SB-600 Discontinued?

<p>Has anyone heard of the SB-600 being discontinued? I read it on another forum and was wondering if Shun has heard anything. I couldn't find anything here or on Nikon's website and the Google hits are from a year ago.</p>

<p>I was planning on getting another SB-600 or the new SB-700 but if there is a possibility of a newer speedlite coming out, maybe I will wait. I'm not in a rush for it, I just think it would be nice to have another off camera flash or one I can use as a commander (I know the SB-600 can't be a commander).</p>

<p>I've not heard anything, but noticed a couple of places are out of stock of the SB-600. I'd not be surprised if it goes, since there's some cross-over in market position with the SB-700. A shame the SB-700 is so (comparatively) expensive, though - it's half way to an SB-900. Of course, the SB-600 is the last flash which will meter properly with film Nikons (except the F6), so I don't know if they'll keep it for that reason.</p>

<p>The SB-600 is officially discontinued. I suppose the already announced SB-700 is its replacement, but the SB-700 is about $100 more and can serve as a CLS mater; the SB-600 cannot. See the following link on Nikon Japan's page about discontinued products: <a href="http://www.nikon-image.com/products/discontinue/others/#h305">http://www.nikon-image.com/products/discontinue/others/#h305</a></p>

<p>Of course, as usual, nobody here knows about future products, and those who do know cannot discuss them. But given that the SB-700 already replaces the SB-600 and the SB-900 was introduced back in 2008, it is doubtful that Nikon will introduce another new flash at that level in the next 1 to 2, perhaps 3 years.</p>

<p>There may be some remaining SB-600 available new. If you want a new one, I would get that quickly.</p>

<p>Doesn't the SB-900 support D-TTL and Matrix Fill Flash?</p>

<p>None of the current Nikon flashes supports D-TTL any more. Only the SB-800 and SB-600 support dual D-TTL and i-TTL; both are now discontinued.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that only 4 Nikon DSLRs require D-TTL: D1, D1X, D1H, and D100. The entire D2 family are dual compatible with i-TTL and D-TTL.</p>

<p>FWIW, Nikon UK haven't got rid of the SB-600 from their web site yet (it's not yet in the discontinued section) - but then the same is true of the SB-800 and the D3000. In fact, I was in Nikon's UK HQ today picking up my D700, and there were a lot of D3000 brochures still there. IIRC, things seem to run out first in Japan, then in the UK, then in the US - how much of that is national stocks and how much of that is shipping the remaining items to one market for sales purposes, I don't know. That said, the 80-200 f/2.8 has been missing in the UK for years, but seems to stay current in the US.</p>

<p>Thanks Shun. The SB-800 really did reach a zenith on compatibility. They hold their value very well on the used market.</p>

<p>For the record, the SB-400 only supports i-TTL, and makes a great little fill-flash to boot.</p>

<p>Thanks Shun, I wasn't sure what the SB-700 was replacing but that makes sense with the SB-900 replacing the SB-800, the 700 had to be a replacement for the 600. I guess they were waiting until the last shipped from the warehouses before officially discontinuing it because the Canadian Nikon site still showed it as active. I guess I start saving for the 700 or jump on the 600 right now.</p>

<p>@ Dan - I have the SB-400 -great little flash for the size but I can't use it wirelessly or as a commander or to trigger my SB-600 since the SB-600 doesn't have a SU-4 mode. But it is a great flash because of it's size.</p>

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<p>FWIW, Nikon UK haven't got rid of the SB-600 from their web site yet (it's not yet in the discontinued section)...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>It's also shown on the NikonUSA website. The D3000 is still up as well. Probably Nikon will keep them listed at the US site until all existing stock here is sold. <em>Cavear emptor:</em> Amazon sellers are price-gouging on the SB600, offering it for more than the current MSRP of $224.95; in one case more than a new SB700 costs!</p>

<p>make me an offer on mine! :-) I'd love to upgrade to an SB-700</p>

<p>If I reember correctly reading from Rob Galbraith review, the new Pocket Wizard (PW) TT1/TT5 or whatever they are, has capability to remotely control power ratio of the SB400 flash. So this could mean new life for the SB400 flash.</p>

