Customer Reviews

Nikon Speed Of Light Educational DVD - 5661

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I am concerned about the description of this product. Firstly, it is billed as an "Instructional DVD" which it is NOT! Furthermore, even the product description on this page is more about photographer Joe McNally that the item itself.

After a short uninformative introduction we are taken on location with professional photographer Joe McNally in a desert-like setting near Las Vegas. I quickly warmed to this man and recognised a consummate professional. I liked his style and delivery and there is no doubt he knows exactly what he is talking about.

Mr McNally was on a professional assignment with three very different human subjects and as the day wore on he explained what he was doing in relation to the changing natural light right through to sunset. Then we switched to a school at 7 am where he set about a number of tasks which included individual student portraits, team and action shots. All the photographs he took were with any number of Nikon SB 600 or SB 800 strobes and occasionally with the camera's own integral pop-up flash unit.

Throughout the whole process, Mr McNally explained what he was doing and frequently referred to various flash settings. On one occasion he spoke of using setting "B" as opposed to either A or C. On another he mentioned reducing something by a factor of one. Very briefly, we had a glimpse of these settings on the back of the flash which were displayed in a manner very similar to the settings on Nikon DSLR cameras.

But that was it and the DVD came to an end. Then I checked the menu and found further items separately headed Nikon SB 600 and Nikon SB 800 added as though they were an afterthought. Selecting the SB 600, all I got was some 3 minutes of Mr McNally telling me it was a flash gun with a multi-directional head which came with it's own little stand and diffuser. That was all!

Thinking I should have watched the SB 800 first, I selected that option and found another short presentation which was much the same. None of the settings or display functions were shown at any time. We were not even shown how to switch the unit on or even change batteries. NOTHING! To put it bluntly, it was all a bit like saying "you get in the car, switch on the engine, put it in gear and, hey presto, you are a driver!"

This is not the first time I have been disappointed by a product with the name "Nikon School" emblazoned in Nikon's own distinctive yellow and black colours. And disappointed is the right word.

I am now looking for a tutorial DVD about Nikon Speedlights having wasted good money thinking I had already purchased one.

NM

Speed of Light DVD Nikon SB-800 / SB-600 Speedlight

Nikon Speed of Light Instructional DVD Joe McNally and the Nikon Creative Lighting System

One of my biggest challenges in low-light photography is balancing my lighting without burning out my subject or causing harsh shadows behind the subject. I read reviews on this DVD describing it as a disappointment and decided at that time not to purchase the DVD: "This was a disappointment. I was looking for a step by step instruction on how to use a Nikon SB800. This product does not do that. There is no instructional detail. It is really more a marketing tool for the glory of the SB600 or SB800."

Stay with me now, I will get to my point soon...

Based on the many negative / neutral reviews, I decided not to purchase this DVD. Still, the many features of my SB 800 were still a mystery to me. I purchased a Gary Fong Lightsphere Cloud flash diffuser. This solved my shadow problem, but not my low light problem. As a matter of fact, it diffuesed the light so much that it increased this dilemma. When using an 18-55mm or other wide angle, the light was wonderful from this device, but then I found myself spending much of my shooting done right in my subjects faces with the close proximity my camera causing them to become uncomfortable not to mention an image that was far from portrait quality.

In this DVD, the photographer, Joe McNally, travels to dry lake bed near Las Vegas demonstrates shooting scenarios. He also goes to a highschool to illustrate some simple and creative features of the Speedlight. Joe starts with a simple one-Speedlight shoot and later he advances to more artistic and exigent situations using multiple Speedlights and the wireless capabilities they offer that help the viewer understand the resourcefulness of the Nikon SB-800 and SB-600 Speedlights.

Hang in there, I am almost there...

I still did not know how to use my SB 800 or any of the possibilities it possessed. As a matter of fact, I did not even think my Speedlight had the capabilities of being a studio-quality device. So, I turned to a full studio lights with stands, umbrellas and soft boxes set up. WOW! I started getting great results!! But, set-up was a hassle, not to mention the 1000 I put into it. It would take an hour sometimes to set up and that much or longer to tear down.

Okay, now the point of all of this is...

If you do not know what features your Speedlight possesses, you will never think to ask. It is like a person that was born blind. If you ask them to describe *blue* they will scratch there head. They have no reference to go on.

I finally purchased this DVD and after watching, I still did not fully understand the how to of the features of the SB 800. So, the reviews I have read had some merit. But, now I knew what to start looking for. And soon I started mastering the features / functions of my SB-800.

If you are new to flash photography, you will benefit from this DVD. If you are new to the Speedlight system, you will benefit from this DVD. If you are already familiar with flash photography or the Speedlight system, and would like some great idea possibilities, buy this DVD, it has some nice, creative examples of flash photography. If you know all there is to know about flash photography and the Speedlight, do not buy this DVD, you will likely see it as a promotional video for the Speedlight system and be disappointed.

