Off Camera Flash - Nikon

[Tikira]

We are looking to purchase our first off camera flash. We haven't used off camera flashes before and have very limited knowledge about them. We have searched AP, which has helped but still are a bit unclear. We have a Nikon D300s and a D60. We are looking to use this for a couple of purposes:

1. Low light landscape shots to highlight foreground interest.
2. Indoor portrait work to compliment natural light.

We don't want to spend a huge amount of money until we know we are going to get good use out of it. Our questions are:

What brands are reasonable. We have read that Nikon is good, but more expensive. Yongnuo appears to be cheaper, but not as good as Nikon. Are there others.

What else other than the flash do we need. Does the camera activate the flash or is there a remote trigger of some sort?

Is there terminology we need to use to better search AP or the internet.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Wayne

[arthurking83]

I'm sure I'm correct when I say you can't do wireless flash with the D60 natively(you need an external trigger for that), but you can with the D300.

From memory, I once saw either a blog or a post somewhere, where the Yongnuo flash light quality wasn't as good as the Nikon's SB's, I think more blue in colour compared to the Nikons, but I also remember that Sigma's EF series were very close too Nikon's SB800(back then). The result of that particular read was that this chap compared an SB800, EF Super 500(Sigma) and a SB600, and that was the order of best to least performing, but that the EFSuper was cheaper than the SB600 and very close in overall performance to the SB800. Since then Sigma have updated their EF Super's to newer models to keep up, so have a look at the Sigma upper range speedlights.

As before, the D300 will activate the speedlights remotely, whereas the D60 will need a trigger of some type to do remote triggering.

Everyone has different ideas on the term "huge amount of money" .. so, is $450 a huge amount of money for a single external flash(SB-900)?
I think the Sigma's top of the line usually sell for about $300 or so. (both ebay pricing)

In this case, I would go with the Nikon flash

[Wayne]

With the AUD$ what it is, buy an SB-900 from USA and be happy for a long time.

[Tikira]

Thanks Arthur and Wayne. I hadn't thought of the Sugman option so I will check it out also. The D60 is the back up camera, so we probably won't use the external flash on it at this stage if it needs a trigger.

Wayne

[selaw]

Any update on the flash scenario? I am in a similar boat, tossing up between the Sigma Super & the Canon 58EXII. I am sharing other's sentiments here and leaning toward the 'same brand' flash for peace of mind. Relatively small price to pay for a long term investment. Just means waiting that wee bit longer :)

[reaction]

"first off camera flash" is a bit misleading. it's your first speedlight completely (popup don't count)
your first speedlight should be sb900 or 700. For best TTL,CLS,AWL results and the high feature set.

play with it then decide whether your 2nd needs wireless TTL or not.

[Erin]

Eh, you don't *need* to buy any specific flash unit. I've got an old Sigma EF-500 Super which goes full manual and does what I need it to do. It's probably worth only $50, if that. (It was about $300 new eight years ago.) I've used SBs of varying degrees (oldies, 700s 900) and to be honest, I like my Sigma.

Your first flash should be what you can afford and grow into a little bit. You don't HAVE to spend big bucks for flashes.

[peterb666]

If you are on a budget, have a look at the Nissin Di622 Mk II for around $150 on eBay. Does optical remote and also works as a slave under the Nikon Commander system (note the cheaper Mk I doesn't do the latter).

If you want all the bells and whistles but havn't the budget for a SB-700 or similar, you might have a look at the Nissin Di866 for around $270 off eBay.

[Blueywa]

My 20 cents worth.
You say the D300S will be your main camera, so do it justice and get Nikon Speedlights.
I use either an SB900 or SB800 for a lot of off camera work, sometimes using an SC-29 cable.
When using Nikons CLS I generally have the camera setup as master, and trigger a group of SB 600's, and I can use the 900 or 800 as slaves in place of the 600's if I want to.
I haven't used the SB700 so won't comment on it, but if you just want to use slaves then go for the SB600, and if local prices are a bit much for you go flea bay.
I don't know of any reason why a D60 can't do off camera using an SC-28 cable, that would give about a metre off camera in all directions and again generic are available if genuine is out of reach.

Good luck.