Flash to keep / one to sell SB800 or SB910

Flashlight said:

T O Shooter said:

ClaudiusTheGod said:

I bought them after being huckstered by one of his youtube vids where he was taking 'studio' portraits in an office and in a normal room. Using a couple of guns- one with a colour ball lighting the background, and onother lighting the person.

Those balls fire light in all directions and need a lot of space between the subject and any walls to make sense- otherwise the light they give off is just always the light that is reflected off the walls and ceiling.

Thats fine if thats what you want, but i didnt have to pay gary fong 50 dollars to do bounce flash.

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Thanks. I never buy this stuff. Sometimes when I buy a package of gear, fellows are still finding all these little extras to give me as I'm walking out the door. Tripods, filters, umbrellas, Gary Fong thingys.

This particular package I would have paid the same price without the tripod, monopod, remote release, Lumiquest softbox thingy. Some people just want it all gone.

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This works as good as the Fong spheres:


Plastic drinking cup mounted as a diffuser on a Nikon SB-800

I believe the main difference between the 800 and 900 was that the 900 had a overheat protection built-in which engaged very soon to the dismay of many wedding shooters. Then they did the same as with the D800->D810 and D600->D610 and created the D910 which, IIRC, has a tiny fan build in to cool the flash tube.

Anyway many flash shooters, including me (although I never used the SB-9xx), swear by the SB-800 so my advice would be to keep that one with the 5th battery option. Even more so taking your earlier replies into account (repair cost, revenue when selling).

Another important fact with second hand flashes is the age (times fired, flash strength) of the tiny flash tube. Ageing tubes tend to emit bluer light and have longer flash duration with the same output level. I have a meter which measures those values, but that won't do you much good of course. You can take identical test shots with both units and see if one is definitely bluer than the other. Although this difference can have several causes it's an indication of an ageing flash tube.

Hope this helps.

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PHXAZCRAIG said:

I use SB800, SB900 and SB910 all together with Pocket Wizards. There are distinct advantages to the 9xx series.

First, the controls are much simpler and easier to use. I appreciate that.

Second, the recycle time is a lot faster with the 9xx, even compared to having 5 batteries in the SB800.

Third, there is less chance burning out the 9xx strobes as they have a thermal cutoff circuit. Not that I ever burned up an SB800, but I've heard the stories.

The 910 seems to have better cooling than the 900, so it doesn't cut off in the middle of a wedding shoot. (My 900 never did, but I worried about it, so I never used it as the main light).

The 910 has better zooming capabilities than the 800, and I beleive it zooms differently on DX and FX cameras, taking crop factor into account. Comes with better gel filters too.

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robertfel said:

If so, keep both. You always want a back up for paid work.

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robertfel said:

If so, keep both. You always want a back up for paid work.

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T O Shooter said:

Thanks. I never buy this stuff. Sometimes when I buy a package of gear, fellows are still finding all these little extras to give me as I'm walking out the door. Tripods, filters, umbrellas, Gary Fong thingys.

This particular package I would have paid the same price without the tripod, monopod, remote release, Lumiquest softbox thingy. Some people just want it all gone.

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lightandaprayer said:

T O Shooter said:

Thanks. I never buy this stuff. Sometimes when I buy a package of gear, fellows are still finding all these little extras to give me as I'm walking out the door. Tripods, filters, umbrellas, Gary Fong thingys.

This particular package I would have paid the same price without the tripod, monopod, remote release, Lumiquest softbox thingy. Some people just want it all gone.

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Regarding the Lumiquest softbox thingy. . . If it's an UltraSoft, it's a keeper as far as I am concerned. I've used one since the 90s on my Nikon flashes and a Metz potato masher. It folds into a very portable size and you can get optional silver and gold mylar inserts that up the power output (as much as 1.5 stops with the silver) while changing the quality of the light. I usually keep the silver inserts installed for general use.

For the camera pop-up flash, I use a translucent Fuji film canister. I cut it around 50% up each side and it fits securely on the flash. It does a nice job of slightly softening the tiny strobe. You can slip a Rosco filter inside it. . .

I've been doing location photography for many years using lots of nice lighting gear. Those two cheap devices have been in my bag pretty much the entire time.

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Rexgig0 said:

Try using off-camera flash, before selling. It is, really, so very much fun.

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T O Shooter said:

lightandaprayer said:

T O Shooter said:

Thanks. I never buy this stuff. Sometimes when I buy a package of gear, fellows are still finding all these little extras to give me as I'm walking out the door. Tripods, filters, umbrellas, Gary Fong thingys.

This particular package I would have paid the same price without the tripod, monopod, remote release, Lumiquest softbox thingy. Some people just want it all gone.

Click to expand...

Regarding the Lumiquest softbox thingy. . . If it's an UltraSoft, it's a keeper as far as I am concerned. I've used one since the 90s on my Nikon flashes and a Metz potato masher. It folds into a very portable size and you can get optional silver and gold mylar inserts that up the power output (as much as 1.5 stops with the silver) while changing the quality of the light. I usually keep the silver inserts installed for general use.

For the camera pop-up flash, I use a translucent Fuji film canister. I cut it around 50% up each side and it fits securely on the flash. It does a nice job of slightly softening the tiny strobe. You can slip a Rosco filter inside it. . .

I've been doing location photography for many years using lots of nice lighting gear. Those two cheap devices have been in my bag pretty much the entire time.

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It's a Lumiquest Softbox LTp. Looks like the designer had a bunch of binders around and figured he / she could make something out of them.

Good idea on the pop up flash diffuser. Funny, but I woke up one morning and no longer had a pop up flash. I had the D4 then D4s which didn't have one, swapped my D750 for a D500 and another one gone, and I forgot that one of the reasons I liked the D810 over the 850 was that I'd have one body with a pop up flash. But one day I decided that I had enough of the D810 not being good enough of a match with the D4s AF wise and fps wise, throw in around a 10% dealer discount on a new 850, and I ended up with three bodies without a pop up flash.

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T O Shooter said:

Rexgig0 said:

Try using off-camera flash, before selling. It is, really, so very much fun.

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Do you mean the 910 would be better than the 800 for that? I've used the pop up as commander ( when I had a pop up ), but I also have remote cords and a couple of different remote triggers.

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Rexgig0 said:

Another reason to have more than one Speedlight, is overheating when shooting something like a wedding or an event. Even if one is not a working professional, the occasional event may need to be photographed.

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Rexgig0 said:

My evidentiary/forensic/crime-scene shooting rarely had to be done at blazing speed, for an extended time, and I never reached the point of a flash protecting itself by shutting-down, but I always kept three Speedlites in the case, and sometimes did rotate two of them, when shooting quickly, performing a switch at natural pauses. (When colleagues are risking their safety, and that of the public, by keeping a major roadway closed, time is of the essence.)

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