Speedlight for nikon

Nikon has today announced the new SB-800 Speedlight. This new flash unit is designed to complement the D2H digital SLR and incorporates many new features associated with Nikon's i-TTL 'Creative Lighting System' including Flash Value Lock, Auto FP High-Speed Sync and Flash Colour Information Communication. The SB-800 also facilitates advanced wireless lighting, "Up to 3 SB-800 units can now communicate monitor pre-flash data with the Master unit for fully automatic multiple flash exposures, removing the need for flash meters or manual calculations. The D2H Digital SLR 1005-pixel Matrix metering sensor is utilized to calculate exposures, and transmit each Slave output changes back to each Slave unit."

At the heart of a new Nikon Creative Lighting System

July 22 2003. 08:00 CET. Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Introducing the Nikon Speedlight SB-800, an intelligent, flexible breakthrough in flash photography that forms the heart of a new Creative Lighting System. Refined digital performance and new technologies to make complex multiple flash exposures as simple as using a single on camera flash unit.

Intelligent, innovative, indispensable

The new Speedlight SB-800 introduces a number of refinements to D-TTL flash performance technologies, Nikon term i-TTL.

Flash Colour Information Communication

A new system designed to improve AWB (Auto White Balance) irrespective of flash output duration. Until now flash lighting can exhibit changes to AWB depending on flash to subject distances. Long (distant) duration outputs tend to be redder, short (close) durations tend to the bluer end of the spectrum.

The new SB-800 incorporates systems that communicate flash output information during exposures to the image processing ‘engine’ of the new Nikon D2H Digital SLR.

The principle is to deliver uniform AWB results during flash exposures of varying subject distances.

Nikon D50

Digital SLR's are quickly becoming the fastest moving segment of the digital camera market, this means more new digital SLR's, more competition and lower prices. The Nikon D50 is introduced as a more affordable and easier to use version of the D70 which was released just under fifteen months ago. Anyone who has seen or handled the D70 will immediately see a strong resemblance in the D50, it's only when you start to examine the camera in a little more detail that you notice the differences (we've detailed them below). Clearly the D50 is designed to compete with other affordable digital SLR's such as the Canon EOS 350D (Digital Rebel XT), Pentax *ist DS and Olympus E-300.

Differences between D50 and D70/D70s

Although quite similar in use and appearance there are some noteworthy differences between the D50 and D70, we have detailed all of the feature / specification differences in the table below. To summarize the most important; the D50 has improved auto focus especially in the area of motion tracking, it has a new auto AF mode (which automatically switches between single and continuous AF depending on the subject), it has a lower resolution metering sensor but that sensor is a newer generation than the one used in the D70 (and D70s) - spot metering circle is also larger, the maximum shutter speed is 1/4000 sec, continuous shooting is 2.5 fps, it has a better viewfinder eyecup, the LCD monitor has increased to 2.0" in size, the D50 takes SD cards (not CF), it's slightly smaller and lighter than the D70 and several features have been removed or simplified to make the camera easier to use.

Two new AF-S DX lenses

In addition to the D50 Nikon has also announced two new AF-S DX lenses, the 18-55 mm will become the 'Kit lens' (adding just $100 to the price of the camera) and the 55-200 mm offers a lightweight and affordable 'big zoom' addition which when combined with the Kit lens will provide a 27-300 mm equiv. FOV coverage. In comparison to the Canon equivalent lenses these two both feature Silent Wave Motor (SWM) technology which means faster focusing and near silent operation. Click here for an image of the D50 with the 18-55 mm lens mounted. (Canon do a version of the EF-S 18-55 mm with a USM motor but only standard in Asia).