Photography experts, recommend me a flash.

[Specialone]

After an on/off shoe flash for my nikon D90, wanna spend around £100 ish, is there any decent ones around for this money ?

[Bri w]

Spooky! :smt103

Been surfing for the same thing for my D5000.

Metz 48 is the cheapest I've found at £157

[Woz]

I got a Jessops one for £70 last year and although I'm no expert, I think it's great. Sure, a genuine Nikon SB800/900 is going to have more power and features but they also cost 4 times as much.


Edit - it is a 360AFD, currently listed at £69 with free delivery.

[anna]

hahahhaahhahahahahahahahahahahah for how much?

[anna]

Ok sorry that wasnt very helpful. The problem with that price range is that each one you get will have some limitation that will really bug you very quickly.

You might find though that the 360AFD might not function consistantly with the D90. (and build quality might be dodgy the plastic foot on the jessops ones look a bit unstable, and might break off with little persuasion. If you are looking for a TTL hot shoe flash then this might be the one for you.)

What are you trying to get, a point and flash? or wireless (as you wont get anything for that price range if so)
Nikon CLS wireless you need to go SB600 upwards... but that will cost you more then the £100

Over to the other Nikon geek.............

[Filipe M.]

Thanks! (Do I still smell of wee?!)

Right, as Anna said, if you're only looking for a flash that will sit on your camera working TTL most of the time, the Jessops might be what you need, providing whoever manufactures it has managed to reverse engineer the Nikon iTTL thingy right. Assuming they have, then as Anna said you just need to worry about build quality (and that plastic foot doesn't really inspire any confidence... that said, it can be said that if something has to break, might as well be the cheapest bit to replace instead of the camera mount).

Now, if you're going off-shoe, you have 2 options: wired (with a Nikon SC-wotsit cord) or wireless. If you're going wired, the cord will be more expensive than the Jessops flashgun ;) If wireless, another 2 options show up:

- Nikon CLS - fully compatible with iTTL, it's the system everybody tries to copy and has had more people switching over from Canon to Nikon than any other single feature. Problem #1: it'll cost you more than 100£ for each light you want to add, since we're talking SB-600 and upwards. Your D90's pop-up flash will be able to control the remote flash(es) so basically you have all you need after you get the flash(es). And yes I'm using plural because you will want more than one when you start playing with them.

- Wireless triggers, and here all hell breaks loose, because again you need more equipment than just the flash, and this time it might get REALLY expensive, depending on what you chose. Again, two options:

- Full TTL compatible. Forget about it, as you'd need the new PocketWizards triggers, in addition to your flash. And yes, depending on the flash you chose, they'll probably be more expensive than it.
- Manual flash - the world (of wireless triggers) is your oyster. You can pretty much get away with using any flash that has a manual setting (and the more power options the better - that Jessops will only go down to 1/16th power, that's way too much for some macro stuff in very close quarters), and you can get triggers as cheap as £30 off eBay (some work, some kind of do) or as expensive as the PocketWizards I mentioned before.

So either way you chose, there will be pros and cons on each. There is a third way of using wireless remotes, which is using the built-in optical slave in some flashguns, but that will pretty much force you to use your master flash in manual mode (even the pop-up on the D90), as they can easily be confused by the TTL system pre-flashes and fire before the exposures.

Simple, isn't it? :lol:

Let us know what you are expecting to do with your flash, and we might be able to give you a more focused (no pun intended!) solution.

[jambo]

Anna & Filipe make good points. The Nikon fashes are really very good and while they're expensive compared to plenty of the 3rd party units they also come packed with a huge amount of features. The key point is to try and understand a little about flashes so you don't pay for functionality you won't use, or buy something that's cheap but doesn't do what you want.

I shoot Canon but the principles are pretty similar. The genuine canon flashes can auto & manual zoom, auto & manually adjust power, communicate white balance to the camera, assist focusing in low light, command other flashes wirelessly, allow 1st & 2nd curtain, and high-speed sync. Multi flash, exposure compensation and being weather sealed, and even able to factor distance to subject by communicating with the lens are all useful to some. Being able to use eTTL/iTTL wirelessly is wonderful too.

Do you need all of that? Probably not, but to claim that a cheap flash is just as good as a genuine nikon/canon but without their markup might be a smidge hasty.

The easy answer is to say go and buy a Nikon SB600, the SB700 replacement or splash for the SB800/900 and be happy it will work with everything seamlessly.

