Downsides to the Nikon Speedlight

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Antonsrkn
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Downsides to the Nikon Speedlight

Post by Antonsrkn »

I'm thinking about getting the Nikon speedlight system. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/4 ... se_Up.html

It seems like a good rig and I have seen people on here say lots of good things about them. Now what I'm curious about is what are the negatives and downsides of this setup? Is there something better out there? I currently just use a sb-800 flash typically right on on my camera, what benefits is the speedlight system going to give me (i feel like I know but maybe theres something I'm not seeing)?

Would anyone recommend not getting this?

As always thanks for any input, its always appreciated!
AsydaBass
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Re: Downsides to the Nikon Speedlight

Post by AsydaBass »

Hey bud,

I love this system, end of story. I built my macro rig around it. The only downside I hear people talk about is that the flashes can not be hotshoe mounted. You can mount them on a tripod/flash stand though, so this has never been an issue for me. Awesome little flashes.

-Don
www.RainforestDon.com
frogfish
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Re: Downsides to the Nikon Speedlight

Post by frogfish »

love mine
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jason folt
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Re: Downsides to the Nikon Speedlight

Post by jason folt »

Downsides? Extra gear, extra weight, plastic mounts can break and nikon charges you and arm and a leg to repair them, take different batteries, time to set them up.

Upsides? Everything.

Jason
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Antonsrkn
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Re: Downsides to the Nikon Speedlight

Post by Antonsrkn »

Excellent, well it seems like the overwhelming majority of people who use thus system love it. I guess I have something to save $$ for again! Can't wait to get this and try it out, might be a while yet but herping season is just about over hereabouts anyways.

Thanks everyone for the feedback!
frogfish
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Re: Downsides to the Nikon Speedlight

Post by frogfish »

I think the two flash method gives much better results than a ring flash.

Image
DSC_0400 by efedse, on Flickr
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Antonsrkn
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Re: Downsides to the Nikon Speedlight

Post by Antonsrkn »

I think the two flash method gives much better results than a ring flash.
Thanks for the info. I had thought about getting a ringflash as its considerably cheaper, but looking at both products it seemed to me that the speedlight method is much more versatile.

Great mantis shot btw!
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chrish
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Re: Downsides to the Nikon Speedlight

Post by chrish »

I don't shoot Nikon but I do have the Sony equivalent for this rig. I love the thing, but the Sony is bit clunky due to the wires. But with or without wires, they are a hundred times less clunky than some sort of dual flash bracket.

I do find it a bit of a creativity killer though. You do have to force yourself to stop and say "do I want really even lighting here? Maybe some shadows would add to the composition?"

Also, diffusing these things can be a bit of a challenge. The diffusers they come with are generally not good enough.

If I was starting out from scratch and owned no gear already ( :shock: ) and had to choose a new camera system, I might be very tempted to go with Nikon simply because they have this particular piece of gear. It is the "killer app" for their system, IMHO, at least for herp photos.

The sony and canon equivalent flashes are good, but suffer from the fact that they are wired, not wireless. The wires can get tangled on branches, etc., or idiotic Dipsas indica can crawl and get tangled in them while you are trying to shoot! :x ).
The absurd thing is that Sony has a very solid (Minolta) wireless flash system, they just haven't integrated it into macro flash yet. The benefit of the wired units, however, is that the flash heads themselves are tiny because they don't have to have incorporate the wireless receiver.

All that rambling aside, get one. You won't be disappointed.
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Antonsrkn
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Re: Downsides to the Nikon Speedlight

Post by Antonsrkn »

I do find it a bit of a creativity killer though. You do have to force yourself to stop and say "do I want really even lighting here? Maybe some shadows would add to the composition?"
Isn't it possible to play around with the individual outputs of the units in order to create and work with shadows? I noticed myself using the same sort of lighting on most of my shots with my flash unit just mounted on my camera and not getting creative with it. One thing I'm hoping to do with this setup is switch things up a little and playing with the individual settings on each flash unit to see what kind of lighting I can get that way.

Regardless, I'm pretty excited about getting it. It will certainly make a nice addition to the photo gear.
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