Choosing and Using the Nikon SB-400 Speedlight

Why Choose the Nikon SB-400 Speed-light?

The Nikon SB-400 is a light, small, convenient flash gun (or speed-light as Nikon calls them) which can be used with Nikon DSLRs and top end Coolpix cameras. It is the perfect size for the Nikon D40 or the Nikon Coolpix P5000/5100/6000 range.

Here is the benefit of my experience after using the SB-400 for some time:

So, What's Good?

It's small and convenient - this speed-light will not take up much room in your camera bag and weighs next to nothing.  You may as well take it everywhere you go.

It takes 2xAA batteries - just 2 AAs will power the SB-400 for many hundreds of shots.  When you are using the SB-400 for flash photography, remember also that you will be saving your camera's battery as your built in flash will not be used.  AA batteries can be bought all over the place and Alkalines or Lithium versions work perfectly well.

Just one switch - You'll be using your cameras iTLL (Intelligent Through The Lens) feature to control the output of this flash.  On the back of the SB-400 is an on/off switch - that's it! 

Tilt-able Flash Head - This is probably the main reason for using the SB-400 over the built in flash on your camera.  With the SB-400 you can now bounce the flash off a suitable ceiling and create much nicer lit portraits than you would get with a built in flash.  There are lots of articles on the Internet if you need to know why this method of picture taking is so useful - just google "bounced flash".

So What's not so Good?

There are just two things which are missing from the SB-400 which would make it 100% perfect:

1) The flash head can only be angled up and down for bouncing off the ceiling.  If you are taking a photograph with the camera held vertically (portrait orientation) this means the flash can only be bounced left or right...  More expensive flash guns allow you to swivel the head as well as angle it up or down, the SB-400 cannot do this.  Of course this extra mechanism would have made it a more bulky piece of kit, so you can see why this is not included.

2) You cannot control the SB-400 wirelessly from the built in transmitter in some Nikon DSLRs or from the SU-800 commander - you'll need a more expensive flash such as the SB-600 or SB-800 to do this.  So the SB-400 only works when installed on the hot-shoe of your camera.

To Conclude:

As long as you can live without the two features listed above, the SB-400 is amazing value for money, a great performer and makes a very compact setup on Nikon's smaller DSLRS (D40,D40x,D60) and top end Coolpix range (P5000/5100/6000)