Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)INITIAL REVIEW
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I didn't own this unit for the initial review. I had to rate it or Amazon won't accept my comment, so I initially rated it a 4 based on my overall initial impression of "great value, OK features". I later edited this comment and reduced the rating to a 3 due to poor durability (one of the flashes burned out under relatively light use). I initially reviewed it to provide the following missing technical information. Researching found the following for comparison to Nikon flashes (The Amazon product description is difficult to read):
Model Name: Bower SFD35N Flash for Nikon
Guide Number: 34m/112ft at ISO 100(50mm at ISO 100)
Circuitry: IGBT Circuitry (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor)
AF Illumination: 0.9m-8m/3ft-26ft
Automatic TTL Range: 0.9m-17m/3ft-56ft (f2.0)
Color temperature: 5600K
Bounce angle: up 30-45-60-75-90 degrees
Swivel angle: left 60-75-90-120-150-180 / right 60-75-90-120-150 degrees
Flash duration: 1/700 sec (at full power)
Number of Flashes: 100-300 per set of batteries
Exposure check confirmation: Green auto check lamp
i-TTL indication: Orange lamp
Auto standby
Recycle time: 4 to 6 sec with Alkaline Batteries
Power Source: 4 AA Batteries, not included
Zoom range: 28-85mm (manual not automatic) - For 35mm/FX format
Auto distance range: 3.3ft to 33ft
Angle of coverage: Horizontal - 60 degrees, Vertical 45 degrees
Dimensions: 76mm(W) x 60mm(H) x 185mm(L) / 3.(W) x 2.5 inch(H) x 7.3inch(L)
Weight (without battery): 280 grams (13,6 oz)
UPDATE
~~~~~~
I decided to take a gamble and buy this flash. Based on playing with it a little and using it on a location family portrait shoot, it is definitely no where near comparable to a Nikon in quality of manufacturing, but it is a good value given it's low price. This iTTL flash does work well as advertised on-camera, and has a really good guide number (better than a Nikon SB600 costing a lot more). If you only want a single consumer-grade iTTL flash for on-camera work to replace Nikon's weak built-in flash, this is a very cost effective choice.
However, some of the missing features (such as no optical slave) are more annoying to me than I thought they would be. I do portrait and wedding photography, and was looking to buy a few cheap units as backups for location work. I would like to be able to have either flash triggered by another flash, but even a radio-controller won't work with the SFD35N as it has no sync plug socket for one (wassup wit dat??). So due to lack of sync socket I'll sell this flash and replace it with a Bower SFD926N (which has an optical slave - but still no sync socket).
My buddy with a D-40 wants an economical flash with better reach than the built in flash, and I am very comfortable selling this flash plus 3rd-party diffuser to a close friend. He's an avid amateur with limited hobby budget, has no need for the off-camera slave function and has already seen the quality of bounced light this flash produced at a indoor party with fairly dark wood interior and bright window light, so he'll be as pleased as I was with this flash when used in that configuration. I purchased two Bower SFD926N units for backups and as cheap lightweight off-camera optical slaves - so I can have multiple lights and not have to lug around my Photogenics system. I use my Nikon SB900 with SD9 battery pack for my workhorse. Either of these Bowen flashes (SFD35N or SFD926N) have guide numbers better than some monolights I've researched and are way more portable for location/wedding work, with no "car batteries" to lug or power cords to have to string across a church.
Also read the comments and responses to this post by clicking on the COMMENTS link below...
;-{>
Click Here to see more reviews about: Bower SFD35N Nikon i-TTL Dedicated Flash
The Bower SFD35N Digital Auto-Focus Flash is a fully dedicated i-TTL program flash designed to work with the Nikon line of digital and film SLR cameras. Designed with professional and amateur photographers in mind, the SFD35N flash is equipped with a guide number of 112' with full i-TTL metering, automatic shutter speed control and aperture control of digital and analog SLR cameras.
Click here for more information about Bower SFD35N Nikon i-TTL Dedicated Flash