I would say from using my flashes for a primary flash that sits on the body most of the time the following is essential to me:


tilt / swivel / bounce head. Trust me, light from directly in front is not always the right call.
iTTL compatibility (thankfully now more common in 3rd party flashes)
zoom head to make best use of the power it has
wireless slave a massive bonus

If I was going 3rd party I would put some consideration in for the nissin flashes (http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-nissin-di622-flash-gun-for-nikon/p1026074)
I would be aware though when it says "wireless slave" it may be the sort that simply fires the flash at whatever power it's set. Still usefull but the genuine Nikon stuff will auto adjust the power of it's slaves as they fire. Which is pretty cool in my book!

Whatever else you do, consider a wander round strobist.com (http://strobist.com) and look at the lighting 101 stuff to see why everyone gets all involved with firing the flash off-camera. It might change the choice of flash, not to one that's more expensive, but to one that better suits this.

Jambo

[keith_d]

Unfortunately, as the other posters have said, the best bet is to save a bit longer and buy a Nikon SB-x00 (x=6,7,8,9). The off camera flash is worth saving for.

For example, a few weeks ago I agreed to take some photos of my friend's kids. I set up two Nikon iTTL flashes in the corners of the room aimed at the (white) ceiling and set the internal flash to -2 stops. That gave me nice diffuse lighting with natural shadows and perfect catchlights from the internal flash. It also gave me the freedom to move around at their level which is where you want to be when shooting children. Getting the same results with cables or fixed power slaves would have been much more difficult.

Unfortunately, used SB-600 flashes are going on Ebay for almost the price of new ones. So, not much chance of a bargain I'm afraid.

Just my thoughts,

Keith

[TC3]

One of the reasons I changed to Nikon from Pentax was the CLS system. I ended up getting 2 sb600's and a used sb800 to take pics of school models and portraits of work staff.

You can get the Nikon SG-3IR panel which prevents any light from the built in flash while still allowing it to send IR signals to the wireless Nikon flashes. Works a treat and I also got Stofen diffusers for the Sb 600 flashes.

My advice is listen to what others have said and buy the best you can to fully get the benefits of the brilliant CLS system. If you just want a small flash that will improve flash photography in general, you could look at the sb 400 and get a Stofen Omnibounce diffuser. You will have much softer light with less harsh shadows and you can still bounce off ceiling.

All depends what you want to do really. Do you want a small compact on camera flash (can be used off camera with a lead) or a more sophisticated wireless compatible flash which offers much more creativity?

[Viney]

I got a Jessops one for £70 last year and although I'm no expert, I think it's great. Sure, a genuine Nikon SB800/900 is going to have more power and features but they also cost 4 times as much.


Edit - it is a 360AFD, currently listed at £69 with free delivery.I got one of them. Its fine for basic work and im sure would suit your needs.

If you want the remote flash control etc, then you will need a much better unit as the Jessops unit does not support this and like a **** i didnt realise that the Cannon stuff needs a second flash unit, or a wireless contrller to fire the flash unlike the Nikon

[-Ralph-]

http://www.unitedmaskandparty.com/Halloween/images/flasher.JPG

[stewie]

What exactly are you shooting ? Ive been meaning to get one myself for a while but always ending up using natural light, its more contollable and cheaper ;)

[Filipe M.]

always ending up using natural light, its more contollable

Can you change the position of the sun?! :eek: and the colour too?! :eek: And dispersion pattern and softness? :eek:

What am I thinking anyway, you live in the UK, you probably don't know what the sun is anyway... ;)

:lol:

But you're right, it is cheaper! ;)

[stewie]

:D no but I can use reflectors etc, thats when we do get some sun ;)

[Filipe M.]

:D no but I can use reflectors etc, thats when we do get some sun ;)

Yup, and good reflectors are still cheaper than crap flashes ;)

[Specialone]

Thanks everybody for taking the time to write detailed posts, much appreciated.

Tbh , a lot has gone over my head, I didn't know there was so much involved.

Speaking to someone the other day they suggested I opt for one that can be used off shoe either by lead or wireless.

Im a newbie to all this as you'll probably aware, I'm not really into portrait stuff ATM so just wanted a good flash that would work in most situations now but would also work when I'm more experienced and maybe try portrait work.

If you guys think I'd be better budgeting for a nikon flash than buying a cheaper but more limited one then I'll do that.
I would rather spend more and have a quality one that will be more useful in the long term.

What am I looking at for the nikon flash units you mentioned? I presume the extension cables are extra on these ?
The wireless controllers are a minefield as well by the sound of it ?

Thanks again :)

[Bluefish]

Thanks! (Do I still smell of wee?!)

Right, as Anna said, if you're only looking for a flash that will sit on your camera working TTL most of the time, the Jessops might be what you need, providing whoever manufactures it has managed to reverse engineer the Nikon iTTL thingy right. Assuming they have, then as Anna said you just need to worry about build quality (and that plastic foot doesn't really inspire any confidence... that said, it can be said that if something has to break, might as well be the cheapest bit to replace instead of the camera mount).

