#sb-800

Funny how life works sometimes.  I did a hack to my camera's AF assist light to avoid buying an SC-29. But then shortly after that I saw a great deal on an SC-29 on ebay, so I got one (will blog about it soon). Meanwhile, I was experimenting with the AF assist and I observed what I thought was a fluke.  Nikon's AF Assist works when the autofocus mode is either on Auto (the camera chooses the focus point), or when the center AF point is selected.  If a different AF point is selected, the camera's AF Assist doesn't work.  I had assumed that the same was true for the SB-800, and all other accessories with an AF Assist light (the SB-900, SB-600, SU-800, SC-29, etc.).  Apparently, it's not true.  With these other accessories, the AF Assist light can work even when the AF point is not selected, depending on the focal length selected.  In fact, this is documented in the SB-900 and SB-800 manual (but not the SC-29 manual):

No, it's not a joke.  Press release: http://www.dpreview.com/news/1009/10091509sb700.asp What I consider to be major upgrades from the SB-600:

Commander capable (up to 2 groups).  Now there are four commander options for Nikon (in addition to the popup flash): SB-700, SB-800, SB-900 and SU-800.

Head rotation: 180 degrees to both sides according to Nikon.

Zoom coverage up to 120mm.

SU-4 optical slave mode.  See here.

Other features similar to the SB-900 such as the interface, light distribution pattern, support for gels, overheat protection, etc.

What I consider to be notable missing features:

Power - the press release gives a GN of 38m at 120mm zoom, 100 ISO.  I'm guessing the 35mm zoom is 1 stop weaker, meaning about 27m, which is a bit weaker than Nikon's stated GN for the SB-600  (30m at 35mm zoom, 100 ISO).  The cynic in me thinks this is intentional on Nikon's part to force us to buy more. :)

I took some real estate photos today for a friend who's a broker.  When I got to the house, it was midday with the sun almost directly overhead.  I would have preferred to take photos close to the golden hour, but I had a scheduling conflict.  The overhead sun though, was perfect for one of the rooms - a hallway with a skylight. Here is the first test shot - all ambient (ISO: 200, f/4, 1/60):

The first thing I tried to improve the shot was to add more light in the green room.  I set the YN-560 in the green room on a window sill (so that it would be consistent with the natural light), bouncing to the white ceiling.  I used the YN-560 in optical slave mode and triggered it with the D300's popup flash in manual mode.  The YN-560 triggered successfully even though it was not in the line of sight, and the popup was on 1/128 power.  I kept the exposure value the same but used f/8 for sharpness (ISO: 200, f/8, 1/15), and I used the YN-560 on 1/4 power.

I didn't like how the popup lit the balustrade, so I attached an SG-3IR infrared filter to cover the popup flash.  This time, 1/128 power did not work.  With the SG-3IR, however, I could use the popup flash on full power without affecting the exposure.  So that's what I did:

Next, I wanted to brighten the hallway a bit without destroying the ambience from the ambient :) I tried putting an SB-800 in the room at camera left, aimed at the ceiling.  The SB-800 was on manual, in SU-4 mode, I believe at 1/8 power.  I again kept the exposure the same.

It created a shadow on the ceiling that I found distracting.  I tried bouncing it instead, behind me.

The brightening effect on the room was enough but I felt that the balustrade was illuminated too much.  I reduced the power on the SB-800 by a stop:

A crude lighting diagram (the red flash is the YN-560 and the green flash is the SB-800):

 Comparing the original ambient-only shot with the final shot:

I tried taking a shot of the same hallway from a different angle. This time I tried putting the Sb-800 on the window sill of the room on camera left, bouncing to the ceiling.  A lighting diagram:

I adjusted power so that its shadow would be almost invisible.