SU-800 opinions?

[Dprime]

Hey guys,

Just wondering if the people that have a SU-800 could share there thoughts/experiences with it?

What is its range like? indoors/outdoors? I havnt been able to find any actual stats on it...

Does it have the ability to send via IR, "FP" mode like the SB-800's?

Reason I ask is that I do alot of outside night work and require high shutter speeds. Ive achieved it in the past using my SB-800 and sending to my 600 with FP mode on, and it works a treat, but that limits me to having my 800 on camera.

Do you think its worth getting the SU-800, or just buying another SB-800?

Thanks in advance!
Brett

[sirhc55]

I have this unit and after checking in the manual it states approx 20m with either the SB800 or SB600.

[xorl]

Reason I ask is that I do alot of outside night work and require high shutter speeds. Ive achieved it in the past using my SB-800 and sending to my 600 with FP mode on, and it works a treat, but that limits me to having my 800 on camera.

Just curious, do you need FP sync anyway?

Generally, FP sync is only useful when there is so much ambient light around it affects your exposure when the camera is set at your chosen aperture and max sync speed (Eg, 1/250 on a D200). These kinds of conditions aren't very common at night.

If there isn't enough ambient light to require a faster shutter speed, then the flash will effectively dictate the length of your exposure. This would be somewhere in the range of ~1/1000 - 1/50000 depending on your flash power - plenty to freeze most action.

[Dprime]

Thanks sirhc55.

The reason I need FP sync is because I'll be shooting wakeboarding at night, and we usually have generators with a few flood lights around the area so the rider can see what they are doing, which is enough ambient light to give a blur. And I want each water droplet to be crystal clear. So I usually shoot at around 800th-1000th plus flash.