Nikon SB-700 Speedlight Flash Unit

Having owned and still own the SB600 flash for 3 years I thought long and hard about buying this flashgun.I wanted an extra unit for creative lighting but was going to go for the more powerful 910.Well, for my needs the 700 does an excellent job.I was lucky enough to have dropped onto Amazon when this flashgun was being sold for an unbelievable low price so I took advantage and just grabbed the last one as they were disappearing before my eyes.I was a little concerned after reading reviews about the the 700's slightly lower power output compared to the 600, but in real world phtography this just is not the case.Where the 700 shines over the 600 is the quicker access to features such as ttl, manual control and Nikons excellent CLS off camera flash to name a couple.The head rotation and positioning are more flexible than the 600 and a bounce/catchlight card are incorporated into the flash head too.Extras include two clip on filters for different indoor lighting situations and a flash diffuser.Also the the 700 works as a commander for other compatible Nikon flash guns using the CLS system, this feature is not so important to me as I have it built into my camera, but for more basic Nikon cameras such as the D40/60 etc it is very useful.Another great feature on the 700 is its ability to be a slave flash, meaning it will fire remotely off camera triggered by any make of flash as long as that flash is set to manual mode.The 700 also features an automatic cut out should it start to overheat due to constant repeated use, but as the flash has a meter on the display monitoring the temperature of the flashgun I have never seen it rise to levels that become a concern.Recycle times are very good with rechargable nimh batteries fitted ( I use the Sanyo Eneloops) with the flash used at normal output being ready almost immediately.All round I find this flashgun a significant upgrade compared to the 600 for its ability to access control of different settings, flash output is very similar on both and the 600 is still a great flashgun.Build quality of the 700 is excellent and its extra control and features plus its excellent lighting capabilities makes it a great buy for anyone with Nikon camera equipment.

This is my first TTL flash, I've only used old manual flashes with optical slaves before. I am constantly surprised by how accurate and fast this flash is. The TTL system takes care of constantly having to figure out the flash strength, and this works on camera as well as in wireless mode. The wireless Creative Lighting System is extremely useful, it means you can simply use the flash without a cable, optical slave, or any sort of extra equipment whatsoever just as if it was on the camera. I was initially worried if this system would work in bright sunlight, as optical slave systems tend to fail or misfire in harsh light, but I was happy to see that even in the harshest sunlight, this flash works exactly as it should with the wireless CLS system.Although it isn't as powerful as the professional SB-800 or SB-910, I have to stress that it's very bright! I could easily shoot my model with the sun behind her and have plenty of fill from the flash on an early summer afternoon.Recycle time is very very fast, especially that you will rarely need to approach maximum power, which means most of the time you can just shoot without waiting at all between shots.The controls on the flash are very simple and intuitive. I never had problems finding what I wanted. The only thing that lacks polish is the feel of the dial: it feels a bit cheep and doesn't click at the same time as it registers the rotation. This doesn't really affect use though, and the SB-700 is a really great flash that I definitely recommend.

This flash pops into the camera and works immediately. Needs 4 batteries, I used high power rechargeable batteries and they lasted an evening event with about 150 photos without issue. Not sure how much long they would last.Flash has easy to use buttons on the back for the different setting. Able to change the orientation easily on the fly and there's a diffuser that slots away into the top so it's not lost. Would recommend.

Quite a complex product which requires some appreciation of both the photographic objective and the hardware to use to its best. With my Nikon DSLR, the SB-700 can be set to operate totally automatically both on and off the camera. It can also operate as a simple (and very versatile) strobe with any other make of camera - I have used it in that way with both film and digital Olympus systems.Comes as a compact kit in a slightly-padded case with a very good range of accessories - filters, diffusers, bounce card, foot.I suspect this will be more than adequate as part of a NIkon system for almost all enthusiasts and many semi-pros, and perhaps as part of a pro photographer's array of flashes/strobes.Not cheap, but definitely of Nikon quality.

Exactly I wanted it replaced the previous sb700 I had pleased the product still as good

Kept cutting out in the middle of a job. Very unreliable product.