One of the things on my photography to-do list is to learn to use manual flash — the consistency and predictability is desirable when shooting portraits, where you don’t want Nikon’s TTL system to change the flash exposure simply because of the tone of someone’s skin or what clothes they’re wearing. Manual flash appears to be all about subject-to-flash distance… given the right aperture, flash power, ISO, and distance, your subject will be correctly exposed. Since I didn’t want to be calculating this over and over — and because I wasn’t happy with the chart in the manual — I’ve created a table for the SB-600.

All distances in meters

You can download the table in PDF format here. Printed, it measures 2″ on the sides — just the right size to affix to your flash. On the left side are three common ISO values (ISO 800, 400, and 200)… underneath each ISO is a list of apertures. On the right side of the table, the seven flash zoom positions are noted, with a distance in meters beneath it. (Note that the flash zoom should be set to 1.5x your focal length, if you’re shooting with a DSLR.) All values assume a flash power of 1/1… for each stop less flash power (1/2, 1/4, 1/8, etc), simply move down a row.

A different way of looking at it: each row in the table corresponds to one stop less light than the row above it. The very top row corresponds to the distances for the SB-600 at full power, with the camera set to ISO 800 and f/1.4. Likewise, the very bottom row corresponds to the distances for the flash at 1/64 power, with the camera set to ISO 200 and f/16. For each stop gained in aperture, ISO, or flash power, move up one row; for each stop lost, move down one row.

You can use this table in two different ways, depending on what data you’re starting from. If you’re starting with a flash distance, zoom position, and ISO value, move to the left to find a suitable aperture. (Remember that you can move up the table if you reduce the power on your flash… if f/8 is too much depth of field, set your flash to 1/2 power and your aperture to f/5.6 to compensate — the effect will be the same.) On the other hand, if you have an aperture and ISO in mind, look to the right to find the correct flash distance.

I haven’t started working with manual flash yet, but this table takes care of one more thing I had standing in the way. I hope it’s helpful!