control with the camera, LCD light screen, good manual and auto control, small and light.

only 70mm zoom head, wide angle thing kinda weak,really expansive, low recycle time in sequence mode (F5),only 4 batteries, TTL mode gives me underexposed pics...Is me or the flash? I use the auto mode and get good results... TTL only for portraits!

A good flash for nikons users of high class cameras. I have the f5 but there are so many things in this flash I think I'll never master it,AUTO mode really good. I just had a few overexposed pic in 2 years.. A good flash for all the nikon enthusiasts!

Customer Service

never used it

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METZ 45 cl4

Powerful, compact, light. Extremely versatile & easy to use, with multiple functions. Read the manual.

Slightly disappointed that hotshoe feels cheap & fragile for a flash of this class & the price paid.

Not only essential for later Nikon bodies, it also expands Nikon users' creative horizons due to a huge array of functions. I've used it heavily for daylight fill flash & I must say it makes a huge difference in your pics. Makes it 'livelier' or more 'sellable'.
For indoor pics, I coupled the SB28 with a Sto-fen Omni Bounce, a translucent plastic cube which you snap on to the front of the flashhead in a few seconds. It acheives an effect similiar to the extended bounce card. Wide angle ability is also extended past the 18mm limit. It also eliminates the 'Deer in the headlights' look; soften the flash eliminating glare on the subjects. However, with the use of the Omni Bounce, alot of light is wasted requiring the need for calculated flash compensation when the flash head is tilted.
Try to use the SB28 off the camera body via a TTL remote cord ie. SC-17 for better flash technique; Get an assistant to hold it for you. Not to mention multiple flash to achieve a more even fill indoors via the wireless slave flash controller SU-4.
FP High speed sync flash of 1/4000th sec is more than sufficient in alot of situations.
Works great & well balanced with my F100. Use lithium batteries for longer lasting power & added weight reduction.
BTW PLS NOTE: Don't get 2nd hand speedlights, speedlights when not properly used or stored are easily susceptible to damage, & not easily diagnosable visually. You cannot simply tell by physical appearance whether a flash is working properly or not most of the time, unless you are an electronics engineer with all the dismantling & testing devices.
Overall rated at 4.5 but rounded it off as it hasn't dampened me on any occasion.

Customer Service

None needed yet.

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Nikon SB26s/27s

when all is right this is a fantastic piece of equipment. I have taken thousands of flash photos with it in all conditions and the results are truly awsome. I shoot things like bull riding indoors and out at shutter speed of 250 and it's the best I've ever seen.

Cheaply made! Hot shoe looks very weak. Bounce card set-up is a joke!
Average battery life, but likes some brands of battery way more than others.

Someone help me, the worst thing is that it sometimes fires on it own and it often goes from TTL to Manual without any reason!

Nikon, Help us!

Greatest thing going if Nikon will address these problems.

Customer Service

Not needed yet.

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Sunpack

Powerful, compact. Bounce and swivel. Many cool functions. Built in bounce card very cool.

Built in slave would have been nice. Controls might be confusing for a beginer.

Awesome flash!!! Paired with an AF"D" lens, exposure is dead on even with slide film. I feel this flash is the benchmark against which all other flashes should be compared.

Customer Service

n/a

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SB24

High GN, full featured, lightweight, monitor pre-flash and reliable. This unit is a must have for those carrying an N80 or higher. Must also use with the SC-17 for much improved flexibility. External battery pack is a must if you need to dramatically shorten cycle times. A softener is a wise choice as often a 5500K reflective wall or ceiling is not available.

NONE! All these "pro's" complaining of a cheap hot-shoe interface are novices! Nikon very wisely made the shoe of plastic so during a mounted impact you would tear the mount off the flash (cheap repair) versus the body mount (expensive). If you use you Nikon as designed (rugged, truly professional, day-in and day-out use) you will appreciate the thought process of sparing the less expensive item. This logic is why you use A1 filters and hoods on all your lenses. So stop complaining about the plastic shoe! Also note that the flash CANNOT signal your camera to take a picture! Oh yeah, the head will zoom out to 70mm - if that isn't good enough... YOU ARE TOO FAR FROM YOUR SUBJECT.

Nikon again has created the standard to which all competitive products should be measured. This flash has more control and flexibility then needed by 95% of all photographers. Having said that, it is important to invest in a piece of equipment that will provide for future "needs". When I bought the SB28, I never thought I use the multiple flash (strobe) functionality... I was wrong.

Customer Service

Fair. Some attitude and arrogance with long repair times. Statement based on previous experience... have not had to repair the SB-28 (despite the plastic shoe).

