nikon sb600 or nissin di866

[KHo]

Hi

Im looking to get a flash for my d90

My choices are now down to the sb600 or nissin di866, the sb900 seems to be out of budget


so what are pros n cons about these flashes?


thanks

Kevin

[ricktas]

I have the SB600 and it is a good unit. I think we need to know what you want your flash to do for you before anyone can make a definitive answer. I don't have any experience with a DI866.

But till we know the extent of what you want to do with flash, it is hard to advise which flash would be best suited to your needs. Cause it may be that the SB900 is the way to go, and we would rather advise you to keep saving, than get a flash that will see you wanting to upgrade in a month or two anyway.

[campo]

I've got no experience with the nissin either but after having a quick read it claims it's compatibile with Nikon which would be my first concern. It also has a little "sub flash" to do fill when bouncing which seems like a cool idea or maybe a gimmick...

anyways, I started with a SB600 flash unit many years ago and it's a great little performer. The only reason I got a SB900 was because i'm shooting weddings and want (a) something a bit more powerful for big group shots, (b) faster recycling times, (c) a flash unit on both of my bodies.

That said, if I wasn't shooting weddings and had those reasons, I wouldn't have had a need to get a SB900.

[nick351]

I think an sb 600 would be more worthwhile for you, you could use use D90 on-board flash in Commander mode and trigger the flash off camera via CLS. Ive got one and find it just as useful in the majority of situations.

[campo]

Nick, the propaganda for the Nissin says compatible with Nikon/Canon wireless...

http://www.nissindigital.com/en/Di866-1.html

[KHo]

its most likely used for indoor shooting, wedding and big group dinner sort of things.

also car photoshoots.

thanks for the quick reply!

[mrvista]

Hi, I got my sb600 last month for my D90 and I am more than happy with it so far. I got mine from B&h with a worldwide warranty.

[phild]

I can't comment for the Nikon equivalent, but I have both the Di-866 and Canon 580EX, the Di-866 performs as advertised, the auto zoom isn't as quiet as the 580EX, but the advertised master/slave functionality works as claimed.

There is a catchlight slide out as per the Canon item. The Canon version zooms 24-105 with a slide out extra wide adapter. The head swivels and tilts to the same degree as the Canon

Coverage wise the DI-866 has a little but of fall off at the edges on the widest setting (24mm on FF), but using the ultrawide popout remedies that. I doubt if the falloff would be noticeable on a crop sensor.

Powerwise the Di-866 is very close to the 580EX. The Di-866 menuing is excelent, far better than Canon's but the ability to adjust the flash settings from the camera function menus is absent (no big deal) The sub flash has variable power and can be adjusted independantly of the main flash power level. I got my Di-866 from eBay seller HKBNS, (currently $340 incl post) ordered and paid on a Tuesday, it arrived in Oz on Friday the same week. Recycle times are a little slower than the 580EX. All the other features are there including multiple flash & modelling.

If you do a google search you'll find lots of reviews.

[KLi]

I have a nissin di866 as well and they work great, I use them with radio wireless trigger.

They do make a little noise but nothing distracting.

[scpleta]

i would suggest you go for the SB600 as it will easily integrate with your D90 using nikon's CLS. yes, it's quite expensive but there's a premium buying OEM.

[Optical]

I bought the SB600 second hand about a year ago and it has never missed a beat. Easy to use as well. I can recommend the 600.

[Top]

I'd get the Nissin over the SB-600.

Then again, I'd rather a SB-900 from a grey import, for almost the same price as the Australian Nissin Di-866