Nikon D90 Flash Gun Search?
I need a flash gun for my Nikon D90 as I personally hate inbuilt flashes and avoid using it as much as possible. So I'd like to find a flash gun for my camera price range is around £100 I don't personally know what to look for in a flash gun as I've rarely used one.
The only one that I would trust is the SB400
http://www.amazon.co.uk/...000NPLC2C/
Ken Rockwell has done an extensive review on it:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/.../sb400.htm
its a major upgrade over the built in flash, and is super simple to use.
Hmm… Fairly low budget, but not entirely hopeless.
The SB-400 is cheap, and that is about it's only redeeming value. Not enough power to make it worth the effort.
If you must have iTTL flash control, you can probably find a Sigma 530 DG ST within your budget. Just make sure you get the Nikon model, as they make this for all SLR brands.
The Metz 36 for Nikon is in your budget, but not a lot better than the SB-400. The Metz 48 AF-1 is probably just outside your budget, but would be the best choice. It has all the bells and whistles of the SB-600, is more powerful, and costs less.
Well I would say that TTL compatibility isn't so important, but having a zoom/tilt/swivel head is really useful. In the sub-£100 sector you'll probably want to look at the Yongnuo 465 series of flashguns, and products from Nissin. They're not great quality, but it's probably all you have to go on.
Nikon SB-600 with a Gary Fong Lightsphere Collapsible is a great combo.http://www.garyfongestore.com/lightsphere-collapsible-370.html But out of the budget, so…
As with many things we want and having budget restraints, we look at only getting what's in our budget. WHY? How about increasing the budget over time and get something that fits a need best.
I always look for what I'm looking to purchase and then figure how to come up with the money, usually a couple of paychecks later I have managed to save funds to purchase my desired item.
I work a lot with Yongnuo flashes off camera (as well as Nikon speedlights - I have a D300). IF you buy a Nikon SB600 or above, you will have wireless flash capability with TTL - but this is going to be way over budget - the SB600 is around £220. Forget the SB400 - too underpowered & fixed head.
TTL (auto flash metering) is not all its cracked up to be - it can be inconsistent & unreliable. I prefer manual flash units & dial in the power myself - far more reproducible and I know what my flash is firing at.
I'd recommend either the Yongnuo 460-II (£40) or the 560 (£60). I'd also recommend a set of radio triggers (RF602's - £27). This is well within your budget. You want to get that flash off camera, as on camera flash is hard & flat - moving it off camera gives you far more possibilities with direction and adding modifiers (umbrellas, softboxes).
This is a Strobist swim shoot I did using 2x YN560's fired with RF602's;
They were at 1/8 power & could easily keep up with continuous shooting.
The best resource for off camera flash is the Strobist blog;
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html