My plan now is to store my studio lighting set, buy a couple light stands and a couple more SB 800s and use the cool features of my Speedlights to illuminate my subjects both inside, without cords and sync lines. I will also take my Speedlights outside, without pushing my solo Speedlight to perform an impossible task.

Show The World Your World, Share A Photograph. TM

SulaeArts

I bought this DVD some time back after buying a SB-600 speedlight for my Nikon. If you are anything like me, you love natural light photography, but you are curious about strobe photography.


After getting my SB-600, I was able to take some okay shots, but overall, they were (are) nothing special (especially compared to my natural light shots). I think that the manual nikon gives you with the product is overly-complex and really does not help much.


This DVD is sort of the same thing. I am not sure who it is intended for, but it shows you how flexible the system is for the professional. The weird thing is that I suspect most pros know all about networking strobes to get complex effects... but us amateurs need step-by-step instructions on how to do the basics like iTTL settings for softer light, backlighting, etc.

I have some of Nikon's other videos and they are interesting, this one is not. I need a video that says "in conditions like this (wherever they are in the video), you should think about setting-up your Speedlight and camera body as follows... to do this go to the XYZ screen on the back of your Speedlight and push this button or that, make sure that your camera is set to XYZ settings, etc., etc., etc." this would be an awesome video - maybe someone makes one - I am going to keep looking.

This was a disappointment. I was looking for a step-by-step instruction on how to use a Nikon SB800. This product does not do that. There is no instructional detail. It is really more a marketing tool for the glory of the SB600 or SB800. I'm convinced that the flash unit is versatile; unfortunately this video does not teach you how to utilize that versatility. Joe McNally suggests at one point to study the manual. Right. That is exactly what I will have to do to learn to use the flash.

I really like Joe McNally, and it was good to watch him work. But I own the strobes in this video and I got nothing from it. The stuff he covers about the lights seem to be designed to make you want to buy them (thus the infomercial remark). There is very little content about HOW to use the strobes or lighting guide lines. There's mostly comments like, there's a lot of sun behind the subject, so we need fill flash. OK, that's correct, but it's photo 101. I wish I could return this item in good faith. Save your money. Again, Joe is great, but there is no depth to what is presented here. Go buy Joe's book "When it Clicks". A far better place to spend your money. Nikon makes great lights, but does a lousy job of describing what you can do and how to do it.

And visit the Strobist web site. That's the most magical place on the web for strobe lighting.

I bought this DVD as part of a 3 dvd set with the "Through the Eyes of a Pro" DVDs. I have yet to watch the other two.

Let me start by saying I keep up with McNally's blog. I think he is great and jumped at the chance to see his DVD. Upon watching it, I think its great to see a world renowned pro at work, but I didnt learn a single thing from this "educational" DVD. I was hoping from some basic set ups from McNally and maybe some of his tricks. I got a 1 hour sales promo, with a nice commentary by McNally. Frankly I would save the 20 bucks and get "The Moment It Clicks" or "The Hot Shoe Diaries."

Joe McNally is awesome. He's so humble about his own abilities and yet his results are just inspiring. There are two versions in this DVD - one with McNally's commentary and the other with a voice over. Forget the standard voice over, it feels like you're watching a long Nikon advertisement. But the version with McNally's commentary is very useful, learnt a lot from it.

I read all the other reviews on this site before buying the "Speed of Light" DVD, and after viewing it (twice) I have to agree with ALL of them.

Taken on a superficial level, this is absolutely a marketing tool. Joe McNally makes my mouth water with all the tricks he performs using multiple Nikon flashes. In most of the scenarios, a VERY BASIC lighting diagram is included, noting the positions of the flashes but NOT the number in each position. He briefly notes how many flashes are on each channel, but even in the introduction to the features of the SB-600 and -800, doesn't fully explore the menus.

However, the lighting scenarios are presented twice on the DVD: once with a female narrator's voice, in what is pretty obviously a sales pitch, and once with McNally discussing what he was thinking at the time and how he approached each setup. This track was worth its weight in gold.

I would have liked to have seen more basic discussion of lighting; if someone is experienced using studio and/or location strobe, they don't need McNally to explain how flash units are set up. I didn't get the feeling, however, that experienced professionals were the audience for this DVD. McNally keeps referring to the instruction manuals, which seemed odd -- if I could read, digest, and retain everything in the manuals, what would I need this DVD for???

All in all I give it four stars. To merit five, the DVD would have had to include more basic information about both the flash units themselves and the setups McNally used.

This DVD is well done and well organized to use as reference for future viewings. Getting to watch Joe work is a treat and this is a great overall look at Nikon's Creative Lighting System.

My only gripe is they should mention a little more about which cameras have which abilities when using the sb-600 and sb-800.

This is far from an instructional video. It is more like a documentary of, "Look what I did?" from this professional photographer. I'm busy enough with my own photography than to watch a video of someone with unlimited resources. Nikon you owe me a REAL instructional video.