SB-400
Great for Beginners to Flash Photography
As versatile as the SB-600 flash is, Nikon’s SB-400 is a much less intimidating start to flash photography for the beginner. Using the 400 opens your eyes to the possibilities of bouncing and diffusing the flash. When used in the manual or priority modes on the D40 (and D40X), it is also a great introduction to manual flash settings. With this inexpensive flash, you can learn to bounce, diffuse, and balance ambient lighting. Once you are done with this, you can then go on to Strobist-style off-camera flash photography and spend all that money on the 600s and the light stands, etc.
SB-400 for the Blind Strobist?
According to the Strobist, There are two things your flash needs to have. The SB-400 offeres some litmited attempts at these features.
1) You have a strobe that can be triggered externally via your camera’s PC connection, as seen in the first photo. (This example is a Nikon SB-28dx, a circa “D1 era” pro flash.) This capability can be added to any hot-shoe flash for about $20 via a “hot-shoe to household” synch adapter. No worries.
Only with the SC-28 cable can you to take the 400 off camera. The kicker is that this cable is not inexpensive. If you are hoping to to use this off-camera a lot, you may be better off just buying the SB-600 as the SC-28 and the 400 together are almost as expensive as the 600 without the 600 additional benefits. The 400 is more mobile, as it is smaller, so the 400 plus the cable make sense for occassional use.
I also use the SB-400 together with an optical slave trigger to activate an off camera flash. I occassionally use this method to trigger my Vivitar 285HV. This is a bit tricky. If the ambient light is too strong, the optical slave will not trigger. I like the ability to use a little on-axis fill flash to soften the shadows from my only off-camera flash.
2) You have a strobe that can be set to manual power and “dialed down,” as seen in the second photo. This is pretty much mandatory. If your flash does not have a variable manual control, you are gonne be one unhappy (and very limited) puppy. Fortunately, most good flashes have this feature. And you can easily find one that has it if you need to get it.
The only controls on the SB-400 are a power switch and a lever lock to hold it in place. With the D40 series, however, you can use the LCD screen to use the flash in manual mode. The LCD is tricky with my eyesight, but I have learned my way around the menus.
Final Word, First Step
I like the SB-400. I use it with an Omnibounce, off the ceiling and with the slave trigger to pretty good effect. I am ready to add another flash, perhaps the 600 or 800 now. If you want to improve your flash photography, but are not ready to jump in the deep end, try the SB-400.
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