Good flash, unimpressive build quality, some quirks

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	• Nikon SB-800 AF Speedlight Flash for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras Nikon Nikon average customer review:based on 105 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

I have a question

I just bought a Nikon D80 and dont know much about cameras but love Photography, my question is Can I use this flash with my D80?

Nikon SB-800 flash

Nikon SB-800 AF Speedlight Flash for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras Great Flash! fast, reliable, versatile, and the list goes on. I use rechargeable batteries for superior service -works GREAT!!!

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Great Flash

This flash is a great flash and is one of the best ever made, but it is also one of the most advanced. If you're prepared to learn this flash, then it is for you. However, if you're lacking brain cells, then you probably shouldn't get one. I use it with a D80 and they work flawlessly together.

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Good flash, unimpressive build quality, some quirks

I'm a professional photographer and have three of these (one that's four years old, the others are much more recent). I quite like these versatile and powerful flash units. But rather than repeating the thumbs-up comments that all the other reviewers have already left, and in the interest of "keeping it real," here are a few cons.

* Build quality is so-so. It's not as outrageously flimsy as the way-overpriced SD-8A external battery pack that I usually pair with these flashes, but neither does the SB-800 inspire the confidence that Nikon's pro bodies and pro lenses do.
* After using the single-pin flash terminal on the side of the SB-800 about 100 times, the thin metal sheath around the center pin worked itself loose from my older unit. The flash (now out of warranty) has to be sent in for repair.
* It's a puzzling and annoying oversight that there are no battery indicators on any of Nikon's modern flash units. Even the just-announced SB-900, which will retail for close to $500, lacks that feature, despite the fact that Nikon has had about FIVE YEARS (since the release of the SB-800) to correct that obvious shortcoming.
* The other thing that makes me curse the SB-800 under my breath at times is that it has no proper on-off switch. It has a recessed power button instead that's not exactly the height of responsiveness. If the flash is off-camera and in sleep mode, you can't just turn it off. You have to wake it up from sleep first by pressing the power button, then let go, then press the button again in order to eventually power the unit off. It wastes precious seconds -- and at a wedding, seconds really count. An actual switch like on the cheapo SB-400 would be much, much better (quicker).
* Other parts of the user interface are just as inadequate. The flash settings are considerably harder to change with the controls on the back of the unit than they ought to be -- the menus leave a lot to be desired. It's not as bad as with the even more confusing SB-600, and with patience you can figure it all out, but 'intuitive' is hardly the word here... I know half a dozen photographers who will be buying a SB-900 unit for its supposedly improved interface alone.
* Nikon cautions users against using the flash too intensely. They want you to take no more than 10 to 15 flash shots in quick succession at full power. After that, you're supposed to let the flash cool off for 10 minutes. Yeah, that'll work if you're shooting an event -- just go on a ten-minute coffeebreak every time you've fired the flash a dozen times rapidly.

Don't get me wrong: The built-in wireless capabilities of both the SB-600 and SB-800 are tremendous, and the SB-800 is a really useful, powerful and (mostly) dependable performer. But the "perfect" flash, as some have anointed it -- nice thought, but no.

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Great Flash

I'm not going to write a long technical review on this unit. That's been done already. I just want to chime in and say that I love this unit. It's been very reliable and just a dream. I bought mine just before the SB-900 came out, so with any luck I'll be able to pick up a couple more SB-800's from the early upgraders.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

i-TTL flash exposure control * auto focus-assist beam * stroboscopic flash setting * manual setting * tilt and swivel flash head (tilts up to 90 degrees or down to -7 degrees, and rotates horizontally 180 degrees to the left and 90 degrees to the right) * wireless flash operation as a "master" or "slave" unit *

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