<p>I doubt PW makes the SB400 CLS compatible, but makes it rather PW compatible. </p>

<p>Nikon remote flashes operate under CLS as Remote, and SB400 does not have this mode. However, PW requires remote flashes to be placed in iTTL mode, (this seems to be major departure from the CLS). Since SB400 has iTTL mode, I believe the new life under PW for SB400 is real.</p>

<p>Someone with new PW and SB400 could possibly verify this?</p>

<p>frank, why would anyone want to PW a sb-400? its just fine for what it is--a good travel flash for daytime fill, but for anything else, you probably want something bigger and more powerful.</p>

<p>re: the sb-600 discontinuation. wish i would have known earlier. i really like the 600 and think its perfect for what it is. its worth having 2 or 3, even if you have a 700, 800, or 900 just because of the remote capabilities. what i like most about it is, its simple, uncomplicated, and has a good combination of size and functionality. i wouldn't pay more than $200-$225 for one, though.</p>

<p><em>"frank, why would anyone want to PW a sb-400?" </em>- you know that, and most of others do, but see how many people ask about remote usage of SB400. They just get it first, and next ... they want to use it remotely.</p>

<p>For Pocket Wizard? - possible just another marketing thing...<br />PW advertizes notion is that they provide more features and could p0ossibkly be a better than Nikon CLS.<br />E.g. they just switch to Nikon FP when the shutter gets high, but PW does the switching and they made a new technology name for it.</p>

<p>Picked up a couple in Best Buy this evening. They're selling them for $220.</p>

<p>I figured that some new SB-600 must still be available. I think I first saw it added to the Nikon Japan discontinued list maybe a month ago. I check that list perhaps once a month. However, @ $220, essentially they are selling it at the regular price. Currently, that is the cheapest way to get a flash that can be a CLS slave.</p>

<p>What I don't like about the SB-600 is that its menu system for CLS slave is very cryptic. I don't use mine often enough that each time I need to check the cheat sheet.</p>

<p>P.S. I just got an e-mail from the Nikon Store. They have refurbished SB-600 for $179.96. Whether it is a good idea to get a refurbished flash is another issue: <a href="http://shop.nikonusa.com/store/nikonusa/en_US/pd/productID.213479000">http://shop.nikonusa.com/store/nikonusa/en_US/pd/productID.213479000</a></p>

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<p>Currently, that is the cheapest way to get a flash that can be a CLS slave.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Exactly, that's why I bought when I read the thread. I don't need the SB-700.</p>

<p>Certainly Peter. And Eric, you may still be able to get some new SB-600 if that is what you want.</p>

<p>Does this mean that if I want a Nikon brand flash for both a digital and an F100, I have to buy an SB-600 right now? The newer models don't support film cameras, right?</p>

<p>Again, there are only two models that support both D-TTL (early DSLRs) and i-TTL. Only those same two models support both film TTL and i-TTL, namely SB-600 and SB-800.</p>

<p>If you want to use (film) TTL on the F100 and i-TTL on any one of the current DSLRs such as the D90, D7000, D300S and the D3S, you must use one of those two. Otherwise, you can use an SB-900 to get i-TTL on a DSLR and then the A mode on a film SLR such as the F100. The F6 is the only film SLR that is compatible with i-TTL.</p>

<p>You can always buy used SB-600 and SB-800 in the future. But if you want new, snap up an SB-600 quickly while supply lasts.</p>

I went and ordered the refurb. I'd been meaning to do it for a while so you've provided me a good excuse.

<p>The SB400 works with TT5's and when using a SU800 or AC3 will allow CLS and flash ratio reduction</p>

<p>I agree on the second life, as they make for nice small effect lights when used as remote units</p>

<p>I picked up another one of these units in a Best Buy store yesterday. Now I have three. :-) BB have run out in their central warehouse but it's still worth checking out the BB stores near where you live if you really want one...</p>