D70 built-in flash - is it that good?

[eddie y.]

I recently read Ken Rockwell's glowing review of the Nikon D70.

(http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d70.htm)

 

He mentioned that the built-in flash is so good, you probably don't

need to use an external flash unless you really need the far reach.

I find this to be great and encouraging news if true (I've never

used a camera - film or digital - in which I was satisfied with the

built-in flash performance.)

 

For people who are using the D70, would you agree with Ken's

statement?

[EricM]

I love that it's there all the time, for that little bit of fill when wanted. Heck, it's even good for kitchen party pics. But for serious work, you obviously need the Sb-800, which is a jewel all in it self

[Jerry_]

If, for some reason, you shoot horizontal *each and every frame* -- the built-in flash should be OK. My guess, indoors and near a wall, and in the vertical format -- some strange thing will happen to one side or the other. A shadow will flow from the subject, if you are shooting a person or two.

[grant_.]

depends on what youre shooting....recycle times sux on it....if thats important to you, a battery pack with an external flash is essential.....not to mention how much batt power the popup sucks up too....its ok for general use with shorter lenses, try it with a zoom and a lens shade and see some nice shadows you get....

[dan_beauvais]

The first thing I noticed is that nearly every lens I own casts a shadow into the flash output. The built in flash is not far enough off the body to get it out of the way of many lens barrels.

 

Use the built in flash only with a physically small lenses without a lens hood.

 

Or, block the built in flash's output with your hand several inches in front of it. Allow it to trigger a remote SB-800 in wireless iTTL mode.

 

Otherwise, keep it snapped down.

 

Dan

[loreneidahl]

No.

Ken's site is scattered with his own version of reality. He even pokes fun at himself in hte opending pages.

 

His site is a playground without rules. Yes their is information there, however you will have to weigh that informtion against reality and other sources. Eventually you begin to se that alot of his stuff kind of blows away in the wind.

 

The flash on the D70 is just good enough for you to get frustrated and buy a real one. Its called marketing.

[vivek iyer]

The pop-up has VERY limited range and use.

 

UNTRUE statement. Get a SB-800 if you want a real flash.

 

Vivek.

[hayward]

My experience is that the pop-up is the best pop-up I've used and does very, very well with outdoor fill-flash if you want to light up someone's eyes. The other side of it is that it is very weak in output - goes out maybe six feet - and really can't effectively illuminate a dark scene.

[rustys pics]

It's only OK. ken Rockwell's site is pretty good, but he does get a bit flip at times. If you

only need occasional fill flash or indoor flash, the pop-up is adequate. The shadow cast by

the 18-70mm lens when fully extended, even without a hood, has been mentioned and

should be noted. If you're on a budget, I'd suggest going for the SB 600. If you do a lot of

heavy duty strobe work, the SB 800 is probably worth the money.

[eric_ung2]

the built in flash is good. i think the perfect metering by nikon contributes alot. but you

may miss the fun from using the wireless flash system if you don't buy the SB600/800

[yorick]

I'm not sure of the reason for the pre-flash; (at first i thought it was a red-eye reduction thing but if so, it doesn't work). My big problem with it is that it makes some people blink just as the photo is taken. I have a set of 6 photos where the same person blinked every single time, in a group shot. Makes life very difficult.