Nikon SB600 Speedlight help

[pete_g]

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Can anyone clear up my confusion with this flash which I've just aquired?

 

I have it set to auto which gives a TTL option only. I have the M8 menu slow speed setting to OFF and the shutter dial set to A, which gives me a fixed shutter speed of 250th, seemingly.

 

My initial tests seem to indicate that the flash is giving reasonable results even when bounced. Mark Norton in an earlier thread said:

 

"I use Nikon flashes (SB28/SB80/SB800) on an M8 in auto mode and they work fine, the flash doing all the work and as erl says, it's vital to keep the flash sensor pointed towards the subject to approximate to TTL metering. As soon as you want to go beyond that, into the Leica/Metz world of GNC or Nikon's iTTL/CLS (or Canon equivalent), there's much greater inter-dependence between camera and flash.

 

Straight-forward auto mode has been around for a long time and is simple - you tell the flash what ISO you are using and it tells you the lens aperture to set (or gives you a number of aperture choices)."

 

 

 

 

I can't find a way of entering the ISO into the flash and don't see a read out of the aperture either. Am I to assume it's getting this information from the M8. Also the exposure compensation on the flash doesn't seem to do anything, the manual implies that exposure compensation only works in manual mode. Is this the case?

 

I'm assuming the flash, in AUTO mode is doing all the work, calculating the correct amount of light output.

 

Any wisdom from SB600 owners would be appreciated,

 

Pete

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[charlesphoto99]

I have an SB600. It doesn't not have an AUTO mode only TTL. I haven't tried it on the M8. In TTL thinking it just wouldn't work. The SB800 has a true auto mode. Exposure compensation either flash in TTL would be set via the camera body. Maybe Mark can she'd some more light on this - no pun intended. I would like to use my 600 with the M8. I wish i hadn't cheaped out and gotten the 800 instead.

[marknorton]

I don't have an SB-600 but I'm looking at a feature comparison between the SB-800 and SB-600 and it's correct that it doesn't have the type of non-TTL auto mode you need to work on the M8.

 

Looks like you can only use it in manual mode on an M8 where you set the power manually and (probably) a page in the manual gives you a range of ISO/Aperture/Distance options.

 

I'm surprised that Nikon pulled this from the feature set just to create blue sky between the two, less useful for Leica M8 owners and a host of Nikon users of their older cameras as well.

[pete_g]

Hhmm....this is irritating.

 

Thanks for your views, I guess I'm just going to have to do some more experimenting, but the idea of chimping every now and then just to make sure everything is OK is not very elegant.

 

I bought the SB600 because it seemed the lightest flash that would do the job, obviously I was wrong. The Nikon manual BTW is pretty poor and assumes you have a Nikon camera.

 

Had Metz had a product on the market that worked with the M8 then I would have gone down that route. Luckily I paid "only" GBP 135 for the SB600 so the damage isn't that bad, but it just goes to show that these camera systems (sic) are as closed and as broken as our dear computer equivalents. GNU/Linux for photography anyone?

 

Pete

[charlesphoto99]

Hhmm....this is irritating.

 

Thanks for your views, I guess I'm just going to have to do some more experimenting, but the idea of chimping every now and then just to make sure everything is OK is not very elegant.

 

I bought the SB600 because it seemed the lightest flash that would do the job, obviously I was wrong. The Nikon manual BTW is pretty poor and assumes you have a Nikon camera.

 

Had Metz had a product on the market that worked with the M8 then I would have gone down that route. Luckily I paid "only" GBP 135 for the SB600 so the damage isn't that bad, but it just goes to show that these camera systems (sic) are as closed and as broken as our dear computer equivalents. GNU/Linux for photography anyone?

 

Pete

 

Pete,

 

Metz has at least a couple of flashes that work for the M8 and in fact the Leica flashes are made by Metz. You can't fault Nikon for their manual - the flashes are made for nikon cameras. I wouldn't have bought one if I also didnt have a Nikon. Better and cheaper options out there including the Vivitar 285HV.

[ChrisC]

... The Nikon manual BTW is pretty poor ...

 

Oh yes.

 

Pete - I only use SB600s for Nikon remote flash [which is simply fantastic] so I can't help for on-camera flash with the M8. However, Ken Rockwell explains the SB series extremely well in a number of articles. One quick search:

 

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/sb600.htm

 

It might be of some help, and if not that article there are others.

 

It's a real shame the remote flash SU800 commander doesn't work on the M8, that could be an excellent combination.

 

............... Chris

[pete_g]

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Thanks for all the comments. I screwed up. I thought all flashes these days had non-TTL auto mode. I'd checked Ken Rockwells page but missed his comparison between the SB 600 and the SB 800 where it clearly states that the former doesn't have the auto. I went for the SB 600 because it was cheaper and lighter, but only by 50g. I had to have a swivelling head so that cut out a number of other units. Oh well...it's back to GN calculations. Luckily with digital at least I can check on the LCD, it would have been a worse situation on film.