Nikon 4814 SB-500 AF Speedlight (Black)

The SB900/SB910 has given birth! Love the tiny-ness of this speedlight! Sorry, can't give any detailed review, just excited and really love this flash! **12hr update. I got some sleep in. Sorry, let me try again: This speed light has two ... three great things going for it. The first is the most obvious and I don't think I'll get over it for some time, is it's size, it's small... The second thing is that it has these LED's for video. Because it's on-camera, you may not want a large lens on it though (you'll see a lens shadow). The third thing is simplification of the speed light controls. No LED screen in the back, no buttons galore and no combo-buttons. It's simple: Flash on, LED on, A or B, and I think it only uses Channel 3. Oh, and the LED has 3 levels of intensity. There may be a fourth thing going for it and it's that it requires only 2 AA batteries. May not be such a "big thing", but talking about small, light, efficient and very usable... Yes, it's a big deal... A fifth item to note is that it does not have a "press to tilt or swivel". You just man-handle it and tilt and swivel it. Obviously, there are many pros and cons to the SB-500. For every pro, it can be a con. I'll have to assume that there is some kind of lack in power compared to the SB-900/SB-910. This flash cannot zoom 200mm nor does it have a built in white-card and wide-angle light spreader thinger. No cool glowing LED screen when dark but then it's so simple to use you don't need to see to know what you're doing. There's no input/output jack to old-school wire-connect multiple flashes nor is there an external battery booster thing either. I haven't used it in a wedding situation yet so I can't say how the battery lasts or if there's enough umpf in power to have light bouncing far walls or high ceilings. Will update as I know. Or someone else may say so... This speed light is so tiny!... It's pocketable sized! I think I can do a lot with this as a remote flash. There are three modes to the flash: TTL, M and CMD modes. Nothing is controllable on-flash, but all is controlled on-camera. People that like old-school will not like this, but this simplifies things A LOT! No more trying to figure things out whether on-camera or on-flash... I hope this at-first-glance review helped somewhat. Real world testing would probably reveal it's limitations. But as I see it, if you're not using flash to blast someone far away, I think its small-ness would make this a very lively and well used flash. Update: I've been comparing this with my SB600. It's bare bulb design is like that of the sb600 with the wide-angle modifier down. Having it at 1/1 power and fast shooting will obviously show loss of power in consecutive shots, HOWEVER, it still flashes and is more more reliable (faster) than the SB600 (will not fire). Because of the 4 battery design of the SB600, it will last longer, but not by much. The SB500 is efficient and very capable of shooting an event such as a wedding. If you are used to Nikon Speedlights giving off a beep sound when it's ready to fire again, this Speedlight don't have it. I've designated that I'll not fire at full power (1/1) unless really required but then allow a second or two for the Speedlight to be ready, or I'll just use at 1/4 power or below. If I'm firing continuously in instance of an action shot (bouquet or garter belt toss), I'll set it at 1/16 or below and at 3fps and fire away. Very impressive.... The LED's are great! however again, no big lenses (lens shadow)! Shooting video, then quickly switching to shoot photo is a matter of a switch on-camera, and another switch on-flash... easy peasy... This flash is so small and easy to operate, I'm getting two more of them... ;) Another thing to note: This speed light will rotate 180 degrees in BOTH directions. Some speed lights will rotate 180 in one direction and 90 in the other. Also this speed light I believe is designed to work most completely with the D750. All menu controls of this speed light is there.

I purchased this flash as an upgrade to the SB-400 which I absolutely loved. I am a "semi-professional" photographer. I do it for fun, but I do take the occasional Senior pictures and the occasional charity event etc. I have always loved the bounce flash of the SB-400 and the additional power over the built-in flash, but I could never figure out why they didn't design the flash so that you could bounce up when holding the camera vertically (portrait). I seriously considered upgrading to a more expensive "professional" speed light just for the vertical bounce, but could never justify spending well over 3 bills for the SB 700 or 900. Then along came the SB-500. I purchased this mainly for the ability to swivel the head and bounce light no matter how I hold the camera. Also, I was excited about the ability to take the flash off the camera and get some great lighting effects. I had one of those big, bulky coiled flash cord for the SB-400 that worked in a pinch, but I had to stay about 3-4 feet to the flash. Not a very good solution for off-camera flash. But it was fun experimenting with off-camera light. The flash fulfilled the 2 requirements, but then blew me away with how great it does everything. It is VERY easy to use. That is another thing I loved about the SB-400, there was a power switch. That was IT! The SB-500 has some additional settings for the power switch (flash, constant LED, A and B) That's IT! No fiddling with the flash, just turn it on and let the camera do the rest. (Oh it also has a modeling flash button - It fires the flash when you push the button) Nikon's iTTL system is phenomenal! I always get a precisely metered picture with no hassle. No matter where the flash is pointed, it will expose correctly. I didn't really think I would use the LED much because I'm not much of a videographer, but it works nicely for stills as well. Also, you can use the LEDs off camera and provides a constant light so you can see what the shadows will look like. I've only had this flash for a day, but I already know it was the exact flash that I was searching for. I have never owned a 700 or a 900 so I don't know the features that those have that I'm missing, but I can't really imagine anything else I would need this flash to do.

Quite like this little powerhouse! What first impressed me was the size. It's quite small for a speed light. It's not as powerful as its big brothers, but that isn't really a bad thing. It beats using the pop up flash by a mile (stronger, tiltable, and can be rotated). This is a perfect first speedlight for someone who has never used a shoe mount flash. Controls are simple, TTL metering works great, runs on 2 AA batteries. Then we get to the reason I had to give this a try...the LED lights. They are really bright! They might replace my lens mount ring light for some situations. It also has a light sensing eye, so you can use the cameras pop up to trigger it while holding it off to the side in one hand, or while it's mounted on the included stand. One last note, takes up very little room in the camera bag. Good thing to keep in there in case you find yourself in a situation where you need a quick fill flash. I may update this after I've had more time playing around with it in different situations, but so far, I am not disappointed. This is a very interesting and usable product.

