SB-700 AF Speedlight

Purchased a refurbished SB-700 AF Speedlight. Nice speedlight. Used for just over 3 months and it broke. Battery light still showed charged, but it would not flash.

I am a professional photographer in San Antonio, TX and I often use my SB-700 flash for off camera flash (OCF). About a week ago I was photographing a family next to a river and I had my flash mounted to an OCF rig and 24´´ x 24´´ softbox and sandbagged. A strong gust of wind blew the rig (despite the sandbag) into the river! I rushed over and I was too late...

I fished the rig out of the water and immediately pulled the batteries. This flash was totally waterlogged. I was so upset.. This was my 2nd flash in a year! The first flash was stolen along with ALL of my gear (contained in a bag). The LCD display looked like a little aquarium due to all of the water in it. I shook out what I could and let the flash sit by the window in the sun for a week.

Just yesterday, I figured I would give it one last try before having to buy a 3rd one. I inspected the flash for water and when there was no sign of moisture I popped the batteries in and WOW! It turned on and the flash is fully operational! I was able to photograph a marriage proposal last night and it didn´t give me any issues.

I will highly recommend Nikon products to anyone I know! Your products prove to me over and over again that they are built to last and built for work. In a time where nothing lasts long you have created a line of products that stands the test of time and the abuse that photographers who work in the field put them through. I have always and will always use Nikon gear only! You have one happy customer here and I will always do what I can to bring you more business. Thanks for creating such an awesome line of kick butt products!

I have three of these (sort of a recommendation in itself :-) used for close-up and macro work (1/3 to 3X life size on sensor). They are used in conjunction with an SU-800 controller mounted on the camera´s hot shoe. This set-up works very well indeed, and provides enough light to be able to use low ISO and keep noise down. Two of the 700´s are used together for the main flash and the 3rd is used as the fill flash. The initial ´´programming´´ is bit tedious, but once you have the stop adjustments and communication channels set, use becomes effectively set-and-forget.

The SU-800 to SB-700 communication (wireless via infrared) works like a charm…more reliable in bright sunlight than using the on-camera flash as a controller for the SB-700´s. The flashes themselves are reliable, fire every time they are supposed to, and have reasonable battery life using eneloop rechargeables. However, it is very possible to drain a set of batteries when out on a field shoot, so carry a spare set for each flash unit and make sure all the batteries are fully recharged before you go out. The kind of macro shooting I do uses flash on every shot as I keep the apertures small (f/22 mostly) for more depth of field.

The only drawback I find is that you can´t position the flash head exactly because some of the adjustments are click-stopped rather than continuous. A continuously variable angle would be nice (with a locking screw, perhaps, instead of click stops).

I had my doubts about flash coming from Canon, but WOW, this flash delivers. TTL is perfect exposure every time. Close or far, the flash knows how much power to apply and over the course of my first weekend shooting with it, I simply could not be happier.

I m using this product for one year and i m very satisfied with this. i always use manual and commander mode. it awesome work.

Hello,purchased this flash 2 months ago after reading alot of reviews. Was concerned about the battery door issues but took the plunge anyway. So far door is no problem,there is a button on the door for opening and closing.If you by pass the button you could have problems. Flash provided excellent light at a event i shot Sat,tried setting flash to manual but it washed out the picture.Even at 1/2 power it was a washout. Had camera in auto mode and program mode. Bouncing in manual rendered excellent results with a 12 ft ceiling in 1/2 power. Great flash.

The flash has worked well for me; however the battery door has broken... as a result of impact, but simply the stress of doing it´s job as a door.

Received as a gift for Christmas 2013. Awesome. The fill light that it provides is night and day from ordinary use of the pop-up flash.

I have had this flash for a couple of weeks and I am very pleased with the performance so far. It makes a huge difference to my indoor photography. I have mainly been involved in Nature Photography but now am focusing on Indoor/outdoor portrait. I am still playing with all the settings and possibilities. It is an excellent product, which I have no problem highly recommending to any serious photographer, professional, hobbyist, or otherwise.