Camera Labs

Hello all,

I haven't posted in a while, things have been petty busy at my end, but it's great to be back

About a month back I purchased myself an SB-700 flash, which so far has worked pretty well. One thing that I'm curious about is how the bright light built into the camera to assist the AF compared to the IR beam coming from the flash. The one built into the camera is definitely more noticeable to the naked eye, but can the camera see the one from the flash easier? Is the flash's more powerful? I've been using the flash's for a while now and it doesn't seem to have made too big of a difference, even in extremely low light. The only advantages that I could see is that it's less noticeable in the dark, and part of it doesn't get blocked by the camera's lens.

Which one works better for you? I'm curious in knowing whether the camera's or the flash's helps the AF more.

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-Evan

Gear: 7 Nikon Nikkor AI-S and AF-S lenses, SB-700 flash, Nikon D7000, Nikon FM, variety of accessories

"There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs."
- Ansel Adams

The IR assist on the flash is infinitely better than the AF assist on the camera body in my experience. It projects an IR grid that the camera can focus on, but you can barely see (you will see some red lines though) and the camera will get a lock 99.99% of the time, no matter what you are focusing on (try it on a blank wall with and without the flash assist for an easy demo).

Most of the time I leave my on-camera af-assist off, if you have a fast lens it really doesn't require the extra light (and plus the lens blocks most of it anyway).

I've shot at parties that were pretty much pitch black with my SB 600 attached, and the AF was spot on every time. My only complaint with the AF-assist on the flash is that you can't use it without the flash firing.

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» Nikon D90 | Nikon D7000 + MB-D11 | Nikon 18-55mm VR | Nikon 17-55 f2.8 | Nikon 80-200 f2.8D | Nikon 35mm f1.8 | Nikon 50mm F1.4 | Sigma 85mm f1.4 | Nikon SB-600 | Think Tank UD-60