Now, if you're going off-shoe, you have 2 options: wired (with a Nikon SC-wotsit cord) or wireless. If you're going wired, the cord will be more expensive than the Jessops flashgun ;) If wireless, another 2 options show up:

- Nikon CLS - fully compatible with iTTL, it's the system everybody tries to copy and has had more people switching over from Canon to Nikon than any other single feature. Problem #1: it'll cost you more than 100£ for each light you want to add, since we're talking SB-600 and upwards. Your D90's pop-up flash will be able to control the remote flash(es) so basically you have all you need after you get the flash(es). And yes I'm using plural because you will want more than one when you start playing with them.

- Wireless triggers, and here all hell breaks loose, because again you need more equipment than just the flash, and this time it might get REALLY expensive, depending on what you chose. Again, two options:

- Full TTL compatible. Forget about it, as you'd need the new PocketWizards triggers, in addition to your flash. And yes, depending on the flash you chose, they'll probably be more expensive than it.
- Manual flash - the world (of wireless triggers) is your oyster. You can pretty much get away with using any flash that has a manual setting (and the more power options the better - that Jessops will only go down to 1/16th power, that's way too much for some macro stuff in very close quarters), and you can get triggers as cheap as £30 off eBay (some work, some kind of do) or as expensive as the PocketWizards I mentioned before.

So either way you chose, there will be pros and cons on each. There is a third way of using wireless remotes, which is using the built-in optical slave in some flashguns, but that will pretty much force you to use your master flash in manual mode (even the pop-up on the D90), as they can easily be confused by the TTL system pre-flashes and fire before the exposures.

Simple, isn't it? :lol:

Let us know what you are expecting to do with your flash, and we might be able to give you a more focused (no pun intended!) solution.



sod that i'm only gonna take photos ouside in good light, lol.

[keith_d]

What am I looking at for the nikon flash units you mentioned? I presume the extension cables are extra on these ?
The wireless controllers are a minefield as well by the sound of it ?

Thanks again :)


The full price for an SB-600 is around £230, but on Ebay you'll probably get one for around £170. So, more than your £100 budget but not outrageously expensive.

I find setting up iTTL wireless flash is a bit of a faff the first couple of times, mostly because I don't find the flash menus particularly intuitive. But once it's set up I find it works quite well. Obviously other people may have different experiences.

Keith.

[Filipe M.]

What am I looking at for the nikon flash units you mentioned? I presume the extension cables are extra on these ?
The wireless controllers are a minefield as well by the sound of it ?

Thanks again :)

If you're going for recent Nikon units then you won't need the extension cable or extra wireless controllers just yet (you might never need it, depending on what you want to do). Your D90 will be able to control the SB-600 / 700 / 800 / 900 wirelessly via IR, as long as there is line of sight between the camera and the sensor on the flash (usually on the side of it) or reasonably strong reflections, like in a normal indoor environment. Outdoors in full sun things might be a bit iffier, but then you do live in the UK so that might be a problem maybe only twice a year :lol: Basically you can forget about everything else, get one of these SBs and you'll be set.

The SB-600 is a great "little" flash, not horribly expensive, but it has been recently discontinued and replaced by the SB-700, which is a bit more expensive but also has some more bells and whistles to it (which you won't even notice just yet), together with improved controls and screen. That will take you closer to the £300 mark though, so it might not be worth it if you can find a good second hand SB-600 for a decent price.

The SB-800 and 900 are the top of the range units, more expensive, more powerful, with some more options, but we're talking £300+ each (and the SB-800 has also been discontinued but the prices aren't falling, quite the opposite... that's how good it is).

Forget about the SB-400, that's not a lot more than an overgrown pop-up that can be bounced, but there's not a lot more to it than just that, and it won't work wirelessly (without an extra remote, that is).


I find setting up iTTL wireless flash is a bit of a faff the first couple of times, mostly because I don't find the flash menus particularly intuitive. But once it's set up I find it works quite well. Obviously other people may have different experiences.

Keith.

When I'm using CLS I find it helpful to set the Fn button on the front of the D90 to give me direct access to the Flash setup menu, that way instead of having to dive into the menu structure to get there I can access the settings with a single button push. Of course once inside it's rocker button click click territory, and lots of care to click the right way and press OK after making the adjustments... either that or spending some time scratching my head trying to find out why the pics look the same as before adjustments!... :rolleyes: Nikon's answer to that one is spending more money on an SU-800, but I won't be doing that anytime soon ;)