Nikon SU-800 BROCHURE

TOTAL DIGITAL

IMAGING SYSTEM

We’ve Got

You Covered

So you have a digital SLR and an idea — a GREAT idea — for a

photograph. Do you have all you need to make that idea hap-

pen? A quick look through these pages and you’ll know. Here

you’ll find all the accessories available for the Nikon

D-SLR lineup: everything you need to realize your present

ideas, and inspire new ones. Whether you are a seasoned pro-

fessional or a passionate weekend shooter, we’re sure you’ll

find something in this brochure that can help you craft better

images. Every item found within is designed specifically for

Nikon cameras, giving you seamless performance that truly

brings out the best in you and your Nikon D-SLR. Got an idea?

Make it happen. Here’s where you start.

Make Your Photography Matter with the

Nikon Total Digital Imaging System

See what one Nikon

Speedlight can do

Easy, intelligent, amazing:

The Nikon Creative Lighting

System

Make lighting work for
you with wireless
multiple Speedlights

Turn good shots into great
shots with Advanced Wireless
Lighting

Dramatic close-up

lighting made easy

Explore fine details with

flexible, wireless control

Your file, your vision

Capture NX 2 Software:
master post-production

Which Speedlight is right for you?

Nikon Creative Lighting System compatible
Speedlights

Flash Accessories

pp4-5

CONTENTS

pp6-7

pp13-15

pp10-11

p12

pp8-9

Remote control accessories

Steady shots — night or day

Power when you need it

p17

p16

p16

GPS accessories/wireless

transmitters

Communication technology

for any location

Battery packs and power

management

p18

Viewing attachments

View with clarity and comfort

p19

pp20-21

Close-up accessories

Close in on every subject

p22

p23

System diagram

NIKKOR lens lineup

Nikon digital SLRs

Gordon Nash — Wedding photographer (U.S.A.)

I shoot about 50 weddings a month, and nearly half of my images
need a Nikon Speedlight. I always have one on my camera, with
another ready for side-lighting or other handheld effects. Each
Speedlight makes a dramatic difference to the finished image. For the
above image, I used one SB-800 for side-lighting and a soft-focus filter
on the lens for a dreamy look.
As a professional wedding photographer, I face moving subjects,
unpredictable shooting situations and limited prep time, so speed and
intuition are vital to my success. That’s why I depend on the Nikon

Creative Lighting System. It’s easy to use and
offers so many options, along with consistent
exposure and performance. I have to be
ready for that special moment at all times. The
Creative Lighting System helps me do that.

http://www.gordonnash.com

Camera setting data:

Camera and
Speedlights: D200
(built-in Speedlight as

commander) and
SB-800 (remote unit)
Lens: AF 85mm f/1.8D
Shutter speed: 1/125 sec.
Aperture: f/2.2
Exposure mode: Aperture-Priority Auto
Flash mode: i-TTL
Image quality: RAW

See what one Nikon Speedlight can do

Easy, intelligent, amazing: The Nikon
Creative Lighting System

Lighting is a vital component of all images, but the past
complexities of flash photography have made many photogra­phers — even seasoned ones — hesitant to explore its full
potential. Not any more. Working photographers around the
world are discovering how Nikon’s Creative Lighting System
brings simplicity and real-world usability to flash photography.
The key is Nikon’s breakthrough i-TTL flash control technology.
With this at its core, Nikon Speedlights offer consistently accu­rate flash exposures that can adjust to nearly any lighting situa­tions you face. Nikon Speedlights communicate with your Nikon
D-SLR to perform all the complex lighting calculations for you.
Nikon’s exclusive monitor pre-flash offers precise feedback infor­mation, registering everything from available light and shadows
to color temperature and reflective surfaces within the scene.
The camera also integrates information from its built-in database
of over 30,000 actual scenes to determine the ideal exposure -–
all within a millisecond before each shutter release. Whether on
top of the camera or used as a wireless remote unit, Nikon’s
Creative Lighting System offers the most dependable and con­sistent flash exposure in the business.

4

© Gordon Nash

Nikon’s exclusive i-TTL:
a higher level of accuracy

The real breakthrough is Nikon’s moni­tor pre-flash. It is designed to provide
your Nikon D-SLR with consistently
accurate feedback information in order
to achieve ideal flash output. This
level of accuracy is found nowhere
else.

