The
next thing added to my camera bas was a nice flash. The flash on the camera
body is alright, but since it is so close to the Lens, it increases the chance
of red-eye. Also, it only allows for directly forward facing flashes, which
is not always the best. To help this out, I got the Nikon
SB50 flash. This flash is designed to talk with the camera, and thus is
a little bit smarter than just a plain flash. It will zoom in and out from 14mm
- 80 mm range, so the light that is given off is betters suited for the desired
focal range the picture is taken with. Additionally, the direction the flash
is pointed at can be varied. This is good for doing what is called bounce flash
photography where you bounce the flash light off the ceiling to get a better
diffuse light than a direct flash on the subject.
After
getting a lot of toys, I realized that I needed a new camera bag to carry all
this around in. I have had a decent bag for a while,but like most camera bags
it was designed with a single stap so that you carry all your equipment on one
shoulder. There is nothing wrong with this, except for if you are going any
distance it does start rubbing into your shoulder. The bag to the right is the
one that we choose, it is a nice backpack style bag. It is a Lowe
Pro Mini-Trekker that we got when we visited B&H
Photo Video in New York City. This si just one of those things that you
can not buy over the internet, because you have to know how that bag is going
to sit on your shoulders and such. I have not gotten a chance to really take
the bag out and use it, but that will change this summer. Additionally we wanted
it for use on our honeymoon this fall, where will will be doing some walking
around Italy.
After using my flash for a while
I realized very quickly that it was going to get expensive to use the flash a lot, because it
used special camera batteries, and there were no recharables for it. That is when I decided to
upgrade to the Nikon SB600 flash. In addition to using AA batteries, it did have a lot of other nice
features. One of the features is the ability to use the Nikon SB600 as a slave flash controlled by the
onboard flash of the Nikon D200. The SB50 had a photo sensor that would let it trigger when ever it
saw another flash, but that is not much control. With the SB600, it will only go off when my camera tells it
to go off (or another similar Nikon camera with similar settings). At the same time, the power of the flash
can be controlled from the camera so that it does not always have to fire at full power.
So the SB600 was a very great flash (which
I still use a lot) but I was at a wedding with Chris when we realized that he needed a flash. I used this oppertunity
to get another flash, the Nikon SB800. This flash is similar to the SB600, but it has a few more features which are helpful
to have. First of all, the SB600 could be controlled remotely from the D200 camera, but not the D100, but if I have the
SB800 flash on the D100, then I am able to control the second slave flash. Also, it is great being able to use the on-board
flash and have two more flashes going off as I need them. It gives a little better lighting, where I can help reduce the
amount of shadowing in a scene.
After
getting a lot of toys, I realized that I needed a new camera bag to carry all
this around in. I have had a decent bag for a while,but like most camera bags
it was designed with a single stap so that you carry all your equipment on one
shoulder. There is nothing wrong with this, except for if you are going any
distance it does start rubbing into your shoulder. The bag to the right is the
one that we choose, it is a nice backpack style bag. It is a 
