The P6000 and another petty Nikon "screw you" to Nikon owners

[eric friedemann]

I've been waiting for a flagship Nikon point-and-shoot that would allow me to shoot macro images using the SU-800

Remote Commander and my four SB-800 flashes. Here comes the P6000, and, per its specs, you can use the SU-

800 commander, but only with SB-600 and SB-900 flashes:

 

 

http://www.nikon.com/about/news/2008/0807_coolpixp6000_01.htm

 

 

For no apparent reason, the P6000 won't work with my $1,200 in SB-800 flashes. This is just another little "screw

you" lesson in planned obsolescence from Nikon to its repeat buyers.

[phule]

This post claims the camera works with the SB800. No way to verify that though

 

http://flickr.com/groups/nikon_dslr_uk/discuss/72157606979810537/

[mark_sirota1]

That seems unlikely -- it's the SU-800 that's communicating with the remotes; the camera cannot know what kind of remotes are out there.

 

It's probably that the 900 and 600 are current products, while the 800 is not.

[mac_mcanirlin]

It may be that the 600 and 900 are the only flashes mentioned as they are the two current flashes. I do not think that the 800 is considered a current model flash:

 

from the nikon website

What are the best speedlights to use with Coolpix cameras?

 

Answer

Coolpix cameras have somewhat limited compatibility with Nikon speedlights.

 

These cameras generally support TTL and Manual Flash modes (with the exception of the SB-50DX, which supports TTL only), but the more advanced features of the speedlights (automatic zoom, Repeating Flash, FP High Speed Sync, etc.) are not available with Coolpix cameras.

 

With this in mind, there are two important considerations when choosing a speedlight for your Coolpix: power and bounce capability. The professional level speedlights (SB-28, SB-80DX, SB-800, SB-900) all have high power (guide numbers of 125-138), and excellent bounce capability. The flash head can be turned up into the ceiling and also swiveled throughout a 270 degree arc. The consumer speedlights (SB-30, SB-50DX, SB-600) have a more limited bounce capability and less power (guide number of 52 for the SB-30, 85 for the SB-50DX and 98 for the SB-600). If you need high power and excellent bounce capability, we recommend the SB-900. If you do not need these features, we recommend the SB-600.

[waltflanagan]

The SB-800 has been discontinued which is probably why it's listed. I'd bet $1 it works fine.

[HuskyMason1]

Eric got the screw you part right but the flash should work

[.th]

it might well be true, that the 800 isn't listed because it's out of production. that doesn't change the weird fact that nikon

sent the long finger to a lot of current and potential customers by producing a high-end digicam, with the ability to shoot raw

(which is important to some i'm told), on a format that was unsupported for a great number of photographers... in some

ways nikon seems to think quite alternatively about their customers...

[photo5]

this is the first I've heard that the SB-800 flash has been discontinued. What will replace it? Surely not the $500 SB-900!

[waltflanagan]

The initial press material about the P6000 implied that it's raw format would only be usable on Windows using a new image processing library. It implied that you would not be able to load the file into Photoshop ACR or any other third party raw processor. All of that turned out to be false and you can now load the P6000 NRW raw files into many programs.

 

Yes, the SB-900 is the replacement for the SB-800. I guess it's good that I already have 2 SB-800s.

[elliot1]

It is IMPOSSIBLE for it not to work with the SB-800.

[tpernal]

I agree with Mr. Bernstein. Something very simple is being overlooked. Forgive me for asking.... If you have

spent/blown/invested that much money in high-end flash units, why are you even interested in a P&S camera...??? I

love my 800. I just upgraded from a D200 to a D300. A newer body than the flash unit. It works perfect.

Of course, I am fully anticipating the D300 going south in the production line... In the digital age, if it's on

the shelf, it's just about oblolete.

[ed_gerken]

I hear that even light is too slow now, so they'll be upgrading that to Light 1.1 in time for holiday FTL shopping.

