Thanks to the generosity of uncle sam returning some of my own hard earned money, I was able to purchase the SB-600 for my D50. All I can say is "wow".

I used to hate flash so much, because of that $#%!@ pop-up flash blowing directly into the eyes and face of the subject. With the SB-600, I can bounce it off the ceiling, even in vertical orientation, and the light is soft and natural, and no red eye! This has opened up a whole new interest in indoor and portrait photography for me.

Now that I have "seen the light" with how bounced flash can work, I honestly dont know why manufacturers even put pop-up flashes on cameras. I just wish the D50 had the ability to control it wirelessly off camera. (hmmm....there maybe a D80 in my future!)

If you hated flash as much as I did, try the SB-600 or SB-800. You will gain a whole new perspective.

Tim

I got the 600 just last month, and it's made a world of difference. Now if I could just understand the manual :D

I don't know how people can live without a "real" flash that you can bounce. The little on-camera flash does have its uses, however:

- as a trigger for slave flashes in the studio (set to 1/8 power)
- for fil-in at close distances when I don't have time to get the SB800 out
- in emergencies when I don't have the SB800 with me

With bounce flash, choose the surface you want to bounce off with care. The light must illuminate the subject correctly. Don't point the flash head up at 45 degrees, move in close and discover that you're illuminating the ceiling behind the subject. Avoid coloured surfaces. And make sure the reflective surface is not too far away - I've had some success inside churches but the recycle time on the flash went up because I was draining it each time.

In fact with a very usable 1600 ISO on my DSLR's plus some available light primes (28mm f2.8, 85mm f1.8, 50mm f1.8) I've stopped using flash at all for some events. This weekend I shot two tradeshows with demonstrations up on the catwalk and I did it all by available light.

Charles

Thanks to the generosity of uncle sam returning some of my own hard earned money, I was able to purchase the SB-600 for my D50. All I can say is "wow"....

I ordered a SB-600 for my D70 with my return too, should be here tomorrow. I'm pretty excited for it, and I'm on spring break now, so I have the whole week to play with it. :D

I totally agree. I got an SB-600 for Christmas, and it's awesome. I used to hate flash until I discovered how it could be bounced. It makes a huge difference, but you still do have to pay attention to the direction and color of the surface you bounce off.

The ability to control the flash wirelessly is the reason I bought the D70 instead of the D50. It's a very nice feature, but I find that the pre-flashes that come from the on camera flash to trigger the wireless flash often times make a portrait subject blink. If you want to go wireless, you might consider the wireless controller (I think it's an SU-800) instead of upgrading your camera. You might find that you would want it anyway and it's cheaper than a D80.

Paul