Buying a D700. Sell the SB800?

<p>D700 owners:<br>

I am about to buy a D700. To help pay for the new camera I'm going to sell my D200. <br>

Should I sell or keep the SB800?<br>

I am happy with the D200 but with the kids and other family I really need the ISO performance that the D700 offers. With a child playing basketball in a dark gym, are there any that ARE well lit, the D200 just can't get the photos. I just took some photos at a 70th birthday party. A few of the better photos were missed due to the low light. The "party" was held at night in a dimly lit garage which was the only room big enough to hold everyone. I got some good photos with the SB800 but some got missed.<br>

The reviews I am reading all seem to suggest that the photos I'm taking could be done without a flash. The flash gets used for family photos. P&S type stuff. I could keep the SB800 and see if the D700 works with what and how I'm taking photos but I would prefer to sell the SB800 at the same time as the D200 to fund the D700.<br>

So, should I sell or keep the SB800?<br>

Thanks,<br /> Dan</p>

<p> </p>

Keep it. A good flash is hard to find, and even with the high ISO performance of the D700, the flash will be useful to stop

action and throw light where you want it, and the way you want it.

 

Recently, I was thinking about ditching my SB-600 too... but then, later, I realized that it comes in handy even in those

P&S moments, when the people in a group are not evenly illuminated. And believe me, the built-in flash is not going to

help in these cases.

 

Take care!

<p>What you should do, Dan, is take an afternoon to learn about using the SB-800 off camera. The D200 and D700 have the built-in ability to remote control that speedlight, to wonderful effect. High ISO capabilities on the D700 or not, that tool is just too useful to miss out on.<br /><br />Another thing that might help settle the issue: what lens(es) are you armed with? </p>

<p>Ditto. Keep it. And learn how to use it on camera and off. It is a great tool, and they don't make them anymore.<br>

There are many sites and resources that you can reference to help you learn. One of my favorites is the Strobist. http://strobist.blogspot.com/</p>

<p>I would keep the SB-800.</p>

<p>I actually added an SB-900 around the same time I bought my D700. I already have two SB-800 flashes.<br>

You probably won't need the flash as much with the D700, or at least you can reduce the amount of flash in each shot. But the D700 does not replace the flash.</p>

<p>Keep the flash. Because sometimes ambient light isn't what you want. The direction can be wrong, the color spectrum can be troublesome, or it may be harder than you want. An excellent site for off-camera flash is here:</p>

<p>http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html</p>

<p>Of course, Nikon CLS isn't the only game in town. I normally use manual flash with radio triggers.</p>

<p>I agree with others that a flash will give you some great opportunities to use light in ways that can enhance your photography, especially if used off-camera.<br>

One question: What glass do you use? I have found that investing in good glass is key. I initially tried to skimp on the glass and learned my lesson the expensive way. I also shoot my children's baskeball games in dark gyms and have been coveting a D700. I get good results, however, with a D300 and my 24-70/2.8 or a fast prime (e.g. 50mm 1.4).</p>

<p>Thanks for opinions.</p>

<p>For the birhday party I seriously considered setting the SB800 off camera and using CLS. But there was not really any time to setup the flash off camera. When it was time to shoot it was time to shoot. The best I could do was use the camera with the SB800.</p>

<p>I was using a 50mm/f1.4 lense which I really like. :-) I have a 35-70mm/F2.8 that was my P&S lense of choice until I got the 50mm/f1.4. </p>

<p>We had an XMAS school event back in December. Lighting was really bad and I could not use flash. Only the 50mm/F1.4 had a chance of getting a photo. DOF was real fun. :-)</p>

<p>From the reviews it looks like I would have been able to bump up the ISO to 1600/3200 and use my 180mm/F2.8 from the back of the auditorium.</p>

<p>You guys are supposed to be telling me to sell the SB800. :)</p>

<p>But I was afraid you would tell me to keep it. :-)</p>

<p>Thanks,<br /> Dan</p>

 

