Nikon SB-600 Speedlight

Compatibility

As with most of the Nikon flashguns, the SB600 will work with every Nikon SLR and DSLR ever made (Nikon claims) and with some of the advanced Coolpix models. It's best to check on the Nikon site to find out which cameras are supported and which features are disabled on certain models.

Build

Nikon has a reputation for robust build quality and this is no exception. The SB600 is mainly plastic but feels solid. A metal hotshoe with lock ensures you are confident the flash will stay stable and attached to the camera.

Ease of use

The flash head is easily adjustable into just about any direction, from pointing straight ahead, to pointing straight up and will rotate 90 degress in one direction and 180 in the other. The system for positioning the head is tactile and intuitive and easy to operate, and after a few tries you'll be doing it without looking. Only downside is the flash won't point below horizontal, which is sometimes useful for macro work - get the SB900 if this is essential.

This is an intelligent flash under all meanings of the word. It has a built in zoom function, which means it talks to the camera, finds out what focal length you're using and adjusts how wide or narrow its coverage is - meaning you don't waste flash energy.

A clear LCD display on the back tells you what you need to know and lets the user make setting changes. Nikon have limited the number of hard buttons to keep things simple, but this does sometimes make life a little more difficult as you have to delve into menus to change settings.

There is a power button on the flash, but the clever SB600 will detect when the camera is powered down and turn itself off if still connected.

A fantastic wireless mode allows you to use the flash "off camera" - either on a provided stand, or a lighting stand. Advanced DSLRs will have a flash commander mode which uses short pulses from the on-board flash to trigger the "slave" flash.

Its clever iTTL (intelligent through the lens) system can seem magical when you use it with one of the advanced Nikon DSLR cameras. With the flash and the camera's CPUs in constant communication it means just about all the guesswork is taken out of using flash and you can concentrate on important things, like composition and framing.

Other stuff

The flash takes four AA batteries, loaded into a compartment on the side of the flash unit and secured with a hinged flap - which isn't lockable and does occasionally pop open while the flash is in a camera bag,

Supplied with the SB600 is a nylon, semi padded protective case and a plastic stand/tripod mounting plate - which can either be used to stand the flash up independently of the camera when being used in wireless mode, or if you want to attach the flash to a lighting tripod/stand for remote use.

The flash is listed as having a guide number (GN) of 98. This means that using ISO 100 film (or the digital equivalent) the flash is capable of pumping out enough light to correctly expose something 98 feet away. Naturally, this capacity is altered by all sorts of factors, including camera settings - but GN give you a rough guide as to the power of flash guns compared to each other.

The size and shape of the flash make it relatively easy to tuck into a pocket, or a compartment in a camera bag - and it is not too bulky when mounted on the camera to get in the way when carrying over the shoulder or round the neck.

Other options:

SB600 vs SB400

The SB400 is the cheaper model down from the SB600.

The SB400 is much smaller and designed as a lightweight flash. As such, it is not as tall and can only tilt up and down, without the swivel function of the SB600.

It takes just the two AA batteries, but also has a slightly less powerful guide number of around 70ft.

It lacks other features of the SB600, such as a zoom function depending on what length lens you are using.

If you use your flash very infrequently, or are concerned about the bulkiness of a full size flash - the SB400 might be a better option.

SB600 vs SB900

The SB900 is the model up from the SB600 and the flagship of Nikon's flashes.

It's bigger (much bigger, which can prove problematic) and better in everyway, as you'd expect - including the price. Professional features include lightening fast recycle times between flashes, the ability to use an external battery pack, extra accessories, Nikon's latest user interface and the ability to define the "type" of light produced, from concentrated to distributed.

It's really a high-end professional flashgun however, for professionals or extremely keen amateurs. For most photographers the Sb600 will more than provide what you need.

I've had this flash unit well over a year and it is only recently that I've learnt to understand its true potential and how to get it, which are bounced flash and off-camera wireless remote flash.

Firstly, the flash head can tip up 90 degrees as well as swivel up to 180 degrees anti-clockwise, i.e. the flash head facing backwards and 90 degrees clockwise. These two movements allows me to shoot bounced flash with the flash unit attached to the camera, in both landscape and portrait position, and it produces perfect exposure every time. The flash compensation (+/- 3 EV) on the camera body allows quick adjustment to the power output.

But the true flexibility and creativity comes from using the flash off the camera, using wireless remote. But you need to have the built-in flash turn on for it to work. The settings you have to do the camera and on the flash aren't straight-forward or intuitive (hence it took me ages to figure it out) but Ken Rockwell has provided a detailed guide on how to do this, so I'll just mention his link here (http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/ittlslave.htm).

It also adjusts the power output automatically as you change the zoom lens (provided it's between 28-85 mm).

I've taken pics using this in concerts when you're about 30-40' from the performer, and zooming in at 105 mm, the power output from the flash adjusts itself to light up the exposure and the recycle time is pretty quick too, so you don't miss that perfect shot.

I haven't used SB800 or the new SB900 so I can't make a comparison but for the type of photography I do, i.e. taking pics of friends and family, with a single flash unit providing lighting for the scenery, this SB-600 suits me just fine.

Bought this to use on my D300 and even though like the last reviewer I am relatively new to photography (and even newer to flash photography) I find this item easy to use straight from the box. It comes with a nice Nikon branded case and a stand for use "off camera" The inbuilt flash can be used to fire this Speedlight remotely, very clever.
It is infinitely better than the inbuilt flash and gives stunning flash lit photography. There is so much you can do with this unit that it can be quite a steep learning curve to get the best from it, but the manual (strangely for Nikon) is quite easy to follow and within half an hour I was firing it remotely, bouncing flash and firing continuos flashes while firing at 5 frames a second.
Highly recommended item. May come down in price shortly as Nikon has recently brought out a new top of the range SB900 so pushing this one down to No. 3 in the range.