QDC-900WA Digital Zoom Flash for Nikon

I've had this flash for about a month, taken a few hundred pictures with it, and have to say that it's a good value for the money so far. I've not used any of the latest Nikons (SB-800), but find this flash to be at least as capable on my D80 as my old SB-28 was on my film N80.

Build quality: good. There is a little bit of slop in the rotating and tilting head mechanism, but no more so than my old Nikon flash. The switches and buttons are respectable and easy enough to operate with gloves. The diffuser attachment (oh I wish it were built-in like the SB-28's) is held in place with two smart little bumps that snap into two assembly screw recesses, so it won't easily be knocked off by my bag or jacket. The screw collar that locks the camera to the flash is slightly difficult to grab (it doesn't stick out very much), but that's probably better than having it too easy to turn and dropping the flash off the camera.

Electrical quality: fair. The flash works well, but whines a bit more than my old one. The zoom mechanism is also fairly noisy, with a slight but unpleasant click when it reaches the end of the zoom range (almost like a gear hopping a tooth). With a fresh pair of NiMH in this flash, I can shoot a couple frames per second at normal output levels. I've not observed the cycle time at 100% output, and have nothing to say about battery life (by old habit I swap in freshly-charged batteries before heading out with the camera).

Features: good. TTL works fabulously, of course, and the manual slave flash mode has proven itself useful (easily triggered with my D80's built-in flash, even set to -3 EV flash exposure compensation). I doubt I'll ever use the modeling flash mode, and rarely the multi-flash mode, but to each their own. The red focus assist lamp works well, allowing my D80 to focus in darkness (I was in a dark car at night). The ability to tilt the flash several degrees below horizontal has actually proven useful when taking impromptu near-macro close-ups.

Buy QDC-900WA Digital Zoom Flash for Nikon!