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You name it!

High power
Superb array of features

None that I’ve discovered yet

This is quite a flash, its big, heavy, and has more features then you could imagine. I like it! It’s powerful enough to bounce off a high ceiling and D TTL balanced fill flash for the D1 (I have the DX version) is just amazing. It also works well in plain old TTL mode with my Coolpix 950, so I assume the 990 would work well also. I find very few times where the flash is not powerful enough to light up a large room or area outdoors, even in very low light. At first I thought the bounce card was cheesy but it hasn’t broken off yet. Use NiMH batteries in it to reduce the recycle times.

Customer Service

Not used

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Several Vivitar models

This is a follow-up to my April 4, 2000 review.

Please refer to my previous review.

Please refer to my previous review. In addition:

I wish the AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED lens pre-dated the SB-28 because the flash does not cover the newer 17mm focal length;

On one occasion, the 3D Colour Matrix metering on my F5 underexposed the foreground subject by at least one stop with the flash reflected in a background mirror.

Please refer to my previous review. In addition:

A flagship flash for my flagship F5;

I am waiting for Nikon to come out with a stronger flash with at least a 17mm coverage;

Bottom line is I like my flashes to be simple to operate, compact and lightweight.

Customer Service

Please read my previous review.

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Please refer to my previous review.

Very powerful. Zoom capability from 18-85 mm.Full interface with TTL & "D" features when applicable. Swivel & Bounce. I don't use swivel much except at home where it is invaluable.

Plastic hot shoe is a mixed blessing as previously noted. If dropped, the flash will break instead of the mount. Price.

An exccellent flash for newer Nikon models (N90 & newer). Powerful, lightweight, easy on the batteries. Love the strobe feature. Only downside is the cost, but you get what you pay for. Would not consider another flash for my N80 or F100 (except for a ringlight SB-29).

Customer Service

NA

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3rd party junk.

little and powerfull, great control, and a lot of features.Good lens options 18,20,24,35,50,70 and 85).

It doesnt cover 16 mm fish eye lens ratio, the plastic thing looks kind of cheap although with the 18 mm mode I can cover mostly all the action shot with a 16mm (I always use 2 nd fill flash). 4 batteries sometimes are not enough.SB26 had a photoelectric cell and this one doesnt...WHY???

A good but expansive flash. I can control the picture with this one and I feel with this one will never miss a pic. The TTL and Auto mode work great,and the manual mode can be set to your needs ina hurry. I love it. I'd buy one only if they were a little bit cheaper.

Customer Service

never used it

Similar Products Used:

None

Powerful flash, this was the top of the range flash for use with my Nikon F5. It's daylight fill capabilities are great, as are its special functions, slow and rear shutter sync being my favourites and 1/4000th sync not yet used (in 2 years !!). The built in reflector and wide angle adaptor are great and provide good coverage when I use my 17mm lens. There is power and accuracy to spare, but that 96 page Nikon booklet has to be read and understood before using this kit effectively not only that, the F5's 166 Pager also has to be assimilated. Do persevere, it's worth it.

Here are some very practical weaknesses. Build quality doesn't feel great. The control buttons are fiddly. The built in reflector needs a little more stiffness (but who knows I've kept an SB15 going for 16 years). The on/off/standby button is just not definite enough which means sometimes finding the flash on standby a fortnight after putting it away. It is just dreadful to use with my manual cameras (FE2,FM)(not fair as the SB15 works great with my F5). There are just too many settings to set manually when the SB28 is set on an FE2 (ie. manual Zoom and aperture, which is daft on an aperture priority camera). It is bulky which isn't good when travelling light - F5 and three lenses means packing the SB15 instead.

£190 is a lot of money for a lot of flash. The problem is that it's a lot of flash at times when you don't need all it's complexity. I've not suffered poor output as some of the other reviewers have complained about (and I have many flash units to compare this with). It might be a question of technique but that's unfair for me to say that because you might be right to expect that all that processing power you've bought ought to do the thinking for you.

Buy it if you need a bullet proof tool to work with your F5, F100 or F80 but there are many other great makes out there.

Nikon Speedlites are great but not indespensible.

Customer Service

Not used on the SB28 but Nikon Professional Services in the UK are excellent, they replaced the foot on my SB15 almost gratis ($5) some years back and serviced the SB15 last year very effectivey.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon Speedlights SB15, SBE Vivitars 2x 283,3500 Sunpak 22D, Soltron D32T, Canon 380EZ (on an EOS1n)also Ringlight on an EOS 888.