bmm Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 <p>Simple question as I'm thinking of getting a couple of speedlights. Has anyone here bought/used the relatively new SB700 speedlights and are there any particular things (good or bad) about them to share?</p> <p>A while back I was set on getting one SB800 (or 900) and one SB600 and now that I'm back to thinking about it I'm considering a pair of SB700s instead as I beleive they can command as well as slave.</p> <p>Thanks for any thoughts or experiences.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilkka_nissila Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 <p>If you do a lot of bounced flash for portraits, the SB-600 and SB-800 limit the turn of the head so that it cannot be pointed up and towards the back when the camera is in (normal) vertical orientation. SB-900 allows all directions and I would suspect / hope that the SB-700 does, too. This is a sufficiently severe limitation for that I would not consider purchasing one of the older flashes for my own use at this time. Of course, for use as remotes, it doesn't matter so much, which directions the head allows.</p> <p>I haven't used the SB-700 yet but the SB-900 is quite big and the smaller 700 would seem like an ideal on-camera unit if it has the same movements of freedom as the 900.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mag_miksch Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 <p> <em>and SB-800 limit the turn of the head </em></p> <p>SB-800 is turnable on two axes so can point it in whatever direction you want^^</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_brown4 Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 <p>Ilkka means that when you hold the camera in the grip-up verticle orientation, that SB800 rotation stop won't let you point the flash behind you a bit (only goes 90 degrees), so you have to rotate it 180 degrees the other way and you hit the other stop. Basically there is a 90 degree quadrant you can't reach, and that is the quadrant he needs. The solution is to hold the camera in the grip-down vertical orientation, which is a funky holding position. I always wondered why Nikon designed the flash that way. It's almost as if the engineer wasn't actually a photographer.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 <p>Both the SB-600 and SB-800 have a flash head that can only rotate by 270 degrees, but at least I have never found that to be a major issue.</p> <p>I have played around with the SB-700 but did not check out that capability. It has a menu system that is similar to the one on the SB-900, and it can be a CLS master. But at $300+, the SB-700 is as expensive as the SB-800 when that was available new. I am sure it is a fine flash, just a bit pricy.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dieter Schaefer Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 <p>NikonUSA website info on the SB-700 states: <strong> </strong></p> Flash head rotates horizontally 180° to the left and right with click-stops at 0°, 30°, 60°, 75°, 90°, 120°, 150°, 180 I wish I understood why each new flash is less powerful than it's predecessor: SB-700 < SB-600 <Sb-900 < SB-800. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 <p>Dieter, given the excellent high-ISO capabilities of modern DSLRs, flash power is not as important a factor any more. To me, the more important issue is recycle time. When I shoot weddings and wildlife, frequently I need to capture consecutive images in quick succession; therefore, rapid flash recycle time is important. On my SB-800 and SB-900, I use an external power supply for that purpose.</p> <p>Moreover, the SB-700 and SB-900 have better flash head zoom to concentrate the flash beam when you use longer lenses, thus saving flash power. That is another plus for the new flashes.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_brown4 Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 <p>The problem with the SB900, it's too freaking big!!!</p> <p>So are all these lenses.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilkka_nissila Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 <p>I was able to confirm that the SB-700 has the same movements of freedom as the SB-900. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_s. Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 <p>Just a side note but it's easy to modify the SB600 and SB800 so they turn full 360 degrees.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill_brooks Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 <p>Bought the SB700 to compliment my new D7000. It is scaled to fit the D7000 body in a way that appealed visually to me. Hope to add at least one more to my kit soon.... I realize there is a *lot* I need to learn about flash photography, and the new units have such great features. Thanks everyone for some great insights on flash units!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_alger Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 <p>I have a pair of SB700s and they are just fine for me. Not as big as the SB900, easy to use and I like the clip-on-filters which I use regularly to fake a nice sunset. The power is good, as the camera is sensitive enough. I controll them remotely with the built-in flash so I have a versatile little system.</p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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