Nikon R1 Wireless Close-Up Speedlight System

A well made unit, somewhat cumbersome to assemble (but no big deal, really), great for macro. Comes with a nice case to organize/carry things. Yes, it's expensive!! NOTES TO PROSPECTIVE BUYERS: If your camera has a built-in flash (and is compatible with the Nikon Creative Lighting System, as are most of the most recent Nikons), do NOT buy the much more expensive R1C1 kit. It contains the SU-800 module, which you do NOT need if you have a body with on-board strobe and are planning to use it in commander mode. Likewise, don't buy the SU-800 separately. Again, you don't need it under the above conditions, and if you decide you DO need the SU-800, it's cheaper usually to just get the R1C1 kit. The R1 and R1C1 kits come with adapters to mount the SB-R200 flashes to your lenses. However, the kit may not have the adapter for some of your lenses, as the adapters are not for ALL the most-likely lens thread sizes. Check first. I mentioned the carrying case. The kit also comes with 2 custom soft cases for the individual SB-R200 flashes. If you put the flashes in their individual cases, they will NOT fit in the big carrying case. (Nonetheless, they will be protected well in the big case.)

I am an amateur photographer (my favorite hobby). I use a Nikon D90 and have a number of Nikon lenses. I had gotten the Nikon 105mm macro lens and it is truly one of the cleanest and sharpest lens I've ever seen. I had used it with macro shots (and it does a great job with portraits too) but I kept finding that even though I didn't have to get so close with the 105mm, I still had issues with getting the light just right. So may times I was in the way of the available light for those close up shots. This kit is really great in providing that much needed light!!!! I even found that I could see catchlights in the bee's eyes!!! (as you can see from my sample shots.....granted not the best in low res jpeg). I have used this now for a couple of days and have really been impressed with it. It's case is well organized and it's very nice in keeping everything together. It has multiple rings for various sizes of lenses you may have. The flashes that come with it really do a great job. I took them off and used them as fill flash and also rim light in portrait photography!!! They really do a good job!!! I also tried them for product photography and I was very pleasantly surprised at what great light they provide. The wireless with my D90 is truly a dream. When shooting macro, I found you can even put one on one wireless group and then use another group for the other. I would bring the flash level down on one side to give a different perspective in lighting. It works like a charm!!!! I didn't order the R1C1 kit (which includes the SU-800 controller) simply because I'm using the camera for that. Granted the camera only has 2 groups as versus 3 groups with the controller but if I need 3 groups, I'll use my SB-900 for that. Anyway, with all that said I would simply recommend this to anyone who might be interested in macro (and a great way to get a couple of small flashes to use for other purposes). Happy shooting!!!!

Bought this for my wife as an Anniversary gift since she does photography shoots as a hobby. Since I am out of state for work I didn't get a chance to give it to her until we recently reunited two weeks ago. She was very excited and surprised by the gift however the main flash/speedlight pictured is not included in the box. Is this suppose to be included? We never received it and she's a little disappointed because she's not sure what to do without it. We spent a lot of money thinking it was included with the entire package.

GREAT light and highly recommended for macro. 3 stars because the price is ridiculous for what you get. Unfortunately there are no other known, worthy, candidates to compete and so we must deal with this monopolistic price. All you’re really getting here is a plastic ring, two little remote flashes, and a few adapter rings. The rest is fluff.

Stopping down for a macro? - put on the lights - works great. Still, the filter holder / diffusion attachment is atrocious, and clearly very little thought was given to making it fold down small for inclusion in a camera bag. Works great for supplemental light in a non-macro CLS setup too, when you dont need the power of a higher end speedlight, but it doesn't swivel, so you have to put it on a ball head or something if you mount it on a stand. Should come with a shoe mount too for use with lighting equipment that has that. PS - Dont put the super-cheap batteries in it - they dont work as well as a reputable battery.

Wow where to start. In another reveiw the person said this was not made for Professional usage, which I'll disagree. I'm not professional. I do know a Professional using this Kit. This Kit is not build for super speed, which you really don't need for Macro type Photography. I shoot mostly Reptiles, this system works fantastic using the SB-800 as a Master. I'd still like to get the SU-800, so I could mount the SB-800 off the top of my D80. The only thing I have to play with now, is getting the three flash reflection in the eye of Snakes and Lizards. It's a bit annoying at times. If you shooting flowers, and bugs, this flash is great, since you can use the two small SB-200's to flash the sides of the object, and use your pop-up flash/SB-800 for front lighting. The only con I have about this product is, sometimes I only need one of the flashes on with the SB-800.

