SB800 or SB600

roadkill

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I'm about to puchase (finally) a decent flash and want to know if any one could recomend one over the other. Money is an issue. I can afford the SB 800 but at nearly twice the price of the SB600 is it worth it for the long haul? (and I am in it for the long haul) Or will the SB600 do just a good a job?
Pros and cons?
Thanks in advance
 
well it depends if you plan to geet more flashes in the future to use off camera the SB-800 with probs be a good idea so you can command them, unless you plan to use radio triggers

in which case id say just build up an army of SB-600 or cheaper strobes.
 
If money is an issue, get the SB600 and have no regrets. You can get the SB800 later if you want.
 
As someone that has both, I notice the power and feature differences between the 2... but if you never had an SB-800, you can easily use and live with the SB-600 and enjoy the $ savings.

Where it starts getting fun is when you get into Nikon's CLS and off camera multiple flashes... then you get into all kinds of fun situations!
 
Your D80 has the built-in flash commander mode, so I'd skip the 800 and just go with the 600. I have a 600 and have never felt it lacking in any way. Be sure to get a nice set of NiMh batteries like Sanyos. They recycle a ton faster than alkalines.
 
Yeah...the D80 can control the 600 wirelessly.

Just go with that. No reason to get the 800.
 
i was also looking at those flashes.. but have a D50.
now with the lack of a commander mode.. would the 800 be better?
or would the 600 still be ok.
I would like to play around with off camera flash ect..
 
Just because the D50 lacks a commander mode, doesn't mean off-camer capability doesn't exist. You can still by a sync-cord and use that to take the 600 off camera. Cost wise it would still be cheaper than a SB-800.

The question is of course will you REALLY ever need the SB-800 over the 600 (and hell even the 400).

Personally, I would go with the SB600 (or even the cheaper 400 to get used to a dedicated flash). The 600 adds the ability for the flash head to pivot (if its being used on camera). The 400 does not.
 
I appreciate the feedback and am feeling ever more inclined to go with the SB600 and put the other $150 towards some other equipment.
 
Honestly... I just added 2 SB-600s to my Sb-800... and I am considering adding 2 more SB-600s before the end of July! :lol:

I like the SB-600s a lot for their price and I would not suggest going lower down the ladder, and on top of that for someone that wants to get serious about multiple off camera flash, eventually you will consider getting the SB-800, even if you have a camera that has a built-in commander mode.

For now, at the very least, to get your feet wet, get the lower cost SB-600 (didn't I mention that already?), and enjoy it.
 
For my first flash I went with the SB600, with the idea that if I wanted to go wireless later, I could get an SB800 and use that to control the SB600. For your first flash, there isn't much advantage to going with the SB800 - the 800 is a little bit more powerful, can take one more battery for faster recycle times and has a sync port in case you want to get the flash off-camera.

If you don't mind shooting in full manual mode, you can go with cheaper flashes (under $100). The SB600 is a great flash and the TTL stuff works great, but I just mention this option in case you are on a strict budget. If you can afford the SB600, I'd definitely recommend that first, though.
 
To make the sb600 wireless on the D50 cant you just buy wirless triggers as well?
( i dont know alot about this flash stuff yet, still learning)

cactus triggers or something.. if i got my words right.
one one the camera and one on the flash?
wont that allow it to work wireless?
 
Yeah, I have the 600 and it works fine with wireless commander mode. (stick with that, unless you want to prove to others you have the best equipment). By that I mean you want to pay more.
 
I use the SB600 successfully in home and professional work (commercial real estate).

I haven't found it lacking ever... except in areas where I would find ANY flash lacking... such as 4,000,000 square foot 30' tall warehouses. LOL

I have heard the SB800 is more powerful, so it's on my list, but I have been extremely happy with the 600 for over 4 years now.

Like someone else said, get good batteries. I can't stress this enough... the alkalines SUCK in these things. I get the Lithium ones. I've not used NiMH.
 
I went with the Sb600 when I got my D200 as my Sb28 wouldn't do iTTL.

After that I have gone with Metz flashes (CT-1 60s and CL-4 45s) and wireless triggers. The Metz auto controls are amazing and for static shots nothing else is needed.
 

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