This is the sweet spot of Nikon's Speedlight line, especially if you have a Nikon camera that can function in flash Commander mode. I'll be using it with another of Nikon sweet-spot products, the D-7100, and this review is from that viewpoint. First, it has twice the flash power of the on-camera flash, and can bounce flash. Second, the D-7100 can operate in Commander mode, which means that it can send signals by flashing the on-camera flash very rapidly -- you barely notice it -- and thus coordinate and control the SB-500 wirelessly. It's magical, really. (The "Commander mode" and the remote or commander flashes are a part of Nikon's Creative Lighting System, CLS.) Third, it has a built-in 3-LED continuous light, which you can use for video, or maybe as a modeling light. An on-camera video light isn't the best solution, but when you need light you need light, and it's basically included for free with the SB-500. (And not on any other Nikon flash that I'm aware of.) Last, the flash is very small, so it's easily thrown into whatever case you're using to carry your camera. I'm already considering the day when I get a second one for more CLS goodness: one for the subject, one for the background, or two to light a larger room, or two bouncing off of the ceiling for a broad, soft coverage, etc. The flash comes with a little plastic foot you can use to stand the flash up on a flat surface, and a nice little bag that has an inner pocket where you can store the foot.

*UPDATE* After a few years of usage I'm pulling it back a star. That's not to say I don't like this flash--but rather I've outgrown it and that there are a few other 3rd party flashes on the market that can do everything the SB-500 can do, and a bag of chips: For instance, this flash doesn't zoom. The Guide number is somewhat low (as is to be expected by a 2-battery flash) No external battery port for quick recharging. No RF capabilities--Off-camera use as-is is limited to the CLS system, which is line-of-sight, not RF which means in a lightbox, you can't remotely trigger it. Be that as it may, it's still part of my system when attached to an RF trigger, and does work admirably as a fill light. However, if I had to do it all again I'd look at the less expensive 3rd party options which could do much more. I'd still recommend it if you're against using 3rd party options and just need a no-frills flash that can be rotated/bounced. Upgrading on a budget from an SB-30 that was not compatible with the iTTL on my D750, this thing works like a charm and is still kind on the budget. While not as powerful as some other speedlights, it can still throw a good distance and the head being able to spin on it's axis, as well as tilting the head up is a definite plus. It comes with a base so you can use it off-camera, and that base has a standard 1/4" tripod screw, so placement of the flash for artistic effects is easy. I rarely use the LED lights, but they do work as advertised. Takes 2 AA batteries. I would definitely recommend if you don't have the money for a more expensive speedlight and want something that works well with iTTL.

A great speedlight typical Nikon quality. It is smaller that the SB 700, 900 flashes but is easy to use, has a swivel/tilt head and can be used as a wireless flash either as receiver or commander with the right camera body. It only can be used as commander with the D750 or some of the D800 series cameras.(There may be other bodies it will work in commander mode but I know some of the older bodies won't) This wasn't clear in the literature and I wondered why it wouldn't work with the D7000 camera when I first got the flash. I like the flash though and bought 2 of them They are more versatile then the SB400 and SB300 and the video light is a unique feature although one I haven't used yet and don't know if I will. The flashes work great though and I have had a lot of fun in wireless mode using the camera flash (D750) in commander mode.

As you can see the from the other reviews, people really like this flash. That's why I bought it. But it was a mistake. I could not get the video flash to work. I read the instructions, still a no go. It may have been defective. According to the instructions, the video light must be manually set, this is not automatic. I tried it manually as well. For example, an iphone will auto detect whether a video needs light. This flash won't detect it, you must set it manually by push a button (or two). So, the flash isn't very sophisticated. The video flash is like a hand held flash light. The pros: 1. It's compact (but you bought a DSLR, so do you care that it is compact?) 2. The photo flash is pretty good. The cons: 1. No auto video light. 2. No AF assist illuminator. 3. No power flash zoom. I recommend buying a refurbished SB700 for the same price.. Sure, it the sb700 is a little bigger, but it is a true flash. The SB500, seems like a toy.

It's OK and does its job but there are several things I didn't care for: the video light is just useless except as a bit of fill light. It is also too limited in functionality. Nikon is charging a lot for something Yongnuo or others are doing for a lot less (with more functionality).

Perfetto per le nuove mirrorless Nikon, si attivano tutti gli automatismi dalla macchina. Comoda la luce l’ex per le riprese video. Supporta HSS.

Petit flash d’appoint pour mon D500, Facile à transporter, j'aime bien les LED avec ces trois réglages d'intensité c'est parfait en macro pour éclaircir un peu les ombres cela fonctionne sur l'APN ou en solo donc facile pour le positionner au bon endroit. Sur l'APN avec le TTL je déclenche le SB600 à distance comme prévu. Donc je suis content de cet achat.

Tengo poco tiempo con él pero tiene un buen desempeño. Puedes dispararlo junto con el flash incorporado. Viene con su base para colocarlo en cualquier parte o en un trípode

Works perfectly on a Nikon z5 The led illumination feature for videos is great too and has 3 levels of brightness. Nice compact size too

As you would expect from Nikon the flash head fits and works perfectly from the outset. Not overly powerful but more than adequate for most of the shots I take with my D5600.