Hi all..


i finally decided it's time to move from p&s to dslr.. so boldly went out there and gotten myself a decent nikon d40 (that was 2 weeks ago)... and last week, decided to get the sb400...

there was a lot of hesitation at first for the sb400.. but then,,,, after playing with it at the shop.. i decided.. let's blow it anyway..

got it at Rm420 from amcorp...

the flash


attached to the d40.. looks ok.. the sb600/sb800 would be an overkill to the small d40 body..


the back....




here's some images taken with the sb400..

direct sb400 flash vs sb400 bounce..

DIRECT


BOUNCE @ 60deg


i never thought i could take these pictures....

DIRECT


BOUNCE @60deg



DIRECT


BOUNCE @60deg


i am taking pics now... very happy with the sb400 purchase.... will never resort back to in-built flash...

enjoy ur flash photography now

u use bounce card or ceiling?

shud be ceiling, the SB-400 can't attached bounce card IINM.

nice photos there with the flash

rubber band loh

so, can pivot?

---

Added on March 21, 2007, 1:51 pmsb400 is RM420,
then how much is sb600 and sb800?

This post has been edited by szehoo11: Mar 21 2007, 01:51 PM

get 2nd hand sb600 at 6xx
new one at 7xx
sb800 at 14xx

Nice example for noob like me You are poisoning me with the SB400

Nice shoot u have there? BTW, how to bounce those flash??

i bounce of the ceiling...

the flash head can be adjusted to prefix angles.. 60deg, 70 or 75 deg and lastly 90deg...

very happy with the flash... since i am a noob... every pic turns out nicely.. lol...

never thought i could take pics like this..

now need to learn about composition to capture PICTURES.. no merely simple shooting.. hahahaha

You can also try the built in flash, with a bounce card, +5.0EV (depends on ambient light), and proper exposure can get you pretty good flash pictures too:



This post has been edited by AlamakLor: Mar 21 2007, 02:22 PM

happy SHOOTING kekekk..

the different between on flash is tremendous

where you attach the bounce card?

rubber band and strap it at the bottom of the flash so that it is directly blocking the flash and bounces it off to the ceiling, some diffused light will still go through but it will do virtually nothing.

I was using the 50mm, probably around f/2.8 or f/4...you'd need iso400-800

any sample of photo how u do it? quite interesting

will try to take some pix if I can get a hold of my gf's cam...probably in the next two days, or i'll try to do it with a mirror tomorrow.

handphone got cam mah...hehe...
anyway, what kinda bounce card u use?

wah.. nice... i wonder wen i gonna buy a flash

My library card and Chubb card (security card) is in all white. You can just use a folded piece of white paper. Don't continuously shoot the flash whever it recharges, you risk burning the flash and card (i did this and a small burnt mark was left on the card) If you let the flash cools down properly, it will do no harm.

edit: nvm, went out and took a sample:



taken at iso 800, f/4.5, +5.0 EV, at very low light. That's the 18-70mm btw.

brighter lens help alot, and post processing might be needed, so...take raw and mess around...you'd also get different result with different cards...as in how much light could go though and how much is bounced. Of course, nothing beats a proper external flash....the postman ought to bring me my sb600 already!

This post has been edited by AlamakLor: Mar 21 2007, 03:13 PM

Can try to take pictures with the SB400 using a diffuser? Would like to see the effects of it. Might consider getting this flash as well.

Alamak,

What do you mean by +5.0EV? is that the exposure compensation?

Then the picture will not look super bright meh?
are all camera's exposure compensation the same?

So you only use +EV's in dark conditions and - EV's in Bright sunny days?

thanks for sharing

if the A4 paper is thick, will the flash go thru? i try to use tissue before and result is the tissue very smelly of burn

is that a d80?

thats the d50.