Speedlight tips: Diffuser

Use a diffuser above the flash to soft­en the light and eliminate harsh shad­ows. This is useful in almost
any flash situation, includ­ing fill flash, for natural
looking skin.

Go the distance: more flash power

Speedlight

The Speedlights built into
Nikon D-SLRs are smart and
responsive, but sometimes
your subject is far enough
away that you simply need
more flash power. Connect a
Nikon external Speedlight and you can capture sub­jects at a much greater distance with more balanced
illumination.

Bright lights, big ideas – with only one Nikon Speedlight, you can:

Soften the light: bounce flash

Direct light can be harsh and
leave a distracting shadow
behind your subject. Try turning
the flash head toward a wall or
ceiling and you’ll soften the
light and get rid of the shadow,
creating a more flattering atmosphere for portraits.

Capture the action: Auto FP High-Speed Sync

Indispensable to outdoor pho­tography, this enables action­stopping shutter speeds with
fill flash. It is also important to
portraiture, allowing you to use
larger apertures for a more
pleasingly radiant ambient light. Your camera will
automatically set itself to this mode if the shutter
speed rises above the camera’s standard flash sync
speed of 1/250 second.

Maintain the exposure: Flash Value (FV) Lock

The FV Lock (Flash Value Lock)
maintains the same flash value
for correct exposure during a
sequence of photographs,
allowing you to zoom in on your
subject, change the composi­tion or adjust the aperture, all without altering your
intended exposure. That way you can concentrate on
capturing your subject without worrying about adjust­ing the lighting.

SB-800 attached

Built-in Speedlight

Bounce flash

Direct flash

Normal sync

Auto FP High-Speed Sync stops the action
Shutter speed: 1/3200 sec.

i-TTL Balanced Fill-Flash

Main subject’s exposure stays the same
regardless of any compositional changes.

Original exposure

© Joe McNally

© Joe McNally

© Joe McNally

© Gordon Nash

Make lighting work for you with wireless

You can accomplish a lot with just one Speedlight, but
sometimes an image would benefit from more artistic illumina­tion. Adding more Speedlights not only adds depth to the scene
but also character and charm to your subject. One of the great­est benefits that is singular to Nikon’s Advanced Wireless
Lighting is that controlling dozens of Speedlights is just as easy
as controlling your on-camera Speedlight. And because it’s wire­less, setting up your Speedlights can be done quickly and
smoothly no matter where you’re shooting. From the Master
Speedlight located on top of your camera, you can control the
flash output of three groups of wireless remote units, adding
any number of Speedlights to each of these groups.

Simply set everything to Nikon's
exclusive i-TTL for consistently accu­rate exposures in even the most dif­ficult lighting situations. It's just as
easy to explore alternate exposures
by adjusting the flash exposure com­pensation of individual Speedlight
groups. Or if you like, turn off a
Speedlight group, or set everything
to manual — all via the LCD panel on the Master Speedlight, all
possible without ever leaving your camera. Multiple Speedlight
control has never been this intuitive and fluid. No other lighting
system comes close.

Joe McNally — Photojournalist (U.S.A.)

There have been many difficult lighting situations in my career
where the Nikon Creative Lighting System literally amazed me
by sorting out a proper exposure. The System offers incredibly
high accuracy in most shooting scenarios. Milliseconds before
each shot, the camera meter and Speedlight speak to each
other, relaying and calculating massive amounts of lighting
information — exposure variance, RGB, reflectance, distance
and contrast, to name a few — all of which are constantly
shifting and changing. I’ve always said that no camera system
will ever solve every problem, but Nikon cameras and the
Creative Lighting System do a phenomenal job of sorting
through the data to give you accurate exposures. This is a

major reason to use Nikon.

http://www.joemcnally.com

Turn good shots into great shots with
Advanced Wireless Lighting

Control it all from here. Set the flash mode,
turn Speedlight groups on or off and con­trol the flash exposure compensation for up
to 4 Speedlight groups from the Master
Controller SB-800's LCD panel.

You can control up to 4 groups of Speedlights, includ­ing the Master and 3 remote i-TTL Speedlight groups,
to achieve complete control of your lighting environ­ment. All groups can be controlled from the Master,
and there is no limit to how many you can use.

