Nikon Speedlight SB 700 news

Aimed at photography enthusiasts comes a new Nikon Speedlight flash unit called the SB-700. Due out soon, priced £289.99, the Speedlight SB-700 is billed as an easy-to-use, sophisticated flash in a compact body that will replace the existing SB600.

It is designed for use on both Nikon FX and DX-format DSLRs and boasts ?fast wireless control?.

The SB-700 can act as the master, controlling up to two groups of flashes and their light ratios as well as acting as a remote unit in a flash set up controlled by another gun, according to Nikon.

Key features also include an improved LCD panel and a maximum guide number of 38m (for an FX camera, set at ISO 100 at 120mm).

Flash lens coverage is said to range from 24-120mm, in an improvement over the 24-85mm range of the SB600, and, as with the SB900, three illumination patterns are available to either concentrate light in the centre of the frame by degrees, or to create an even spread across the scene.

Nikon claims that the SB-700 has a recycling time of around 2.5 seconds using NiMH and alkaline batteries; and around 3.5secs with lithium batteries.

The unit comes with a pair of coloured gel filters that are designed to balance the flash-light for fluorescent and tungsten light sources, and which fit around the flash head rather than just covering the lens as in previous models. The gels plug in to the flash unit, which then informs the camera of the type that is in use.

A new heat management program prevents the flash from stopping completely to cool down, by gradually slowing recycling times when in demanding high-frame-rate situations. Nikon says the idea is that it is better for the flash to continue firing at a slower rate than to switch itself off entirely, as the SB900 does.

Nikon has yet to announce an availability date.

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