Yup, exposure compensation. It will not look washed out because it is not direct flash. You need to play around with the compensation because u'd get different results in different lighting conditions. Whenever you wanna do this trick and don't wanna do too much post processing, just bump the exposure compensation up. Sometimes your camera wont be able to compensate for the exposure fully and you'd need post processing to bump the exposure up, so always take in RAW. The only problem I ran into is I always forget to set the compensation level back after im done taking picture with it

Direct flash + diffuser still looks very crappy to me, bouncing is the only way. Tissue paper works fine as diffuser, but if you shoot the flash directly, you will still get hard shadows and what not. The cigarette box works well as a bouncer anyway

and yes, that's a D50...poor man like me can't afford D80

This post has been edited by AlamakLor: Mar 22 2007, 03:01 AM

waa... very good idea aaa use rubber band + white card.. i saw people using dat film case.. u kno when u buy film, that white cylindrical case

I've got a couple of em at home
Who wants? Lelong..rm10 each..HAHAHA.. nola..joking..

using film case is diffusing, not bouncing though.

ya ya ya.. aiyokk~ confuse with the term laa thanx for correcting~

wah, so tempting! that explains a lot bout SB400.
i might get one later. thnx 4 sharing TS.

anyone else have sb400? can share experience and knowledge?

check out Ken Rockwell website for the SB-400 review. I was thinking of SB600 but now leaning back to SB400. COol DIY bounce.........

i heard someone did this on the SB400 :
twist the flash head 90deg up. there's a gap to slot in a business card just behind the flash head. you'll get a nice balance of ceiling & card bounced light (most ppl carry a white biz card in the wallet )

that's the traditional way of using the bounce card. The sb400 will give you most of what you'd need, but the sb600 and sb800 will give you alot more flexibility. Here's a softlight bounce card I made following this tutorial:


bounce to the front

bounce to rear wall

you can also point the flash to the side and bounce it off a side wall, all sorts of wonderful thing you can play around if your flash can rotate.

here's the original turotial:
http://www.abetterbouncecard.com/

ps: the tutorial didn't use a diffuser with the card, I chose to use it coz I find that without the diffuser, there's still some harsh shadow when taken in short distance.

This post has been edited by AlamakLor: Mar 24 2007, 02:14 AM

yeah i've seen the betterbouncecard video before & it's great & flexible

i think ppl buy SB400 for its small size & a simple business card which can be slot in without any attachment will be handy & mobile. that the whole selling point of D40+SB400 - compact & mobile package

i agree with u on the compact and mobile package..

the weight of my sis's d80 is so dam heavy.. lugging it around is tiring...

plus d40 + sb400 is kida cute.... mini dslr... lol

Wifi_One, got try ur flash to be bounce like this?



get it from photomalaysia

that's somthing new.. hmm... might try it... will post pic when i do..

where can get the cheapest SB400?
can get less than rm400?

Went for survey for speedlight to use with my D40, this photoshop ask me to take another brand of speedlight (forgotten the brand) cos she said its performance same as SB800 but a lot cheaper. Can I go for the 3rd party one or better get the original one?

original one
guy i selling SB400 one
new set

how much?

really great flash for rm390 is there a stock shortage because people are selling them much more than retail

RM390? that's cheap. who's selling??

thats the price that many shops will sell you when u bargain really hard. although many shops put the retail as RM450, it can come down to RM400 very quickly if you let them know u r ready to pay cash. the extra RM10.... see their mood la

Oh like that ar? Anyone got RM400 from Valdimir before?

hi bro, how much u get ur D40 ah, and now wat is the best price can get ah and where to get? thanks sifu here

price now is about RM1999 for the body + kit lense

sb4000000000000000

I am getting this one too, after looking thru and fore SB 600 and SB 800. Damn, those two out of my budget, my parents would kill me if I do buy them! Besides, when to read kenrockwell's review, and got convinced into buying it. Anyway, good choice TS

SB-400 not as versatile.

Well, at least it doesn't burn your wallet . Good enough for light bounce function and compact too . I had enough mockery by my aussie mates for bringing my bulky D70s already

u care abt being mocked or taking good pictures?

they dont know anything about photography

lol, well at least they do appreciate the photos I took , even ask some from me since I took some snaps on site visit and stuff for report purposes

This post has been edited by nFiniteFX: Aug 15 2007, 09:49 PM

lolz..at least they know how to admire..haha... no lar... sure lidat de..you try bring big gun out to klcc...everybody looking at you also..

Must think for the long term mah.

I have a SB-600. Still contented with it.

Yeah I know but I would eventually get a better ones as soon as I start working lor,

Then make sure when the time comes, don't think or look back, just get a SB-800!

Unless they come out with something newer like a SB-1000/SB-1X (just my own names of something newer than SB-800)

heh, oh btw, can anyone recommend what rechargeable battery brand for this sb-400? I was thinking of getting Sony NHAAB2E 2500MaH ones. Or should I get Sanyo 2700MaH version? Any recommendation is highly appreciated.