The Nikon Creative Lighting System: Using the SB-600, SB-800, SB-900, and R1C1 Flashes
by Mike Hagen
List Price:
Our Price: $20.91
You Save: $14.04 (40%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $19.94 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Mike HagenEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-03-07
ISBN: 1933952415
Number of pages: 250
Publisher: Rocky Nook
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9781933952413
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of The Nikon Creative Lighting System: Using the SB-600, SB-800, SB-900, and R1C1 Flashes
Book Review: Some useful instructions, but go elsewhere for a real understanding
Summary: 2 Stars
This book offers plenty of step-by-step instructions for using the various flashes in the current Nikon lineup. However, if you are looking for a more comprehensive understanding of flash in general and Nikon's CLS in particular, you should go elsewhere.
The introductory chapters, "CLS Background" and "Flash Theory," are imprecise and confused, if not outright garbled. It starts right out with this definition:
'iTTL stands for "Intelligent Through the Lens." The "i" does not mean intelligent in the sense that the flash system is really thinking...'
What's that? If the author believes that the flash system isn't really thinking (in the computational sense of the word) as it communicates over IR with multiple flash groups, fires a preflash sequence, measures the preflash, controls the groups' final flash output, and (optionally) attempts to balance the flash with the ambient exposure, then I don't know what "thinking" is.
Then, in the next paragraph:
'The term "Through The Lens" indicates that the camera body is integral to the operation of the flash system because it meters flash output through the lens. In fact, unless you have an iTTL-compatible camera, you can't shoot in wireless mode with CLS flashes.'
True, but a non-sequitur. I haven't gotten to the second page yet, and I'm already utterly baffled.
Then there are glaring mistakes. In the section about the old D-TTL system, for example:
'D-TTL flash systems do not perform the pre-flash function...'
That is incorrect. There are several difference between the old D-TTL and the newer iTTL, but the older system did use preflashes. Or this definition of the inverse square law:
'Light Intensity = 1 / D^2'
No. You don't have to include an equation to describe the inverse square law, but if you do, you should get it right. The relationship is one of proportionality (usually indicated by an alpha symbol), or equality if you include a constant K that represents the source strength.
If you think I'm nitpicking, I'll remind you that this is a $34.95 book about nothing except the Nikon CLS. Is a coherent system overview with concise, accurate definitions too much to ask for? I think not.
The writing gets somewhat better in the chapters about the individual flash units, so if you intend to use this book as a reference or are seeking some step-by-step instructions, it might be useful to you.
If you happen to own a D700, I can recommend a much better introduction to the Nikon flash system: Thom Hogan's "Complete Guide to the Nikon D700." Its flash section is just one chapter in a very large book, but the chapter is clear and comprehensive, and it reflects Thom's deep understanding of the CLS as well as the entire Nikon system. Some might find his level of detail to be overwhelming, but you can always skim through the sections you're not interested in. (He might also include a flash chapter in his other Nikon DSLR books, but I don't own them and so I can't say.)
One more note about the Rocky Nook book (I just had to use that phrase at least once): The photographs of people are almost all badly lit and unpleasant to look at, an irony if there ever was one. I don't think it's the publisher's fault, because the many photos of cameras and flashes are alright; it's just that whoever took the portraits didn't seem to know how to use flash effectively. I had to laugh on page 184, where a list of "common flash mistakes" includes "highlights on the subject's forehead," and leading off the very next chapter is a particularly ugly photo of a man with a badly overexposed forehead.
More The Nikon Creative Lighting System: Using the SB-600, SB-800, SB-900, and R1C1 Flashes reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Summary of The Nikon Creative Lighting System: Using the SB-600, SB-800, SB-900, and R1C1 Flashes
Flash photography, especially advanced light modeling with modern iTTL flash systems, has become an art by itself, which should be mastered by every aspiring amateur photographer - and even professionals are often helpless when it comes to using the full potential of these systems.
Many photographers are already well versed in photography but don't have a clue about flash photography. It is a brand new world, so the book starts at a basic level and then moves up from there so that advanced users also gain insight.
The book shows a simple, step by step method for setting up and using the newest Nikon iTTL flash units. It solves people's frustrations with flash and specifically, shows them how to use their SB-900, SB-800 and SB-600 strobes. It also has a complete chapter showing system configuration so readers can duplicate the photos on their own.
The book teaches everything you want to know about using Nikon's iTTL flash system. It shows all the steps required to set up consistent and amazing flash photos.
Equipment Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Equipment Books
The Underwater Photographer, Third Edition: Digital and Traditional Techniquesby MARTIN EDGE
Focal Press; Published: 2006-05-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $78.09
Basic Betacam Camerawork, Third Edition (Media Manuals)by PETER WARD
Focal Press; Published: 2001-06-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $28.37
Price in other shops:
Electronic Imaging for Photographersby Adrian Davies
Focal Pr; Published: 1996-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.50
Price in other shops:
Into Your Darkroom Step by Stepby Dennis P. Curtin, Steve Musselman
Focal Press; Published: 1986-04; Paperback; Book
The Photographic Lens, Second Edition (Media Manuals)by Sidney Ray BSc MSc ASIS HonFBIPP FMPA HonFRPS
Focal Press; Published: 1992-04-16; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
Hasselblad Way (Camera Way Books)by H. Freytag
Focal Press; Published: 1978-02; Hardcover; Book
The Photoshop 6 WOW! Bookby Linnea Dayton, Jack Davis
Peachpit Press; Published: 2001-07-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.81
Price in other shops:
CIG to Gardeningby Macmillan Publishing, MacMillan General Reference
MacMillan Publishing Company; Published: 1998-07-01; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Digital Photography (2nd Edition)by Steven Greenberg
Alpha; Published: 2001-10-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops:
Canon 50D: From Snapshots to Great Shotsby Jeff Revell
Peachpit Press; Published: 2009-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
David Busch's Nikon D700 Guide to Digital SLR Photographyby David D. Busch
Course Technology PTR; Published: 2010-02-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.57
Price in other shops:
Sketching Light: An Illustrated Tour of the Possibilities of Flash (Voices That Matter)by Joe McNally
New Riders Press; Published: 2011-12-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $26.41
Price in other shops:
The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shootersby Joe McNally
Peachpit Press; Published: 2008-02-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $27.00
Price in other shops:
Nik Software Captured: The Complete Guide to Using Nik Software's Photographic Toolsby Tony L. Corbell, Joshua A. Haftel
Wiley; Published: 2011-11-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $21.47
Price in other shops:
Mastering the Nikon D700by Darrell Young, James Johnson
Rocky Nook; Published: 2009-06-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $21.86
Price in other shops:
Off-Camera Flash Techniques for Digital Photographersby Neil van Niekerk
Amherst Media; Amherst Media, Inc.; Published: 2011-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $20.82
Price in other shops:
The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashesby Joe McNally
Peachpit Press; New Riders Press; Published: 2009-03-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $22.58
Price in other shops:
Nikon School presents A Hands-on Guide to Creative LightingNikon; Digital Camera
Best price: $32.95
Price in other shops:
Mastering the Nikon D7000by Darrell Young
Rocky Nook; Published: 2011-08-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.96
Price in other shops:
Nikon Creative Lighting System Digital Field Guideby Thomas
Wiley; Wiley; Published: 2009-10-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops: