Is it possible to trigger the Nikon SB600 flash with a phone or compact camera?

SB600 has 'slave mode'.

do i need the SB800 or beyond to trigger flash with a phone or compact camera?

some people have said 'get an optical slave trigger' but what would that do?

Added (1). Like this guy

The SB600 does NOT have an optical slave mode!

It can be used as a remote flash, triggered by either the Nikon CLS system (using an SB800 as a commander or the onbaord flash of compatibile cameras) or you'd have to use a radio trigger.

I use RF602 triggers - about £20 a set. The transmitter goes on the camera hotshoe & the receiver goes on the flash 'foot'.

You'd have to use both the camera and flash in manual mode (you set the flash output manually).

It is possible to get an optical 'slave' attachment for the flash - it sits on the flash foot like a radio receiver would - these are examples;
http://dpanswers.com/content/optical_flash.php

you need one that slides onto the flash foot though, as types like the Wein peanut plug in to a PC sync socket & the SB600 doesn't have one of those either.

You need an optical trigger on the SB600. While the SB600 is capable of being triggered remotely by detecting the flash from a camera, it lacks the sensor to do so - and this is where the optical trigger comes in.

Something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/...00357PCVC/

Or you could buy a Nikon SU4, but that is un-necessarily overkill (and overpriced).

Of course, you would need a smartphone that has a flash to initiate the event - many do not.

He isn't using an SB-600, that is a much older SB-26 that actually does have an optical slave built in. Here is a link to the specs… http://www.momentcorp.com/review/sb-26.html

The issue with any optical slave like in the link above is that it will fire on the 1st flash, meaning the metering/focusing preflashes. Will set it off, and the flash is then recharging when the actual photo is taken. The good news is that there are slaves that understand the preflash (more or less) but the bad news is that they cost more.

There are also a large number of cheap flashes on the market with built in optical slaves that have everything in one place… To start look at the Yongnuo YN-460 II.