I am a big fan of Nikon CLS technology. And again Nikon came up with small, compact but powerful lighting system, SB-700. This flash unit lives up to the Nikon legacy. I always repeat the fact that photography is all about adjusting the composition and lights. To support this fact, most of the DSLRs come with built-on flash but the features they provide is very limited. That’s why it is almost necessary to have an external flash unit which can provide creative control over lighting conditions. If you are using Nikon DSLR then you have so many options; SB-R200, SB-400, SB-600, SB-700, SB-800 or SB-900. The Nikon Speedlight SB-700 is the newest flash unit from Nikon. You can consider this as a replacement for SB-600. I absolutely love this new flash, I was using the SB-600, which worked fine, but the SB-700 was a great upgrade. Now let me give you brief review of this new flash unit.
SB-700 Nikon Flash is compact but full of features that SB-600 lacks and some of the features are inherited from more professional flash unit like SB-900. It looks professional, supports commander mode, capable of multi-step auto zoom up to 120mm and and a high-speed recycling time of 2.5 seconds with NiMH batteries and 3 seconds with Alkaline batteries. Built size of Nikon SB-700 (2.8 × 5.0 × 4.1 in) is bit larger than SB-600 and small than SB-900 unit. However, it looks more like SB-900 sharing some of it’s features and control layout. The interface on the SB-700 is much more straight forward than the SB-600 which requires you to push two buttons at the same time to enter certain menus to control the flash. The SB-700 is easier and faster to setup and has more features than the SB-600.
This flash unit is redesigned with interactive control and very easy to use. Like I already said, some of it’s features and even controls are borrowed from SB-900. It has nice LCD screen on the back and includes two mode switches on the left and right side of the LCD screen which allow user to change modes without navigating through all the menu. The SB-700 comes with incandescent and fluorescent filters for good color balance when shooting indoors. The SB-700 automatically detects the types of filters in use and adjusts the settings accordingly. It also comes with a built-in bounce card that can be used for bounce flash effects and diffusor to soften the intensity of lights.
Features & Performance
1. Automatically senses the FX or DX-format camera in use and optimizes light distribution.
2. Automatically identifies mounted hard type color filters and adjusts camera white-balance.
3. Works with Nikon’s i-TTL (intelligent through-the-lens) metering system. This system works by firing a series of flash bursts to assist the camera in analyzing the scene. The camera’s metering system then processes this information and sends it back to the flash unit, balancing the flash output with the ambient light.
4. Using the simple slider switch on the back of the SB-700, you can optimize light quality by selecting Standard for general illumination, Center-weighted for portraits or Even, for groups or interiors.
5. Most of the newer entry level Nikon DSLRs do not have commander mode to remotely control the flash Off Camera. SB-700 can be used as a commander flash unit as well to control many wireless flash units.
6. SB-700 has a built-in thermal cut-out detection feature to prevent damage from overheating. It works by extending the recycling time when SB-700 detects heat build-up.
7. Flash Value (FV) Lock feature locks in a specific flash output on the main subject, regardless of aperture, composition or the lens’ zoom position
All in all I highly recommend this flash over the SB-600. I wanted to get the SB-900 but its just too big and heavy for my needs and couldn’t justify the additional cost.
About UM3$H
I just bought this unit. This is great unit with most of the features inherited from SB-900. I love the power of this flash unit.
I am also impressed with it so far.
i just want to ask what will be the setting im going to use if i shoot inside a restaurant …my device is D90 and using SB700
In this case, I would first change D90′s White Balance (WB) to adjust the light inside restaurant (if there is any) and apply color gels on SB-700 according to the colors of light. It helps to neutralize the color tone of subject. After placing flash units in proper place (if you are shooting with off camera flash), I would prefer to shoot into Manual mode (M) trying different combination of Shutter speed, Aperture and ISO value to adjust lighting. You didn’t specify if you are shooting single person or group but you may want to consider about Metering mode too. I hope it helps to start with but you may have to play around more with camera settings under present shooting environment.
I wanted to know if usin flash would affect the BOKEH… i haven bought SB-700 yet… but im planning to… since i have to shoot a wedding at night. I use Nikon D90. I would be great if you suggest if flash would or should i go for 80-200, f2.8 or jus SB-700 and a 70-300, f/4.5-5 is enough….
Lahari,
If you are interested in getting nice bokeh, you have to consider getting good lens with wide aperture and more number of blades so that you get smooth and nice bokeh. If you shoot at night, getting flash is important unless you have studio strobe. When you attach flash to your camera or use off camera, you can wide open aperture and increase shutter speed (you can also play with ISO at night) which helps to freeze motion at night and also gives nice bokeh. I will recommend 80-200 f/2.8 over 70-300. You can also get 50mm 1.4G or 1.8G which (comparatively cheap lens but gives nice result) and if you have more budget, I recommend 85mm f/1.4G lens which I consider best for wedding or portrait.
Happy Shooting!
Hi I am an amateur photographer and I am shooting a party at Perfect Game Sports Bar tonight in Worcester Ma and was wondering what setting I should shoot …I have a D5000 with a SB-700 …it will be inside a sports bar ..I will be shooting for Jose Conseco’s birthday party and want the shots to look great…need some advice thanks !
Shooting inside bar with flash is bit tricky because you will have all kinds of light there. You will have to do some experiments with different lights and you might have to use gel to get matching light effects. But only with your camera and flash unit, I would use tungsten white balance and use flash and see the result. Go with TTL-BL when using flash on hot-shoe.
Hi
I shot a wedding at the weekend and used my flashgun (Sb-700 with Nikon D 90) indoors but with fairly good light. I used Panasonic rechargeable Evolta batteries and within about 20 minutes the battery life went. I couldn’t understand it at all! Was I shooting too quickly?? I know that sometimes you may end up with a dark shot if you haven’t allowed it enough time to recycle but for the batteries to actually drain…? They didn’t feel hot when I took them out.
I had the same problem a few weeks previously when I shot indoors for a studio style shoot; I thought it was because I had used cheaper batteries, but, after purchasing the Panasonic ones, I’m baffled as to what I’m doing wrong!
Thanks
How many pictures you were able to take? I haven’t used those batteries yet. But my sb-600 easily take couple hundred pictures with fully charged Duracell batteries. You may also want to check the power that flash gun is throwing.
I reckon maybe about 50 photos? I checked the manual for the SB 700 and the batteries are definitely correct for the model. How do I alter the power that the flash gun is projecting? I don’t find the manual very user friendly!
If you are using i-TTL mode, it automatically adjusts power to expose your subject properly. And if you are using manual mode, you can set power in flash gun which is usually in fractional value. But I guess this is not issue here because you need proper power to expose correctly anyway. I suggest you to experiment flash only (without attaching on camera) with fully charge battery and see how many times it fires. That way you will be narrowing down your problem area if there is any.