Sb-600

[chris.e.fry]

I am working with a local photographer, and am in need of getting an external flash. From what I have read, the Nikon SB-600 is a great flash. What I cant find, however, is how it can be angled. How much can it be angled vertically? What about horizontally? Many times I tilt the camera 45 deg to get portrait shots, but I would like to be able to tilt the flash as well so that it is not protruding way off to the side. Also, does anyone know of any other really good external flashes that would work on a D40 for ~$200. I need to be able to get a flash and a diffuser for around 200 bucks.

[chris.e.fry]

Also, would an external flash, such as the SB-600 use up my D40 battery more quickly? I would hope it would have little or no impact on the camera battery.

[jerryph]

The SB-600 is a good flash. Unfortunately on camera is NOT the best place for a flash to be. Before I get to that part, let me answer your questions:

The head angles from a 0 degree angle ("L" position) to an "I" position (pointing straight up) at 90 degrees in the following increments: 0, 45, 60, 75 and 90 degrees. It also swivels side to side so that you can turn the body as much as 90 degrees in one way and 180 degrees in the other direction.

It also has a zoom feature that goes from 17mm with the built-in diffuser lowered to other zoom levels of 24, 28, 35, 50, 70 and 85 mm ranges (this is the various widths of the beam you can control).

The flash contains 4 AA batteries, so it would not eat any of your camera power. It is iTTL compatible, meaning that your camera can control the output of it automatically via a series of pre-flashes before the picture is taken when mounted to your camera's hotshoe connector.

Now... the downsides: This flash has no built-in optical slave capabilities, so getting it to where it would do you BEST (off camera), is difficult without added equipment. It *is* compatible with Nikon's CLS/ALS (Creative Lighting System - Advanced Lighting System), however, your D40 doesn't have that option.

Is the SB-600 a good flash? It was good enough that I bought 2 new ones myself and I use them a lot. I am very happy with them... OFF camera. I also have one SB-800 and 2 studio strobes as well as a Metz C-35, so I do a lot of lighting, and enjoy it.

Are there cheaper flashes around? Sure, I can point you to 90-100 dollar flashes, but none will be as good on your D40 as the SB-600 is... however, as I said, on camera flash is where all beginners start, and few real photographers leave them. Flat lighting just sucks, and thats the ONLY kind of lighting you will get with on camera flashes.

Did you know that Nikon has a website that has ALL the manuals of everything that they sell online in the form of PDF manuals? If you need more info, you can just download it from there.

For additional info on the various options of lighting (on camera vs off camera, etc...) visit HERE (http://jerryphpics.blogspot.com/2008/03/2-flash.html), HERE (http://jerryphpics.blogspot.com/2008/06/nikon-cls-play-time.html), but to really get to know how to use your flash off camera for some amazing results, visit HERE (http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html).

Lots to learn, and lots to read... good luck! :D

[chris.e.fry]

Thanks for all the great info! Along with the SB-600, I was already planning on getting a cord that goes from the hotshoe to the flash so that I can angle it as needed.

[jerryph]

Thanks for all the great info! Along with the SB-600, I was already planning on getting a cord that goes from the hotshoe to the flash so that I can angle it as needed.

Won't work... the SB-600 doesn't have a sync port to plug that wire into!

You will need adapters and what not. Depending on if you want to use iTTL or not, that adapter could be $15 (no iTTL) or $50-$75 from Nikon for that adapter (iTTL will work).

[chris.e.fry]

it just connects to the bottom of the flash. As far as the flash is concerned, it is plugged directly to the top of the camera. Its really just a slinky cord with adapters at the ends. I think I saw them on Amazon for like $15.