I'm looking to add an AS-E900 and an appropriate Speedlight to my CP950. I'd prefer to keep costs down whilst staying with Nikon products, hence I'm considering the SB-22s - but will the SB-22s work okay with the CP950. A lot of posts here keep refering to the SB-28 which, although arguably one of the best, also costs a great deal more than an SB-22s.

Any advice gratefully received.

-- David Halstead (David@halstead.demon.co.uk), July 07, 2000

Answers

David - Firstly I am no expert and don't really know the answer to your question. But, I am currently in the market for a Coolpix 990 and have also considered speedlight compatibility. And in my internet searches I came across the following site - www.nikon-euro.com which appears to be an information resource for Nikon users. On that site under the FAQ for Nikon 900/950 in the answer to question 9 "what is the meaning of TTL?" they show a Coolpix 950 hooked up to a 22s speedflash to demonstrate the answer. I concluded from this that the 22s must work with the 950 (and most likely the 990). However I would also to be keen to know from an expert about its compatibility (because yes it is a whole lot cheaper!)

-- Roy Donnelly (budfox@geko.net.au), July 07, 2000.

On both my 950 (now sold) and my new 990, I use my SB-26. All features seem to work. Results are spectacular and you will be able to ALWAYS avoid redeye, something that I'm almost always unable to get rid of with the 990 and before that, the 950. So, I suspect the SB-22, SB-24 will also work. There is one feature which none of the above can handle when attached to a digital camera (I forget which, but had decided it was not crucial to my needs). And, the proof of the pudding is that it does not seem to have made a difference with the several hundred images I have taken using my SB-26. Hope this helps you decide.

-- Ted (ted.krohn@fra.dot.gov), July 10, 2000.

OK - just bought a 22s for my CP990 so now I am an expert! (see above). The external flash works fine in TTL mode and the camera controls the flash intensity automatically (or manually if you like) perfectly well. I agree with the comments that the results of external flash are excellent. Certainly no red eye which is the main reason I bought the external flash, but even without red eye the colours from the flash, especially when bouncing it indoors, are so much more natural and flattering than any in built compact flash - once you have tried it your will never look back (now I know why professionals go to the trouble of lumping around those huge cameras and flashes). The only thing that doesn't seem to work is the inbuilt illuminator which is supposed to help the camera focus in low light - I think that is because that needs a special lens only found in SLRs - but I would love another "expert" to confirm that for me.

-- Roy Donnelly (budfox@geko.net.au), August 01, 2000.