Nikon Speedlight SB-800 AF Flash Light

This flash is the probably the...

Strengths: Powerful, flexible, easy to use. Helps improve lighting in photographs tremendously.

Weakness: Lack of a Li-Ion rechargeable battery pack.

This flash is the probably the best flash I have ever used. WELL worth the money. I recently purchased a Nikon D70 and found that the built in flash was just not powerful enough to provide the lighting I wanted. The SB-800 fills that job and then some! It's built in focus assist LEDs help the camera focus easier in dim light. The flash head actually zooms and focuses the flash beam depending on...
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This flash is the probably the best flash I have ever used. WELL worth the money. I recently purchased a Nikon D70 and found that the built in flash was just not powerful enough to provide the lighting I wanted. The SB-800 fills that job and then some! It's built in focus assist LEDs help the camera focus easier in dim light. The flash head actually zooms and focuses the flash beam depending on the zoom settting of your lens. The head can be angled or rotated to nearly any position you could need. For even further creativity, the flash works awesome in wireless remote mode. You can set up a camera like the D70 to remotely trigger the SB-800. So you can place the SB-800 anywhere and use it and the built in flash on the D70 (or other Nikon cameras that use the Creative Lighting System). Multiple SB-800s can be used at the same time this way. I am extemely pleased with this flash and it has just in a matter of days helped improve my pictures. The only drawback is that this flash runs off AA batteries. You can put in NiMH rechargeables, but it would have been nice had Nikon designed the flash to use a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery pack (like the D70 has). Other than that, I have absolutely no complaints about the flahs. Very easy to use and set up. I highly recommend it!

By NA9D - Sep 20, 2004

The sb800 is a great addition to...

Strengths: Great flash. Strong output.

Weakness: Slow recycle times.

The sb800 is a great addition to the D70. It allows me to take very nice portraits of people and being able to use a fill flash for daylight is great. The drawback is that flash's recylce time is too long sometimes and i lose some shots that i otherwise would have gotten to work. OTher than that, great flash and great value!

By duckyl30y - Nov 3, 2004

I'm glad I picked this up. I...

Strengths: Really Powerful. Fully featured. Comes with diffusion dome, filters, stand, battery pack & carry-case. Wireless/remote/slave mode works well.

Weakness: You'll need to carry those spare AA's! This bad boy eats up 4 at a time + 1 extra if you use the battery pack for faster recycling times

I'm glad I picked this up. I probably would have been satisfied with the SB600 but I already got this and am not planning on returning it. Maybe I'll pickup the sb600 later on when I need multiple flash (or a backup flash). The strobe flash isn't something I plan on using very much but I'm sure I'll have fun playing with it when I want to do something creative. I'm really having lots of fun...
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I'm glad I picked this up. I probably would have been satisfied with the SB600 but I already got this and am not planning on returning it. Maybe I'll pickup the sb600 later on when I need multiple flash (or a backup flash).
The strobe flash isn't something I plan on using very much but I'm sure I'll have fun playing with it when I want to do something creative. I'm really having lots of fun learning the SB800 and playing around with it. SB800 or SB600 are NECESSARY for D70 owners who do lots of indoors shots. The onboard flash is just too weak...

By jplee3 - Mar 30, 2005

Recomend this Nikon SB 800 flash...

Strengths: Quality, easy to use and result.

Weakness: Does not come with rechargeable battery nor Alkaline battery

Recomend this Nikon SB 800 flash for novice and advance Nikon user, you will get proffesional quality lighting (lots better than original build in flash). Comes with 2 gel and Nikon diffuser (free of charge).

By alx888 - Jan 5, 2005

Nikon did their homework with this...

Strengths: Dead on accurate with i-TTL, lightweight, great battery life.

Weakness: None.

Nikon did their homework with this one. Everything on this flash from the LCD's layout and icon driven menus to the simplified backlight controls are designed to help you get the job done. There is absolutely no reason why anybody with a Nikon should buy any other flash. The build quality it top notch. The new hotshoe "switch" lock the flash on firmly and eliminates that annoying wobble that SLR...
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Nikon did their homework with this one. Everything on this flash from the LCD's layout and icon driven menus to the simplified backlight controls are designed to help you get the job done. There is absolutely no reason why anybody with a Nikon should buy any other flash. The build quality it top notch. The new hotshoe "switch" lock the flash on firmly and eliminates that annoying wobble that SLR shooters have hated for so long. And as if it couldn't get any better Nikon gives you the option to snap on a 5th 'AA' battery. It doesn't help extend battery life (which is fantastic to begin with) but instead improves recycle time. This is especially useful when the flash is firing full power in dark situation or when using it as an off camera unit to eliminate the lag between shots. For D70 users there's a special treat. If you put your flash in "commander" mode you can fire any number of SB-800s off camera. For more advanced lighting you can use one SB-800 on camera as a master and slave any number in 3 groups.

This flash currently sells for about $300. It's worth every penny.

By Quanzi - Apr 3, 2005