Add Group B to
emphasize the middle
ground and Group C
for the background

Group A illuminates the main subject from
the side

Camera setting data:

Camera and Speedlight:

D2X and three SB-800s

(one on-camera mas-

ter/commander and two
remote units)
Lens: AF-S DX 12-24mm f/4G IF-ED
Shutter speed: 1/160 sec.
Aperture: f/14
Exposure mode: Aperture-Priority Auto
Flash mode: i-TTL
Image quality: RAW

Group A: Illuminates
main subject

On-camera
Commander

Group B: Illuminates
middle ground

Group C:
Illuminates
background

Multiple Speedlights

SB-600 Speedlights
can serve as remote
units in wireless
lighting, while
SB-900/800
Speedlights can
serve as Master,
Commander or
separate remote
units.

7

multiple Speedlights

Speedlight tips: colored gels

Selecting the right colored gel fil­ter is important, especially when
you want the flash to appear nat­ural alongside ambient light. For
the outrigger canoe photograph
(shown left), an amber gel filter
added extra warmth to the main
subject while blending seamlessly
with the sunlight
and overall
color of the
image.

Timing is crucial for location shooters. Here’s how one photographer captured an aspiring dancer in 24 hours,
and how the Nikon Creative Lighting System provided the speed and flexibility he needed.

Bounce flash

The illuminated space needed to be large enough for
the dancer to move freely. Four SB-800 units were
attached to the ballet bar to bounce light off the wall.
Two more SB-800 units bounced light off the floor. By
bouncing light off the cream-colored wall and the
wooden floor, the lighting achieved natural warmth.

Seamless flash with mixed ambient lighting

This shop had mixed light sources: fluorescent light
along with sunlight from the window. To give the scene
a natural look, a diffuser is attached to an SB-800 and
tilted toward the ceiling, with an additional wireless
remote SB-800 illuminating the dancer from outside the
window.

Directional light for a dramatic exposure

Shooting at sunset can offer beautiful ambient light,
but in a narrow window of time. For a dramatic effect,
two sets of SB-800 remote units illuminate the dancer
from the front and the rear. After a few angle adjust­ments, there was a large enough volume of light to
emphasize the dancer's shape appropriately.

Group A: Bounced off the wall

Group B: Bounced
off the floor

On-camera
Commander

Dancer

Group A: Illuminates
from the rear

Group B: Illuminates
from the front

On-camera Commander

Dancer

Group A: Illuminates from
outside window

On-camera
Master/Commander

Dancer

© Joe McNally All images aside from product shots by Joe McNally

SU-800

Wireless Speedlight Commander

Dramatic close-up lighting made easy

Simple operation lets you easily command
wireless remote Speedlight operation.

Allows easy attachment and detachment
of SB-R200 Speedlights to the lens.

Flexible, dependable
flash control. Can be
handheld, clamped on a stand or attached to
the lens using the SX-1. The lighting angle
can be adjusted by tilting the flash head.

SX-1

Attachment Ring

SB-R200

Wireless Remote
Speedlight

Detail can be crucial to the impact of an image. That’s why Nikon
offers the ultimate tools for creative and versatile close-up lighting.
Designed to work seamlessly with Nikon's i-TTL Wireless Creative
Lighting System, both the R1C1 and R1 bring an amazing level of
simplicity and automation to the lighting process.
Close-up lighting has countless uses for nearly every kind of sub­ject matter. Hobbyists enjoy capturing ornamental patterns found
on coins, flowers and other small objects, while people photogra­phers take advantage of the shallow depth-of-field for intimate
portraits. And with no wires to get in the way, you can handhold
the Speedlights to make quick adjustments or to follow moving
subjects, such as insects. From medical applications to food pho­tography, the R1C1 and R1 will make you see things differently.
Both the R1C1 and R1 contain a comprehensive assortment of
accessories, including the SW-11 Extreme Close-up Positioning
Adapter, the SJ-R200 Color Filter Set, the SW-12 Set Diffuser, the
SW-C1 Flexible Arm Clip and a set of five adapter rings to ensure
the SX-1 Attachment Ring can be mounted on virtually any
NIKKOR lens designed for close-range photography. Whichever
set is right for you, both make mastering close-up flash photogra­phy simple, fascinating and fun.

Nikon Wireless Close-up
Speedlight System

R1

R1 comes equipped with two
SB-R200 Speedlights, and more.

8

Explore fine details with flexible, wireless
control

R1C1

R1C1 comes equipped with the SU-800,
two SB-R200 Speedlights, and more.

© Foto Natura team