I shoot macro using the Nikon 105 Micro Nikkor lens and have often contended with the issue of directional flash coming off of the camera. This ring mount, with just 2 SB-R200 flash units solved all of my issues with directional shadows and gives me great control over deciding how I want shadows to fall. I use the on-camera flash in commander mode or use an SB900 in commander mode, and shoot Aperture mode TTL, with both SB-R200 units set to the same power setting. The change has been noticeable. This particular kit comes with all of the ring adapters to fit 52, 62, 67, 72, and 77 mm adapter ring sizes, close up adapters, stands to set the SB-R200 flash units on if you want to use them off of the ring, a hand-held adapter for the flash units for use off of the ring, a bounce flash to allow blocking of the built in flash unit, individual cases for each flash unit, color filter adapters, all in a large carrying case which is nicely compartmentalized for all of these pieces of equipment. Inconveniences, which would not change my mind about purchasing this kit are: Large case to carry all of the parts. Very conveniently stores all of the parts, but this will not be going into your camera bag the same way as it came out of this carrying case. Does not ship with batteries, which means you will be out looking for CR123A batteries when it comes to your door. The batteries are worth noting. You need 2 CR123A batteries, which will last between 200 and 300 flashes. As far as I have been able to determine, there are no rechargeable batteries of this type. I picked up my first set at the local drugstore for $16 for 2 of them, and then set about trying to find them cheaper. Amazon has several sources of CR123A, but I recommend only those that come in the original factory packaging. I can recommend the following batteries at Amazon: Duracell Ultra Photo 123 3V (2 Batteries) So, in summary, this flash system will cost you a few bucks for batteries, but the results you get from it are worth it. Update Dec 10, 2012: Several people have asked whether this unit works with their camera. Nikon has a compatibility list at [...] which shows all cameras and all flash units in a matrix. It appears that so long as the camera has some built in flash, the unit will work (Nikon, not sure about others). Also - update on batteries. You can now get rechargeable CR123A - a great money saver. Take a look at Tenergy TN268 Li-Ion Battery Charger + 4 pcs RCR123A 900mah Rechargeable Batteries - a nice charger and good power solutions for this flash unit.

Was hesitant at first, but took the plunge. Was thoroughly impressed...Came nicely packaged in it's own case...Everything well laid out, . Not cheaply built like some have said...Not sure what they're talking about really. If those Flashes were made of metal...I don't think you'd be able to use them hanging off any lens. But no flash anywhere from any company is made of metal. This kit will bring your macro and close up photography to a new level...trust me. Yes you can do portrait work, a little different setup then with stand strobes and speedlights of course If I had one complaint, it would be that outer ring that the flashes attach too...it moves around a little too easy for my likes, but it's not an issue...Go for it, you won't regret it.

The one star is provisional until such time that I can actually use the flash system, as currently I'm trying to set it up without the help of a user guide. The one enclosed is in French, a language I do not, and would not expect to know in order to use this expensive piece of kit. I guess I need to check the Nikon web site and read it on line. Now that I’ve used it for a while I’ve revised my review to 5*. I got an online guide from onto my pad and have used the flash system with great success. It’s far superior to the normal flash guns, and no harsh shadows.

