SB-50DX @ 60mm & 85mm

I don’t care for the unit as it uses two CR123A lithium batteries. They are small and expensive. I looked at it briefly as a possible "kicker" for a multi-light macro setup. It is a reasonable size for use on the N75.

I sometimes use the SB-15 flipped upside down and turn it’s tilting bounce head down just slightly. This works well. I used to do that a lot with the 55/2.8 AIS Micro. I would think the SB-50DX would work fine with its head tilted down also.

The SB-50DX should have enough power at the sort flash to subject distance of the 60/2.8 in the close-up range. If you have too much power you can cover the flash with layers of Kodak Lens Tissue and hold them in place with rubber bands.

You should get the best image quality with the 60/2.8 at about f/5.6. For macro resist stopping down to f/32 as image quality suffers. F/11 is probably a good compromise, maybe f/16. You walk a tightrope in macro between DOF and Diffraction.

With the AF 60/2.8(D) Micro-Nikkor and either of these units you would want to remove the lens hood and filter for macro. If you don’t use a UV or similar filter for protection you don’t need a hood on the 60/2.8 as the front element is deeply recessed.

I’ve never used the SB-29. I like using the Kirkphoto.com macro flash brackets, FB9 and 10 with the Nikon SC-17 and SU-4(s).

Here is a link. They are about 1/2 way down the page...

http://www.kirkphoto.com/brackets.html

You can download a manual here...

SB-50DX Speedlight User Manual


Hope this helps,

Dave.

Personally, I'd love to "cough up the price of an SB-80DX," but I can't find one that's 1)new and 2) imported by Nikon USA. It's amazing to me that Nikon is so poor at meeting demand for the products that its customers WANT to purchase. This flash has been backordered at the big camera dealers for months.

By "rated" to 50mm, do you mean that the flash head zooms to 50mm? That has nothing to do with the lenses you use. The zooming of a flash is mostly to concentrate the power on the area in the viewfinder - you get more effective range (power) from the flash like that. There is no problem using the SB50 with, say an 85mm lens, because the view covered by the lens will easily be covered by the flash zoomed out to 50mm. I love my SB50, myself. For macro (which I don't use much), it has a built-in wide angle diffuser, and the flash is designed to bend forward. So you can't really go wrong. Most people here, I think, would advocate getting as much flash power as you can. But realistically, if cost is a factor, there's no use buying power you will never use. The SB50 is plenty powerful for most uses, plus, if you ever decide you do need more power, the SB50 makes a terrific slave flash, not to mention that it can also be used as a master controller. It's quite versatile, and it adds significant capability beyond the built-in flash. It even works in conjunction with the built-in flash very well.

I really like my SB50DX when paired up with an F80. The ability to use the built in flash at the same time is a huge benefit, but I feel the unit is sadly limited by the inability to twist the head. This makes it impossible to bounce flash off a ceiling if you have the camera in portrait mode - a very annoying limitation.

I don't find the use of CR123 batteries annoying as they can be obtained cheaply on internet stores (around 1ukp) and as this flash really works best with the F80 (or the F65 etc) then you have just one type of battery to carry around.

At the time I bought mine it was the only DX flash other than the SB28DX and I saw it as hopefully lasting usefully into the digital age.

If you want full manual control then consider a cheap old flash like the SB15. If you get an SC17 you can use the SB15 on the cord and use it to trigger the SB50DX remotely. Fair enough you don't have enormous control but for the money you have an excellent setup.