-Ed

[ilkka_nissila]

Nikon's initial release info about the NRW format just dealt with the software support situation <i>at the time</i>. Of course they could not guarantee 3rd party software support for it. In any case the idea behind it is to allow computers without explicit raw conversion software (i.e. capture nx / acr etc.) to edit the files.

<p>

Yes, of course the SB-900 replaces the SB-800. I am pretty sure that when the SB-800 was a new model, it cost what the SB-900 costs now. Only because everybody already have their bags full of SB-800s is the price of that reduced (before stock runs out); not because it's somehow cheaper to make.

[eric friedemann]

The press release I linked to (see attached) was from early August, before the SB-800 had been officially discontinued. But I'll tell you what; as soon as we get a P6000 in my store, I'll try it out with the SU-800 and SB-800s and see if the press release is inaccurate.

[eric friedemann]

The press release I linked to (see attached) was from early August, before the SB-800 had been officially

discontinued. Also, I spoke to a Nikon Tech Support guy yesterday who didn't deny the content of the press

release. But I'll tell you what; as soon as we get a P6000 in my store, I'll try it out with the SU-800 and SB-800s and

see if the press release is inaccurate.<div></div>

[constance_cook]

I've used my P6000 extensively sinc I got it last September. It's more than good enough. Since I don't like flash, I hadn't thought about getting the separate unit. In comparing the P5100 to the 6000, there is no physical difference in the hotshoe other than placement. The P6000 hotshoe is centered while the P5000, P5100 hotshoe is located on the left.

 

I know that outer cosmetics may not matter but with flash, there was no difference between my two earlier models.

 

Hey, Eric, nice to hear from you! When you get the little rig, give it a chance. Handy in size and quality output.

 

Conni

[eric friedemann]

Conni-

 

 

IF, contradicting Nikon literature and Tech Support, the P6000 works with the SU-800 AND SB-800s, I'll get one. I'm sure its otherwise a nice little camera, but given my interest in using it for macro, if it doesn't work with my existing flash gear, that's a deal-breaker.

 

 

Regards,

 

-E

[owen_omeara]

Eric:

 

Where in hell did you pay $1200.00 for an SB 800?

 

-Owen

[eric friedemann]

Owen-

 

 

The SB-800 was $350, but the hooker who delivered it cost eight and a half bills.

 

 

-E

[ellis_vener_photography]

"The initial press material about the P6000 implied that it's raw format would only be usable on Windows using a new image processing library."

 

It was more than implied. If they changed that spec (I haven't tried it) then it was due to overwhelming negative feedback Nikon USA got during the NDA meetings they had prior to its official launch. I know they were taking notes and wincing when we got to that spec as if I was the fifth person they'd heard it from that day.

[naturegirl99]

On a slightly different tack (no hookers or flashes in sight), do you LIKE what the P6000 can do? I'm wondering if I should bother replacing my P5000.

[Richard Williams]

I doubt they changed anything. The whole storm in a teacup about the P6000 raw format was whipped up by (a) Nikon's curious decision not to support the format in some of their own software packages, including Capture NX (Canon did something similarly odd with the G9, but this caused much less fuss), and (b) their announcement that NRW would be supported by a WIC codec under Windows (which is also an option for NEF, though this seems to have gone unnoticed). They didn't say anything about 3rd party raw converters (for Nikon, 3rd party software doesn't really exist!), but a lot of people jumped to the conclusion that NRW would in some mysterious way be unsupportable (unlike the dozens of other raw formats that have been supported by ACR, dcraw, etc. with no fuss whatsoever). In practice, of course, NRW turned out to be a perfectly ordinary raw format that was rapidly supported by everyone (except Nikon!).

[john_h.1]

If one is lugging around four high end flashes and other equipment, it does seem funny that there is a big wait for a point and shoot. Are you going to be able to shoot things in a different way or something? Handheld maybe?

[joe_mezzanini1]

I was at the Photo show in NYC Jacob Javitts Center and the Nikon reps tell me the P6000 will NOT work with the SB800.