[MPrince]

Are you ever out and about with your camera and find yourself needing a bit of fill flash, but the onboard flash just doesn't cut it and a shoemount flash is just too big and bulky to carry around?

Have I got a flash for you.

The Nikon SB-30 is the perfect "take it with you everywhere" shoemount flash. Lightweight and small, you can carry it in a pocket. If you find one with a case, the case has a belt loop. Or, you can attach it to the camera in the fold down position and you will barely know it's there until you need it. The SB-30 is a no-frills flash that works in auto or manual mode on camera. In manual mode, it has three power settings: 1/1, 1/8, and 1/32. In auto mode it has settings at 100 ISO of f2.8, f4, f5.6, and f8 and at 400 iso of f5.6, f8, f11, and f16. Of course, you can do the math if you want to use a different ISO setting. It also has an exposure compensation switch with settings of -1/2, 0, and +1/2. There's no tilt/swivel (but the flash head will tilt down to an angle of 50 degrees from a normal angle of 75% for closeup photography) and the flash head does not zoom, although it does have a wide angle adapter. When not in use the flash head can be tilted down to 13 degrees.

Did I say the SB-30 is a no-frills flash? Well, that's not quite true. The SB-30 has a built-in infrared filter so it can be used to optically trigger an off camera flash without contributing to the exposure.

But wait! There's more! The SB-30 also has an optical slave built in, so it can also be used off camera. When used as an optical slave flash, the SB-30 has two modes: auto and manual. In manual mode it fires at full power. In auto mode it fires in sync with the triggering flash. So if the master flash fires at 1/64 power the SB-30 will also fire at 1/64.

So, how much light does the SB-30 put out? In addition to the SB-30 my current inventory of speedlights consists of an SB-26, 2 SB-25s, an SB-20, and two Neewer TT560s. The Neewers, the 26 and the 25s are all roughly the same power, metering at f5.6 + 6/10th (+/- 1/10th) at 1/8 power, a distance of five feet, and the flash head at 35mm. The 20 is about a half stop less powerful. With the flash head at 28mm to equal the SB-30 the SB-26 meters f5.6 + 3/10s. The SB-30 meters f4.0 + 2/10s while the built in flash on my K-3 meters 2.8. So the SB-30 is just over one stop more powerful than the onboard flash and just over 1 stop less powerful than the SB-26.

So if you're looking for an on camera flash that's easy to use, portable, and unobtrusive when not in use, the SB-30 fills the bill nicely, and as an added bonus, you get the versatility of a flash that can not only optically trigger off camera flashes, but also be optically triggered when used off camera.

Strobist info for photos: Neewer TT560 at 1/2 power camera right in an Interfit Strobies 60cmx60cm folding softbox triggered by Cybersync triggers. DIY foamcore v-flat reflectors in front of and on either side as shown in setup photo.

Nikon SB-26 vs Nikon SB-30 Size Comparison


Nikon SB-30 Front


Nikon SB-30 Rear


Nikon SB-30 with Infrared Filter raised


Setup Shot

[MJSfoto1956]

sweet! (the price of used SB-30s just went up because of you! :P )

Michael

[tuco]

Nice little unit. I have a SB-700, SB-500 and a now discontinued SB-400. And I use the compact SB-400 more than the others.

[RKKS08]

Years ago, I had already thought about buying one. I did not buy it, just because of the (at that time) not so cheap Li-battery needed, and (again at that time), no rechargable replacement ones available.
There are now Li-akkus CR123A, but they need a dedicated charger which, again, is not so cheap. I would have to add another charger to my collection, only to be used with 2 or 3 of these 3V round cells.
EDIT:
Nowadays I use a Metz 24AF-1 or 20C-2 as an (emergency) fill flash. I got both of them used for near to nothing. They share the same case and use 2 standard AA cells. They both offer tilt, but this is a bit of a joke because of the low GN. The 20C is manual or auto thyristor (not brand dedicated), the 24AF is pTTL only (Pentax dedicated) and offers a red focus assist beam.
EDIT 2: The 20C-2 comes with an additional standard sync cable to connect it with a PC socket of a camera.

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Last edited by RKKS08; 02-19-2016 at 05:59 PM. Reason: Info added

[MPrince]

sweet! (the price of used SB-30s just went up because of you! :P )

Michael

I hope not, I'm thinking about buying one or two more!

[UserAccessDenied]

Is this a better option than the AF-201 FG?

Looking for a small carry-in-jacket flash for the K-3ii...

[MPrince]

If p-ttl and WR is important to you then no. But the SB-30 works great in auto mode and appears to be more flexible than the AF-201 FG with respect to off camera use and optical triggering (both as a master and as a slave). You should be able to pick one up for around $40US.

In fact there's one at keh.com right now for $39.

So for me and the way I use speedlights it is a much better choice.

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Last edited by MPrince; 02-26-2016 at 10:42 AM.