SB-400 as third speedlight?

[DVEous]

... Obsolete ...

[Onyx]

Interesting unit. I had dismissed it completely until now - it seems to only use 2 AA batteries, and looks to be alot smaller than the SB 600 and 800 siblings.

I do question whether it offers much power beyond the in-built flash of the camera (assuming your camera does have a flash).

[jamesw]

the sb600 has a gn of 30m/98ft at 35mm,

the sb400 has a gn of 30m/98ft at 18mm...

hence id be tempted to say, from the paper stats, that the sb400 is actually more powerful than the sb600. the difference lies in the featureset and moreso the ability to control the light. also keep in mind the sb400 cannot bounce.

and fwiw the d200 inbuilt flash is 12m/39ft... so yes the sb400 is more powerful.

[chrisk]

also keep in mind the sb400 cannot bounce..

the sb400 can bounce. it cant be used wireless or to trigger remote units which is the only reason i haven't bought one. otherwise i love the small lightweight build of it. works a treat and is MUCH smaller than the sb600/800.

[Yi-P]

I believe from what I know, SB400 has no other modes than i-TTL. That is, it can only work by itself mounted on camera or via a sync cord. It does not do slave flash/strobe, manual output is only available under the D40's menu options.

[Reschsmooth]

I don't know how much the SB400s are going for, but you could always consider a second hand Metz - I have a 45CL4 that I can run with a long sync chord and use the SB800 at the same time (either on camera directly or via the SC29).

Mind you, you can't use the on-board flash to control the SB800 wirelessly AND use the Metz via sync chord.

The Metz, for about $100 or so on fleabay will give you more power than the SB400, as I understand.

[DVEous]

... Obsolete ...

[jamesw]

I don't know how much the SB400s are going for, but you could always consider a second hand Metz - I have a 45CL4 that I can run with a long sync chord and use the SB800 at the same time (either on camera directly or via the SC29).

Mind you, you can't use the on-board flash to control the SB800 wirelessly AND use the Metz via sync chord.

The Metz, for about $100 or so on fleabay will give you more power than the SB400, as I understand.

i have a metz 45cl4 that i rarely use (I prefer my sunpak 555s), has a gn of 150. much more powerful than an sb800, let alone a sb400.

[jamesw]

I corrected an error above - should have been compared to SB-600.

From what I understand, the SB-400 head can be tilted up, so yes you can bounce.

I would use this third speedlight with the eBay remote triggers (similiar to the Cactus). I was playing with my SB-800s yesterday with these RF triggers (the new toy!), and discovered the SB-800s won't actually fire if set to TTL mode... so I don't want to get caught if the SB-400 can't fire using a remote trigger device.

you are right, when firing through a radio trigger, flashes WILL NOT EVER fire on TTL mode. basically because TTL is through the lens, and all the triggers communicate is the pulse to fire the flash - they do not send any of the information that is typically communicated to the flash in TTL mode.

and having said that, the sb400 WILL NOT work with your triggers. it can ONLY be used in manual mode on an sb400. if you have a look at the back of a sb400, it only has an on off button, a lock tab, and a ready light.

now here is some food for thought, considering you mentioned it would be for radio trigger use:

i would suggest that if you want a cheap flash to stick on your radio triggers, go to bhphotovideo.com and buy a couple of sunpak 383s or vivtar 285s. they sell for about $80 us and postage will be $40 us. they will be far more useful than a sb400 and have more power to boot (just a little less than the sb800). you will end up with two flashes for about AUD 220-230 providing that you dont have to worry about customs (which rarely happens)...

and then go out and buy some pocketwizards

[Yi-P]

I corrected an error above - should have been compared to SB-600.

From what I understand, the SB-400 head can be tilted up, so yes you can bounce.

I would use this third speedlight with the eBay remote triggers (similiar to the Cactus). I was playing with my SB-800s yesterday with these RF triggers (the new toy!), and discovered the SB-800s won't actually fire if set to TTL mode... so I don't want to get caught if the SB-400 can't fire using a remote trigger device.

Mind you that the SB400 can only be tilted UPWARDS... that is, there is no swivel on the flash. You put your camera on portrait orientation and it will blind someone to your left/right, or force you to have a direct flash, since its head cannot move out of the 'straight' position.

As I mentioned above, SB400 only and only will function in TTL mode, the only chance you can use it on "Manual" mode is on the D40/x bodies, which it has a specific menu option to control this flash.

It is a great little flash to travel around with a very light camera like the D40 + 18-55 lens... but by no means this can be compared to the SB600 in terms of functionality.