Nikon Wireless Speedlight Commander SU-800

Comments about Nikon Wireless Speedlight Commander SU-800:

A while back I purchased the Nikon R1 Close-up kit which is great but it lacks an independent trigger unit which is really useful when using off camera flash. The Nikon R1C1 kit is exactly the same but it includes the SU800. I ended up purchasing the SU800 separately, which is a lot more expensive than buying the kit (not far short of £100). The good thing is that the SU800 fits into the kit bag supplied with my initial kit.
Build quality is as you would expect from Nikon and the results so far seem excellent. (I primarily use it together with a Nikon D7000 and Nikon Macro 105mm lens for photographing wrist watch movements)
Overall a great purchase but save yourself a lot of money and buy as part of the R1C1 kit.

Comments about Nikon Wireless Speedlight Commander SU-800:

After trading from a D300 to a D3 this was a required purchase to continue using Nikons CLS system as the D3 does not have a built in flash.

I'm not a huge user of the CLS system but every so often I do need to use multiple flashes for location shoots and this is the probably the easiest way of doing it. It's much easier to set up and adjust than using the built in menu on the D300 with all of the controls on the back of the SU800, adjusting settings is much easier and faster. It's also the only way to remotely adjust or trigger SB600's as they don't have a SU-4 setting or synch lead connection (unless you buy a slave hot shoe adaptor).

CLS is a very good system but it does occasionally give unexpected results which can change from shot to shot, basically you're reliant on what Nikons technical team think you want, so most of the time I use manual rather than the full CLS option. Again there is the ability to fully configure manual flash output, and in scenes that are relatively static you can use a flash meter to get the exposure right or just chimp the LCD screen until the lighting is about right and make all adjustments from the SU meaning you don't have to wander around adjusting each flash from it's own control panel.

I've found it to be pretty reliable indoors and only slightly less so outdoors although you do need to ensure the IR sensors on the flash units are all pointing at the camera. In very bright light it is a bit hit or miss, but IR systems will always encounter difficulties in strong sunlight.

On a pro body without a built in flash this is a useful bit of kit but is an expensive luxury on something like a D300 as it gives no additional functionality over what is already built into the camera although it is easier and quicker to use than the camera menu.