Nikon SB-600 vs Vivitar 285HV

[seb_pel]

<p>I am about to buy one of this two Strobe.<br>

I would like to buy the Vivitar 285HV for his reputation and low price.<br>

But I would like to know if it can be trigger wireless with my Nikon D90?</p>

 

[Matt Laur]

<p>The SB-600 can be wirelessly triggered by the D90's pop-up flash in CLS commander mode. No additional triggers, sensors, etc. required. They'll also support Nikon's excellent iTTL system. Well worth it.</p>

[seb_pel]

<p>Thank you Matt,<br>

Can the Vivitar be triggered by the Nikon D90 alone?<br>

I heard that it was not compatible (for wireless trigerring)<br>

Bu tI also heard that a there is wireless remote that is compatible with both,<br>

Vivitar and the SB-600.</p>

<p>Is it worth it to try the wireless remote with the vivitar?<br>

Or I should simply go with the SB-600?</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>The SB-600 has no PC connector on it, so you have to use something that will attach to its hot-shoe foot, and which will only be a simple optical trigger. You'll lose the ability to remotely control the power of the strobes.<br /><br />For some very good coverage of this whole topic, you should visit the Strobist web site.</p>

[luis_g]

<p> The 285 could be triggered via an optical slave, which is technically wireless, though not in any way what the same term means with the SB-600. The <em>only</em> communication between your camera and the unit would be <em>the signal to fire</em> . Nothing else. Zero, zip, nada. Nothing else.</p>

<p> If you come from an experienced, old-school background of working with non-ttl strobes/flashes, you could probably make do, but from the phrasing of your question, it does not look that way.</p>

<p> IMO, you should bite the bullet, and get the most your D90 has to offer, make your flash usage a lot easier, and pop (pun intended) for the SB-600.</p>

<p>And read this, while you're at it:</p>

<p>http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Shoe-Diaries-Flashes-Voices/dp/0321580141</p>

<p> </p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>Both the Vivitar and the Nikon can be triggered by an optical slave, infrared trigger or radio trigger such as a PocketWizard, all wireless. You could definitely use them in manual mode, or basic automatic, but not iTTL, TTL, CLS, etc. The Vivitar cannot be triggered wirelessly by the D90 alone. I think the Vivitar is the better value since I don't use any of the "fancy" modes to start with. But if those features are what you want, you need to buy the Nikon.</p>

[davidjames]

<p>Wait sorry to kinda move off topic, but if i understand right then say you have a SB 600 AND a Vivitar 285 HV you could trigger the SB 600 with your on camera Nikon flash (ie. D90) and then trigger the Vivitar using the flash from the SB 600?</p>

[Ray House]

<p>There can be other problems with using optical slaves with your D90 due to the preflash, Just going with the SB600 is the best choice IMHO.</p>

[jim_stewart3]

<p>You could trigger an SB600, or a Vivitar 285 with an optical slave but I don't think you can do both at the same time (unless you also added an optical slave to the SB600). The 285 is just going to sync to the on camera flash if that is in manual mode (so dialled down to minimum to minimise the influence). The SB600 gets fired in response to some control flashes and it will also do a preflash unless you are in manual mode.<br>

If you are getting into off camera flash then the SB600 is a bad buy in my opinion. It is not rugged, it loses its settings when you pull the batteries out and has no sync socket. The SB800 is a much better buy (or 900). The 285 is a solid flash for off camera (but useless for on camera). I would not be without an SB800/900 as a main flash. I would have a 285 over the 600 as an off camera flash.</p>

[jim_stewart3]

<p>You could trigger an SB600, or a Vivitar 285 with an optical slave but I don't think you can do both at the same time (unless you also added an optical slave to the SB600). The 285 is just going to sync to the on camera flash if that is in manual mode (so dialled down to minimum to minimise the influence). The SB600 gets fired in response to some control flashes and it will also do a preflash unless you are in manual mode.<br>

If you are getting into off camera flash then the SB600 is a bad buy in my opinion. It is not rugged, it loses its settings when you pull the batteries out and has no sync socket. The SB800 is a much better buy (or 900). The 285 is a solid flash for off camera (but useless for on camera). I would not be without an SB800/900 as a main flash. I would have a 285 over the 600 as an off camera flash.</p>