It's a great flash and I'm sure you'll love it. I got one (and wish I had two or three, too bad they're so pricey) and have found it incredibly useful.
Some suggestions for the new SB-800 owner:
(1) Use the wireless remote capability! It's extremely useful in certain situations. I have a small travel tripod that the SB-800 can be mounted on with its little plastic shoe-thing that comes with the flash. You'll be able to put the flash off to the side, and bounce it off cards or walls, or just get a nice sidelight.
How to use wireless flash:
Hold down the Sel button on the flash for about 3 seconds (always feels like eternity, especially when I'm in a hurry to get a shot!) to enter setup, choose wireless master from the mode list. (Can't remember the exact name.) Press mode to exit the setup mode. You MUST choose channel 3 group A for the D70 to fire the flash. Then, on the D70, press menu, go to custom settings, select Flash Mode, and choose Commander, then the first option (something like 'auto' or 'iTTL' or something).
Now the D70's flash will send a signal encoded in the preflash to the SB-800, which will do the actual flashing. The sensor is on the left side of the SB-800, but it usually can detect the preflashes from any angle because of bouncing.
I talked to a guy I know who got a D70 and SB-800 about the time I did, and was shocked when I told him that his SB-800 had wireless capability. Yeah, you didn't pay $400 for nothing, dude. :)
(2) Bounce the flash! A flash bounced off the ceiling or another large, light colored object will help in a HUGE way. Your flash pictures will actually look NICE for a change. Direct on-camera flash *SUCKS* *BIG* *TIME*.
Also, try the color gels that come with the flash. If you're indoors, they can make the colors perfect. Use the orange gel for tungsten (incandescent lighting) and set the camera to tungsten white balance also, this way all the light in the scene will have the same color balance so things will look natural. Same thing goes for fluorescent (that's the green gel).
Have fun! |
