SB400 vs SB600

[lakeith79]

Im looking to pick up a flash for my D40 and watned to get some opinions from others regarding these two flashes fron Nikon.

Anyone have any experience as to why I should spend the extra on the larger 600? Is the 400 "good enough"?

The limitations I see are

1) Verticle shots will have to be bounced off a wall rather than being able to swivel enough to still bounce it off a cieling.

2) No remote capabilities

Im a rookie, bought the camera because I thought it would be a great hobby and I have a kid due soon, so that's my level of involvement.

Thanks,

Lakeith

[Ray Dockrey]

The SB400 isn't much better then the on-board flash. The only advantage to it is that it will swivel up but that is about it. As you mentioned it has no remote capabilities. You would need some kind of commander to use the wireless as the D40 can't command it. I have the SB600 and it is quite the flash. You might get by with the SB400 for now but i would imagine it wouldn't take long for you to be wanting to upgrade.

[OsmosisStudios]

If you can, get the 600.

[firebox40dash5]

The SB-600 can only be used as a slave, unless you upgrade to a D80/D90 or higher, or get an SB-800, SB-900, or SU-800 to control it. You could also use the SU-4, but I think that loses TTL control (IIRC), and you could use it on an SB-400 as well.

The SB-400 is nice because it's small, light, cheap, and can be bounced off the ceiling as long as you're not shooting vertically. But as you said, you can sometimes bounce it off a wall instead. It's also very, very easy on batteries. The downside is it has less power. For the price, and how convenient it is, mine will always be in my bag for when I don't need/want a bigger flash on the camera.

The SB-600 has more power, more flexibility, and can be used as a remote slave if/when you upgrade. The downside is it's bigger, heavier and more expensive. If you want a flash that can be used a master, the SB-800 also has more power without much additional size or weight (compared to an SB-900 at least). Unfortunately, everyone thinks their used 800 is worth as much or more than when it was new... but at least it's still less than a new SB-900. If you get an SB-800 and decide to get another flash or two to use as remote slaves, you can also use older flashes, like SB-28s, as slaves instead of buying SB-600s.

Originally Posted by Ray Dockrey

The SB400 isn't much better then the on-board flash. The only advantage to it is that it will swivel up but that is about it.

I find it's a good bit more powerful than the built-in, and also has the advantage of not casting a shadow if you use it with bigger/wider lenses. I don't remember if it was an issue with the 18-55mm, but it is with the 18-105mm and 16-85mm, and probably the 18-200mm as well.

I agree that's it's not an ideal choice as your only flash, though. But I have lived with it as my only flash for about a year now, until I got an SB-600.

[lakeith79]

Thanks for the quick replies gang. I think I'll go with the 600.

-Lakeith