Nikon SB-700 Speedlight £240/$330

A SOLID perform er that won’t break the bank

More of a ‘kit’ than just a flashgun, the SB-700 comes complete with a clip-on diffusion dome and colour correction filters for use with both fluorescent and tungsten ambient lighting, all with auto-sensing when fitted.

There’s no shortage of built-in features either, with a range of illumination patterns to choose from, a powerful 24-120mm zoom range and wireless commander and slave modes. The control panel is wonderfully intuitive, except for the fact that you can only switch from TTL-BL mode to standard TTL flash by changing the metering mode on the host camera body. Unlike with Nikon’s rangetopping SB-5000, wireless connectivity is limited to infrared, rather than Radio Frequency, and there’s no repeat (stroboscopic) flash mode.

Performance

Maximum power output is low compared with most flashguns on test, but should be sufficient for most shooting scenarios, even in bounce/swivel mode. TTL flash metering is accurate, and recycling speed is quick.