No comment ;)

LOL, I'm not sure that's what TTJ was referring too? :-)

agreed- valuable comments from all. . .

I am writing this thread down as one to remember.

Another answer is to use a flash bracket. This mounts the flash several inches above the hot shoe. I've owned several brackets, the best in my experience is Custom Brackets. The Digital Pro-M Kit is expensive but worth if you use it professionally. Plenty of less expensive brackets are available. Flash brackets will also eliminate red eye.
The difference in brackets is how easily it can switch from landscape to portrait orientation. That's where the Custom Bracket Pro-M is superior.

Sorry. Posted here by mistake.

JorPet said:
but it is a total waste of time to read discussions that are more than a month or so old.

LOL! Not in this forum.. ;-)

You've obviously never been to dpreview or flickr's forums then have you?
Anyone who wants to debate closing threads after a week can PM me. Otherwise let's get back on-topic please.

Pierre said:
Thanks for the advises. Apparently you did not notice that the post is 9 months old. ...

Classic problem with people digging up old threads. That is why it is generally considered very poor form to dredge up these old dogs. This is the only "forum" (and I use the term loosely) that seems to think it is preferable.

Sadly, I just go to the last page of every post and ready the last 2-3 items and respond, no clue as to what else was said earlier, but it is a total waste of time to read discussions that are more than a month or so old.

@Pierre, after spending the last year upgrading my lenses to the new f/1.4G primes, the built in flash became more than useless all except my 50mm lens. I have an SB-400 to give me some flash coverage when needed (2 x SB-900's as well). The SB-400 will fit in my pocket fine when I need a little fill.

I just bought a D3s a week ago, so I guess the lens upgrade prepared me to not have a built in flash.

24mm f/1.4G - NO WAY
35mm f/1.4G - NOPE
50mm f/1.4G - OK
85mm f/1.4G - WHY BOTHER?
60mm f/2.8G Micro - OK
14-24mm f/2.8G - ABSOLUTELY NOT
24-70mm f/2.8G - NO HOOD, 40mm+ ONLY
70-200mm f/2.8G - OK, BUT AGAIN WHY BOTHER

Segura said:
@Pierre, my apologies for not seeing how old this thread is....

No problemo, I have done that too. I really appreciate you trying to be helpful. The world would be a better place if all were like you (and most of us here).

9 months later, I still agree with many that the D700 flash is pretty useless and I completely gave up trying to use it as a flash. It finds its usefulness in commanding mode where it drives other off-camera flashes and perhaps as an 'emergency' flash when none others are available. For traveling light, the 'Gary Fong Puffer' thing would be something to explore.

An RF-based commanding solution would be better as mentioned in numerous posts, leaving room for a 100% viewfinder. Me I solved my problem with the purchase of an SB600 a few days after my original post.

@Pierre, my apologies for not seeing how old this thread is. I'm more than sure you have it all sorted out by now ;)

Keep enjoying your D700 . . .

To newbies though, read the manual . . . there are more things your camera is capable of that you will miss out on by not checking it out. ;)

Segura said:
Pierre, read the manual... I think the D700 may be a bit much for you at this point...

Thanks for the advises. Apparently you did not notice that the post is 9 months old. I since then had plenty of time to read the manual and get a good hand on the D700, thanks to the numerous tips I have received here. You can see plenty of my work in the PHOTO-A-DAY dating back to around May last year. Feel free to tip me on those.

Pierre said:
By hood you mean the big sun hood on the lense? If so, that would be a killer obvious. If no, I know of no other hood.
I noticed that between 24 to about 32 mm, the shadow is visible, consistent with page 374 which sais to put the lense at 35mm.
Can the SB400 be activated with the built-in D700 wireless remote like the SB600?

Pierre, read the manual. Your initial problem, and now this question are handled in the manual. It will help you . . . I think the D700 may be a bit much for you at this point if it is not worth it to you to read the manual and get to know your camera.

I just tried it at 24 with the hood on using the Gary Fong Puffer just out of curiosity. The puffer alone reduces the shadow by about 90 percent, it is still there, but not too bad. If you remove the hood then the puffer would eliminate it entirely.

That said, I normally use my SB-800 when using the flash much, but the puffer does come in handy when I am someplace that I don't want to carry the big flash (like Cub Scouts).

Pierre, I had the same problem that you last night. and yes, there is no way to get rid of that huge shadow with the built in flash, especialy with a wide focal distance (24mm to 35mm)
once you put an external flash like sb600 or sb 900 the problem is solve.

adamz said:
take the hood off and it will work

By hood you mean the big sun hood on the lense? If so, that would be a killer obvious. If no, I know of no other hood.

I noticed that between 24 to about 32 mm, the shadow is visible, consistent with page 374 which sais to put the lense at 35mm.

Can the SB400 be activated with the built-in D700 wireless remote like the SB600?

Stick a reflector/diffuser in-front of it and bounce the light.

Get an external flash. Page 374 of the manual implies you are going to have a problem below 35mm even without the hood.

any external flash will no throw a shadow with that lens. . .try without the hood and see your results too. . .

You can even use a small SB400 if you're traveling and don't want to risk the shadow throw. . .

take the hood off and it will work

I think some of the combinations are covered in the manual, Pierre.

It's part of Nikon's secret plan to vastly improve our photography by getting the flash off the camera. That little flash is really there to trigger a "real" flash somewhere else. Or use a little prime lens.

This was kind of obvious but still unexpected to me. Trying to use the D700 flash when a big lense such as the 24-70 F2.8 is mounted causes the lense to cast a huge shadow that takes-up a large half circle at the bottom of the image, making the D700 flash totally useless.

Now my question is, if I mount a SB600 on the D700, will the lense still cast a visible shadow? Is the D700 flash still comes on or only the SB600 will come-on? And if the D700 flash comes-on along with the SB600, will the lense shadow still be visible?