Sigma EF-610 DG Super Electronic Flash for Nikon DSLR Cameras - Professional Photography Lighting for Portraits, Events & Studio Shoots

I've used this gun for nearly a year now and used it on several major shoots, where I was the principle photographer and it's always inspired confidence and produced clean, well-lit pictures.Being semi-pro, a long-term SB600 (Nikon) speedlight user on full-frame Nikon D700, I've been needing a supplement to/replacement for the 600 as it is ageing and comparatively underpowered. Fine for interiors; outdoors it is lacking, its GN of 32 being about one-third less than this Sigma. I needed a decent gun for night-time Carnivals, especially when shooting with wideangle lenses.I did try Nikon's flagship SB900 but it was faulty and was both unwieldy and complicated to access the many modes, with its programs and menus. I even considered a S/H SB800 but they still command prices quite a bit more than I paid for this gun (similar to its RRP, in fact). The SB700 wasn't widely available enough to be a contender, at the time.FEATURES - A couple of features from the 900 that I liked do feature on this Sigma - a flip down white card that adds a catchlight to the subject's eyes and flexible bouncing capabilities - 180 degrees (behind) for instance. All the 'normal' features considered standard on a quality gun (LCD backlit screen, i-TTL, Rear curtain sync, manual overriding of exposure in 1/3 stops, wideangle diffuser to 17mm, stand, carry case - with separate pouch inside for set of batteries) are all included (plus possibly a few that aren't so important to me).In basic modes, it's as easy to use as the SB600 though a downside is that screen goes entirely blank when the gun is resting whereas I'd expect at least something to show it was still "on". Engaging extra functions and features, such as overriding output takes some button pressing, but no menus to navigate and all that.THE GUN - The gun itself is Japanese made and is barely heavier than the 600, with batteries and has that soft-touch feel that Sigma use quite a lot. It is longer and a little bigger but not ungainly so. The battery flap opens very differently to that of the Nikon - I'm not looking forward to opening it in the pitch dark - and the poor display of the orientation of the batteries is a real annoyance, meaning you have to use another light source just to see (the Nikon uses white painted symbols that help, the Sigma uses barely raised black ones on the flap and are recessed to being almost in the chamber itself. I haven't yet got used to this nuisance.IN PRACTICAL USE - One area where there is real advantage is that there are more infrared sensors for AF in the Sigma than in the SB600 and so AF in darkness is possible, (& correctly exposed photos) whereas this hardly ever worked with the 600. When photographing a choir at night in the grounds of a ruined abbey recently, with the wideangle diffuser in place and a 24mm lens, I got perfect intensity to not burn out their white robes but enough spread to fill in on the ruins. I used the backlit mode, minus 2/3rds of a stop and employed 'shadows' in Photoshop CS to get a very nice and impressive shot, that belied its (mostly, some ambient) sole light source. The Nikon would have struggled with this scenario, by being underpowered and probably would have swamped the foreground, burning it out and also underexposing the background. Another plus was that after some 40 shots outside and another 60 inside straight after, the set of Uniross rechargeables still had quite a bit of juice left in them, so the gun seems efficient.BUILD - Build quality and quality control could be of an issue, though no worries so far. I already feel at home with and it has become my main gun, though I'm keeping the SB 600 as spare and for when I need a second one for studio use etc. I'm happy to give this Sigma 4 and 3/4 stars, the minus bit being for the slightly small buttons and the lack of a 'ready' light and the poor battery orientation display.I really only use flash where I need to, for bands and musicians it's only ever as a fill-in, hence my need for ease of overriding the output. Flash and flashguns leave me cold - I only pick one up when it's about to be used and I buy a new one about every decade. Sigma make some quality products - half of my best lenses are from them and so whilst they might not be leading lights in this field, it's rational to believe that a Sigma flashgun would do a competent job, with the same value-for-money attraction over marque products that their lenses are renowned for. For me, I can certainly say that this flagship gun continues this tradition.