Getting Old SB-800 or New SB-600

[bunevski]

<p>between OLD SB800 and NEW SB600 and I have one SB600<br>

what to buy?<br>

thanks!</p>

[andrew_fedon]

<p>As this is a Nikon photo forum, a better subject title than <strong>"WHAT ?" </strong>might entice more people to read your question, and thereby give you some answers. Try, "Old SB800, new SB600, whats best ?" .</p>

<p>As to the question, I always believe an old Rolls Royce is better than a new Ford, ie if its old but still in good working order, the SB800 will still give better picture taking capabilities.</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>An SB-800 can be used as a wireless CLS commander when in the hot-shoe. The SB-600 can't do that. The SB-800 can be used as a simple optical slave in situations where you're using other types of strobes. The SB-600 can't do that.<br /><br />BUT: do you know how gently used the use SB-800 is? If the previous owner was regularly over-heating it, it may not have a lot of life left in it. If it was used intelligently and the price is right, I'd rather have it than an SB-600, no question.</p>

[errol young]

<p>I have both a new 600 and an old 800. The 800 has a cracked display but works well. I usually pick the 600 to work with because it is a bit lighter and the display works. I never use the CLS system and there is very little difference in power. I am impressed with the 600.</p>

[jeff_keplinger]

<p>Being that the price of the discontinued SB800s have gone through the roof, I would opt for another SB600 unless you really need the extra power.</p>

[elyone]

<p>Like Matt said, (I think he meant that) if the SB800 was not used too heavily, I would prefer the SB800.<br>

If the Sb800 is coming from a pro, I would examine it closely and ask him how much it has been used. At the end, it's a gut feeling kind of thing, the old 'you know it, when you see it' kind of thing.</p>

[gogu]

<p><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=2344388">Matt Laur</a> wrote:</p>

<p>"The SB-800 can be used as a simple optical slave in situations where you're using other types of strobes. The SB-600 can't do that".<br />I thought that the SB-600 <strong><em>*could*</em></strong> be used as a slave and be triggered remotely by the pop-up flash on the D90.<br />Am I wrong?</p>

<p>tnx</p>

<p>PS<br /> BTW, can the older SB-28 be triggered remotely by the pop-up flash on the D90?</p>

<p>tnx</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>Yes, the SB-600 <strong><em>can indeed</em></strong> be used as a slave in the CLS system. But it cannot work as a simple optical slave in other ways. The SB-800 can be put into SU-4 mode, which causes it to fire whenever it sees any other flash go off. This is great if you want to use it in combination with other simple, less expensive strobes or perhaps as a hair light or something when using a monolight in the studio.<br /><br />The only way to get the older strobes to be triggered by your pop-up flash is to use your pop-up in manual mode (no TTL, no anti-red-eye or anything else that will cause pre-exposure pulses), and then then you need a hot shoe optical slave for the old strobe, like one of Wein's products.</p>

[gogu]

<p>Thanks Matt!<br>

I am learning how to use my first DSLR and I want to make maximum use of my older Nikon gear... So my old SB-28 flash is worthless in P and full auto flash mode on my new camera:-( Obviously I need to buy the SB-600 flash...</p>

<p>tnx</p>

[bunevski]

<p>thanks to all for the answers!</p>

[andy_chubb]

<p>Aleksander,<br>

Matt has got it spot on - SB-800 for the ability to be a master and a remote slave as long as it is in good enough condition.<br>

andyc</p>

[peter_k4]

<p>This is good info. the optical slave of the SB800, does that mean it can be triggered by a non CLS popup flash (ala D40) ? Obviously it would have to be all manual exposing, correct?</p>

[chris_brandstrom]

<p>Peter...yes that is exactly right. I have a D40 and trigger an SB-800 in SU-4 mode all the time using my pop up flash. All manual power on the SB-800 and the pop up flash on the D40 has to be set manual power as well, otherwise the TTL preflashes from the camera will trigger the SB-800 too early.</p>

[andrew_fedon]

<p>Also, apart from the greater power of the SB800, it has the wide angle flip out adapter for lenses up to 18mm , whereas the SB600 only gives coverage down to 24mm'ish, which is useful if you do a lot of wide angle.</p>

[angkordave]

<p>I made the mistake of buying an SB600 instead of the 800 in 2008 . The 600 wasn;t too reliable and did not work very well with lenses at wide apertures. I bought a second-hand SB800 a few months ago as I had no interest in Nikon's oversized and over complex SB 900. I'm very happy with the SB800; it does all I expected and to my surprise; appears lighter on batteries too.<br>

For general use the SP600 would be fine for most people; especially if you set all to program and are not using very wide or fast lenses; or need a more sophisticated flash setup.</p>