External flashes

[Chikabowa]

SB-600 is definitely worth the extra amount of money. The SB-400 head will only swivel up and down, which will be difficult it you plan on bouncing your flash off anything. The SB-600 will also give you additional power and features. All around, it's a MUCH better flash - especially if you plan on doing this sort of thing more often.

 

[thefirebuilds]

impressive shots. Dark shots own me... lol.

 

[GrillMouster]

SB-600 is definitely worth the extra amount of money. The SB-400 head will only swivel up and down, which will be difficult it you plan on bouncing your flash off anything. The SB-600 will also give you additional power and features. All around, it's a MUCH better flash - especially if you plan on doing this sort of thing more often.

+1

 

[Furgus]

yes it is worth it. If you can swing the extra $$$ get the SB-800. You can use it as a commander for other flashes. I have both and they are great.

 

[broberts]

I agree. It is definitely worth the few extra dollars.

 

[YesDear]

SB-600 +++++++++++++++

The SB-800 has been discontinued. The SB-900 is amazing but not worth the extra money for you at this point.

 

[Furgus]

SB-600 +++++++++++++++

The SB-800 has been discontinued. The SB-900 is amazing but not worth the extra money for you at this point.

When did they do that? Are the 900's the same price as the 800's were?

 

[Chikabowa]

I just recently realized it... like recently last Friday! I was doing replacement cost assessments for my insurance company and that's when I found out they are done!

And no, the 900's are still the same price they were before ~$490.00.

There is still a huge resale market on the 800's though. They are so popular and prevalent you should be able to get them for a long time. I love mine!

 

[Todd_H]

Self portrait (I had to manually focus all of these shots because Canons just don't AF well in low light)

 

[YesDear]

They were actually discontinued about the same time as the 900 came out. I did not realize it either.
Used ones are now selling for the price of a new one since they were so popular. I did find a place on the internet that said they had them but the price was almost $800!!!!!! They are a great flash but not that great.

I recently got my 900 for under $450.

 

[revrob]

Amazing! I wanna be like you when I grow up! Seriously, I look at these shots and wonder if I'll ever have a chance at taking a shot like this in very low light. I hope so!

 

[Todd_H]

impressive shots. Dark shots own me... lol.

Thanks very much! It's nice to visit when the crowds are (relatively) low. It also helps when you don't have your family in tow so you can just hop off a ride, review your shots and immediately get back on to make the changes you want to make.

 

[wenrob]

SB-600 is definitely worth the extra amount of money. The SB-400 head will only swivel up and down, which will be difficult it you plan on bouncing your flash off anything. The SB-600 will also give you additional power and features. All around, it's a MUCH better flash - especially if you plan on doing this sort of thing more often.

I own both and would have to agree 100%.

 

[Steve's Girl]

They were actually discontinued about the same time as the 900 came out. I did not realize it either.
Used ones are now selling for the price of a new one since they were so popular. I did find a place on the internet that said they had them but the price was almost $800!!!!!! They are a great flash but not that great.

I recently got my 900 for under $450.

Unfortunately a lot of retailers were not aware that the 800 was being discontinued either. Last year, right after the 900 came out, I went to my local camera store to buy an 800 since I had heard they were going to be discontinued and wanted to get it while I could. The manager told me not to worry Nikon was not discontinuing the 800 and I would be able to get it later without any problem. Since I really didn't NEED the 800 right then, I decided to save my money and just get it later. Well.....here I am with no 800 in hand and I'm not willing to pay for the 900. So, I'm not really sure what I will end up doing. The 800s I have found are almost as much as the 900, so at that point, just get the 900. Or, I may just get another 600 and make do with that - although it is missing a few of the features I would like.

 

[Todd_H]

Amazing! I wanna be like you when I grow up! Seriously, I look at these shots and wonder if I'll ever have a chance at taking a shot like this in very low light. I hope so!