Es un sistema muy completo, que viene en un maletín para guardarlo Se puede ampliar con mas con mas cabezas de flash SB-R200 (el maletín tiene espacio para otro mas con sus correspondientes accesorios) Se puede controlar cada cabeza de forma individual, permitiendo dar volumen a las fotos Tambien, con el kit, viene unas fundas para llevar lo esencial en la mochila, (los dos cabezales y la anilla de montaje) Su pega, el usar pilas de litio CR123A, se convierte en en ventaja al ver lo liviano que es todo el conjunto Se monta en el objetivo en un instante, no dando nada de pereza el usarlo Las posibilidades de ajuste de los cabezales son enormes y muy fáciles de llevar a cabo No es necesario comprar el kit con el controlador SU-800, ya que se controla perfectamente con el flash integrado en la cámara (solo do canales) y si quieres controlar los tres canales que te permite el SU-800, puedes montar sobre la cámara un flash SB 900 que te da la opción de controlar tres canales ademas del propio SB 900 De todas formas, siempre se puede comprar el SU-800 por separado para completar mas el kit (tiene un espacio reservado ya en el maletín Vamos una birgueria que te dará muchas hora de disfrute con tu fotografía macro y de primer plano Al pedirlo en Amazon, también pedí 4 juegos de dos pilas Varta, (a muy buen precio de 1600 mA) con lo que ya tengo pilas para rato Existe la posibilidad de usar baterías recargables, pero se debe tener cuidado con la tensión máxima que dan para que no bloqueen los flashes, por lo que se debe buscar una marca y modelo del que se tenga la seguridad de que van bien y no dan problemas (mirándolo por los foros e internet) Estaria bien que la propia Amazon tuviera y recomendara en su Web baterías recargables "compatibles y garantizadas" para poder comprarlas, de todas formas, no lo veo un problema grave, porque con como si disponen de las pilas recomendadas por el fabricante y a buen precio (son difíciles de encontrar en las tiendas normales) el tema queda resulto Lo queria comprar como un capricho y para completar el macro 105 de Nikon, y al final me ha encantado Viene con 5 anillas para distintos diámetros de lentes El manual me vino en francés (pero como te lo puedes bajar de internet en español sin ningún problema) no es problema alguno El precio después de una rebaja de cerca de 100 € esta super bien Del envio y plazo de entrega, como siempre perfecto Compra recomendada, que sin duda volvería a comprar

Certainement rien à redire sur la qualité de ce produit. Je n'ai pas acheté le kit complet avec la commande SU800 pour la bonne raison qu'un flash cobra (sb700 dans mon cas) permet de piloter en maître les deux flashes du kit, ensemble ou indépendamment. Investissez plutôt dans un troisième flash pour compléter la couronne. De plus la boîte fournie avec le kit permet d'en ranger un troisième.

Ich kann von diesem Set nur Gutes berichten. Angesetzt, eingerichtet und brilliante und vor allem richtig belichtete Bilder (ganz im Gegensatz zu einem Mitbewerber Produkt 'N* Ringblitz'). Die SB-R200 sind recht leicht und einfach zu handhaben. Lediglich das proprietäre Batterieformat CR123 stört. Relativiert sich aber, wenn man gleich einen 10erPack kauft, und dieser dann 'gebraucht' auch noch für 6,50€ zu haben ist. Zur Zeit belasse ich die Batterien im Gerät, um zu sehen, wie lange sie sich halten. Der Ein-/Ausschalter ist nämlich elektronisch, d.h. es wird auch minimal Strom verbraucht, wenn das Gerät aus ist. Wer sicher gehen will, nimmt die Batterien nach Nutzung heraus. Zur Zeit steuere ich das Set mit der D750 direkt, wobei man die seltsame Filterscheibe vor den Kamerablitz setzt. Oder man lässt die Kamera eben auch noch mit blitzen, ggf. einen Joghurtbecher o.ä. vorsetzen, um das Licht weicher zu machen. Die Ansteuerung eines weiteren Blitzes (z.B. SB-700) kann man auch per Kamera lösen. Aber eben nur, wenn die Kamera diese Option bietet. Ansonsten benötigt man den SU-800, der mit weiteren ca. 200€ zu Buche schlägt und eben auch wieder CR123 Batterien braucht. Das Zubehör ist aus meiner Sicht wertig, die Tasche ein wenig groß. Alles in allem sitzt der Blitz recht stabil. In der Tasche stört ein wenig der flexible Clip Arm. Ich weiß noch nicht wirklich, wann ich den brauche. Ich habe überlegt, ob ich noch einen dritten SB-R200 brauche, denke aber, eher nicht. Wenn man drei Blitze anordnet, ist das Abstellen der Kamera dann eigentlich auch nicht mehr so einfach möglich. Und die Ergebnisse sind bis jetzt sehr zufriedenstellend.

Nikon equipment is expensive but the quality is always there. A very well thought out system with lots of accessories. For close-up and macro photography it's the perfect piece of kit.