. I'm *guessing* the
best solution is to get an external flash that can be aimed (indirect
light) or that can be fitted with some type of diffuser??? Or am I just
misusing the builtin flash?

If the solution is to get an external flash, how do I know which one I
need? I don't know enough about the available features or any of the
issues involved with selecting a flash. Any guidelines?

Thanks,
Randy.

 

You don't say how big the gatherings are.

External flash is always going to be better than the on-camera pop up.
This allows you to bounce flash off ceilings and walls, giving a less
stark image. The SB-800 which I bought for my D70 is a marvellous unit.
The results are quite impressive. If you can afford it, get it.

 

I'm using the SB-600 with my D70 with excellent results... Would have
prefered the SB-800, but didn't have the extra cash. The wireless slave
operation on the SB-600 is MARVELOUS and all I need when used with the
Commander mode of the D70.

 

The 800 and 600 are wonderful. Bounce off ceiling if possible. If not
possible use the supplied diffusion dome and aim at subject. On camera
flash isn't powerful and only gets you started. Great investments.

You'll be happy with either. Buy the 800 if you can afford it. I use the
white pop up card (supplied) to avoid dark racoon eyes with bounced flash.
You'll be happy with sb600, but may wonder if you should have bought the
800.

I own the sb800. You really need it for indoor events IMHO.

 

Do these require wires? Any good options for wireless triggered by the
built in flash?

 

The SB-800 will do that. I'm not sure that the SB-600 has that feature.

Diane

 

It does.

 

I just had this problem recently - and ended up getting an SB-800. I
love it! The D70 built in flash is quite good for a built-in, but it's
much lower power than a real flash and of course you can't really bounce
it easily. The 800 comes with a diffuser dome (I think you need to buy
this separately with the 600, but it can use it). When you put it on,
the flash automatically goes into highest output super-wide-angle output
mode for maximum diffusion.

The SB-800 and the D70 work together scarily well - you can get away
without really knowing anything and letting the camera and flash do all
the thinking for you and get some pretty good results. Of course you'll
get even better results if you do know what you're doing at least a
little and know where/how to bounce the flash, when to put on the dome,
that sort of thing. And if you learn nothing else learn to do the
manual exposure override (very easy to do!) - this is often a much
better option than using the camera's built-in EV override, and if you
back the flash off to -1 2/3 it makes a wonderful fill flash. Even
outdoors in full sun.

Plus when you have the SB-800 you can replace the nasty white focus
helper light on the D70 with a much nicer red assist light on the flash
itself. They also work together very well wirelessly.

Really, there's only one downside - it's another piece of equipment to
lug around, and it does make the camera substantially heavier when it's
on.

As for whether you get the 600 or the 800, I'd say get the 800 if you
can afford it. You get a bit more power (I think an extra stop worth?),
you get the diffusion dome packed in (otherwise an extra $20), and I
think the 800 will work better wirelessly with multiple 800s if you end
up that way. But if you can't afford/justify the 800, I think you'll be
pretty happy with the 600 too. Having a real flash is so much better
than the builtin.

 

Thanks for the responses. Looks like I'll be picking up an SB-800 in the
next couple of weeks.

Randy.

 

I'll second that; the SB-800 is a great flash. You're better off biting the
bullet and paying the difference and getting the 800 for your primary flash
and either a 600 or another 800 for a secondary later on. Plus, I think
there is a Nikon rebate on the 800 now?



Rita

 

$25, but better than nothing!
http://www.nikonusa.com/fileuploads/pdfs/slr_rebates.pdf

 

Agreed. I liked the 600 so much, I bought the 800.
Some UK magazine (forget which) rated the SB-800 as the best from any
company.