Thanks very much! Actually, having a camera with very high ISO capability makes shooting in these extreme low light conditions much, much easier. Most of these HM shots were taken with my ISO set to 12800 and the aperture set wide open (either 1.8 or 2.8 depending on which lens I was using). With that combination, I was able to use a shutter speed (most of the time) at 1/50 sec and get pretty decent exposures with minimal blur. Some of these are also boosted a little through CS4 and noise has been filtered on some through Noise Ninja. The hard part was focusing manually, which I had to do the entire time because Canon stinks with AF in low light. Nikons, from what I hear, perform much better with AF in low light than Canons (not sure about Pentax, Sony, Olympus).

 

[Angrypenguin]

Hey Todd, uh, if you ever decide you don't want that 5dmkII anymore, lemme know

Great shots though! I agree about the lowlight AF of Canons; although even just jumping from my Rebel XS to the 50d made a huge difference in speed. Nikon's AF is fairly quick, but just from my experiences (a D90 vs. 50D) it's only marginally quicker.

How many lenses did you carry with you while running around the parks? This past time I was there I only carried a walkaround (my then walkaround, an 18-200) and the nifty fifty. Next time I go though, I'm thinking of running around with three lenses (24-105, 70-200 f/4 when I get it, and a nifty fifty), but, uh, that's a lot to lug around. Did you rent a locker or anything?

 

[Iwant2BAprincess]

Pardon my while I enjoy a case of camera envy. The shots are great-thanks for sharing!!

 

[Todd_H]

Hey Todd, uh, if you ever decide you don't want that 5dmkII anymore, lemme know

O.K. will do

How many lenses did you carry with you while running around the parks? This past time I was there I only carried a walkaround (my then walkaround, an 18-200) and the nifty fifty. Next time I go though, I'm thinking of running around with three lenses (24-105, 70-200 f/4 when I get it, and a nifty fifty), but, uh, that's a lot to lug around. Did you rent a locker or anything?

Well, I carried three lenses around with me the entire time: the 24-70 f/2.8L, the 50mm f/1.8ii, and a 100mm f/2.8 macro (which I barely touched). I rented a locker, but only to stash my tripod during the day and then retrieved it when it started getting dark. I carried everything in my backpack the rest of the time (which I DON'T recommend if you can help it). Here's a pic of my gear (I didn't carry the flash though):

My back was killing me by about 7pm after carrying the pack all day (and the camera around my neck). When we take the family back in September, I'll have a small stroller to stash the pack in. Also, I think I'll leave the macro home and carry the 70-200 instead. I did miss the length more than I thought I would (still getting used to full frame and loss of zoom due to the crop factor).

 

[Todd_H]

The shots are great-thanks for sharing!!

Thanks!

 

[Angrypenguin]

O.K. will do



Well, I carried three lenses around with me the entire time: the 24-70 f/2.8L, the 50mm f/1.8ii, and a 100mm f/2.8 macro (which I barely touched). I rented a locker, but only to stash my tripod during the day and then retrieved it when it started getting dark. I carried everything in my backpack the rest of the time (which I DON'T recommend if you can help it). Here's a pic of my gear (I didn't carry the flash though):

My back was killing me by about 7pm after carrying the pack all day (and the camera around my neck). When we take the family back in September, I'll have a small stroller to stash the pack in. Also, I think I'll leave the macro home and carry the 70-200 instead. I did miss the length more than I thought I would (still getting used to full frame and loss of zoom due to the crop factor).

Thanks for the info. I was using my crumpler bag to tote around the parks, and it worked surprisingly well, but I'm not sure it'll cut it if I have all the gear that I'm planning on having . Good idea about stashing the tripod though! Do you have the 70-200 2.8 or the 4? I like the extra stop, but I do the majority of my shooting during the daytime hours outside, so I figured I would go with the 4 to save some size/weight.

By the way, I forgot about the size of the lens hood on the 24-70. That thing is huge