Ultimate lighting control is yours.
When youre ready to differentiate your photos, Nikon Speedlights capture your imagination with limitless light sculpting potential and workhorse performance. Make subjects stand out, enhance natural and available light, and add artistry and drama to any scene. The world of light is yours to explore and control with Nikons Creative Lighting System, complete with accessory flashes, engineered and optimized specifically for your Nikon camera.
Flash Photography for Beginners
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Versatility
Nikon Speedlights can pivot, rotate and even be positioned off-camera, allowing light direction and intensity to be completely controlled.
Greater Distance
External flashes can illuminate subjects up to 98* feet away, nearly 3 times further than your cameras built-in flash.
*When using SB-5000 with Radio Control
Creative Possibility
Manipulate the color, shape and texture of light to create dramatic moods and unique special effects to take your photos to amazing new places.
Nikon Speedlights
Speedlight Commanders,
Controllers and Systems
Advanced Speedlights and accessories for multi-flash control and communication and specialized flash
techniques like macro photography.
SB-5000
SB-500
SB-300
SB-700
SB-5000
SB-910
Flash Techniques
Enhance your photographs with these basic techniques and principles of flash photography.
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Bounce Flash Portrait
A simple bounce techniquebouncing the light from a single Speedlight off of a wall will give you a large, soft light source with which to illuminate a portrait subject. The addition of an accent light will further separate your subject from the background.
Get the shot
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Three Speedlight Technique with Radio Control
Flashes with radio control allow you to trigger them even when theyre not in direct line of sight. Here, the addition of a radio-controlled bounce light directly behind the subject adds depth, while a colored rim light helps separate the subject from the background.
Get the shot
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Learn More About Flash Photography
Flash Photography
the Easy Way
David Tejadas easy-does-it flash tips
Read More about David Tejadas flash tips
Create With Light:
Flash in the Great Outdoors
Tom Bol on using flash for wildlife and nature.
Read More about Tom Bol using flash for wildlife and nature
Using Auto FP High-Speed Sync to Illuminate Fast Sports Action
Dave Black on using high-speed flash sync for sports action
Read More about Dave Black using high-speed flash sync for sports action
Speedlight
Glossary
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Bounce
Refers to a flash unit aimed at a reflecting surface, such as a wall or ceiling, to illuminate the subject with reflected light.
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Commander
Some DSLRs built-in flash or external accessory Speedlight can be set to Commander mode, which makes that flash the master flash, controlling remote (optional) flash units in one or more groups.
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Coverage
The disbursement angle of light projected from a Speedlight as it relates to lens focal length.
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Flash Compensation
This feature allows you to compensate for the amount of flash output that a built-in flash or accessory Speedlight can produce. Flash Exposure Compensation can be + (plus) or - (minus) in increments of 1/3 EV.
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Fill Flash
A technique that uses flash illumination as a supplement to ambient light. Useful when photographing subjects that are backlit with very high-contrast lighting or in shadow.
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Flash Sync Speed
The speed at which a flash synchronizes with the opening of the shutter.
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Guide Number
Indicates the power of a flash in relation to ISO speed.
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Illumination Pattern
The user-selectable pattern at which light is distributed from the flash. Common illumination patterns include Standard, Even and Center-weighted.
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i-TTL Flash Control
Nikons i-TTL (intelligent through-the-lens) flash system meters every exposure, setting the Nikon Speedlights output to the precise level needed to balance the scenes ambient light.
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Recycling Time
The time necessary for an electronic flash to recharge and be ready for the next picture, it often depends on the type and condition of the battery and the guide number of the flash.
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Repeating Flash
A feature available in some flash units that fires the flash many times while the shutter is open, during a brief exposure, producing a strobe-light effect. In this mode, the photographer can control the flash output, number of times the flash fires, and how often the flash fires.
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RF
RF (Radio Frequency) enabled Speedlights use radio frequencies to communicate with off-camera flashes and do not require optical line of sight to trigger the flashes.
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Transmission Range
The maximum distance at which a Speedlight can communicate with the camera or Speedlight master.
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Meet Nikon Ambassador
Joe McNally
Creative lighting master and Nikon Ambassador Joe McNally is an internationally acclaimed photographer whose career has spanned 30 years and included assignments in over 50 countries. McNally is known internationally for his ability to produce technically and logistically complex assignments with expert use of color and light.
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Meet Nikon Ambassador
Dave Black
As a freelance photographer for over 30 years, Daves work has primarily centered on sports photography for major publications such as Sports Illustrated, National Geographic, Time, Newsweek, ESPN and more. Known for his creative use of Speedlights and the artistic technique of Lightpainting, Daves portfolio continues to broaden into the commercial and advertising industries.
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Meet Nikon Ambassador
Todd Owyoung
Todd Owyoung specializes in youth lifestyle, musician/celebrity portraiture and concert coverage, traveling the world on editorial and commercial assignments for clients such as iHeartRadio, Anheuser-Busch, 7UP, Atlantic Records and others. His imagery has appeared in Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Q Magazine, SPIN, Kerrang and more.
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Meet
David Tejada
Corporate photographer David Tejada is a location shooter; traveling to where his subjects are found—on construction sites, inside factories and executive offices. By using a minimal amount of equipment, placed correctly, the viewer is given the perception that the lighting situations in the photographs that David produces are more complex.
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Popular Speedlight Accessories
WR-R10/WR-A10/WR-T10 Wireless Remote Adapter Set
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SC-28 TTL Coiled Remote Cord
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AS-15 Sync Terminal Adapter
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SD-9 High Performance Battery Pack
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Shop All Speedlight Accessories
Speedlights
Masterfully engineered for seamless operation and compatibility with Nikon cameras and lenses.