<p>You'll really like the 180/2.8 with the D700. I often use that same combo to shoot indoor basketball - often at ISO 6400 so I can get a decent shutter speed and enough DOF.</p>

<p>maybe i will be the only one on this. why don't you keep both the d200 and the sb-800? you have a pretty good arsenal of fast lenses good at low light situations. why not just experiment some more? but only you can answer the needs......................<br>

and i am one of them who will tell you to keep the sb-800.</p>

<p>Keep the SB800, is an animal under threat of extinction. My first Nikon flash was the SB900 which I bought despite the good advices of many FN members...It's nice but too big. I could'nt resist to add also the SB800 to my bag. I think I'll keep the SB900 as a backup...Even with your future D700 , your flash is unreplaceable in some situations.</p>

<p>Keep the SB800 for off-camera fill flash, backlighting, sidelighting, etc.</p>

<p>I would be delighted to take it off your hands : ) </p>

<p>I agree with the above. Learn to use that 800 off camera. Limitation is line of sight as opposed to radio triggers. A d700 will help capture low existing light but the flash or flashes will allow you to tweak or radically improve the light. Learn to light. This is called photography, writing with light. Its not called cameragraphy. Take a look at Joe McNallys classes on Kelby on line training. they will blow you away more than just capturing low light images. Low light isnt automatically good light. I guess if I had to rank the gear that makes the biggest difference in my photos impact from most to least would be lighting gear, lenses, camera. The other day did an alley walk around some abandoned buildings. found a great deeply rusted old wall fan, surrounded by cracked paint, brick. Overcast Flat light. Pulled light stand out of back of vest. attached flash/trigger. put it up 6 feet, aimed about about 20 degrees angle to wall, bang, texture, great shadows and higher shutter speed. Without flash, no texture. Moved few feet, moss on side of building. again flash at acute angle but up close and got to use smaller aperture with macro lens for more depth of field. Could have raised iso on d700 for smaller aperture, but wouldnt have the shadow control. Would have had a sharp, poorly lit, crappy shot destined for the trash can. </p>

<p>I have to sell the D200 to fund the D700. The D200 simply does not have the ISO to take the photos I am taking. The flash won't help in a basketball game or a school event. Ironically when I bought the D200 I figured digital camera technology had stabilized to a point that there would not be another camera out in 18 months that I would want to buy. The D200 could do what my F100 could do so I was happy. Going form 10MP to 12MP was not going to get me to buy. I can live with DX vs FX so that is not going to cause me to buy a new camera. </p>

<p>Then the D700 shows up with the ISO performance! :-) I did not see that one coming. :-) </p>

<p>Back in the 90's I spent well over $300 on processing and Portra 800 film pushed to 1600 to try to take photos of gymnastics. The light in the old gym was horrid. It was cave like. I swear there were bats hanging in the roof structure. That $300 bought me a lot of experience but not many good photos. :-)</p>

<p>No complaints about the SB800. The Nikon flash system works very well. </p>

<p>I guess I can keep the SB800. If I don't use it I can sell it later. </p>

<p>Thanks,<br>

Dan</p>

<p>As being a former D200 owner, and current D700 owner, I can tell you that the difference is quite significant. The high ISO performance is remarkable, shooting at 6400 looks like ISO 1600 on the D200. Another thing that really impresses me is the drastically better color depth. As far as the SB800, I would keep it, mainly for the reasons mentioned above. I bought an SB600, even though I never use fill flash, it is so much fun to play with when using off-camera. I may buy 2 more SB600s to really start getting creative with it. Trust me, if you sell it, you'll regret it later, and you don't want to have to fork out $450 to replace it, or $200 for an inferior flash because the one you have isn't made anymore.</p>

<p>Sell the D200, keep the SB800 and learn a bit about on-camera bounce technique (no direct or even filtered flash hits the subject). <br />Search "Planet Neil".</p>