Mounted Flash Shopping

eeyorelvr09

A rough road leads to the stars
Joined
May 7, 2009
I have a Nikon D3000 with the standard lens as well as a Nikkor telephoto 55-300 mm lens. I would love to hear you opinions on the type of mounted flashes that you may have. I was researching ones on ebay, but have not found anything yet.

Anyhelp would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance
 
The answer is simple. The D3100 will take a Nikon SB400, SB600, SB700, and SB900. I personally do not like the SB400 but others may say they do.
 
On my Pentax system, I use Sigma EF-530 Super. The new version is the 610 and has a guide number of 61 versus my 53. I have been pleased with the Sigma flashes.
 
An inexpensive option to maybe check out is the Yongnuo YN465. You may have to get it off eBay, from a Chinese seller; but there's no problem there. I have one for my Canon, and I really enjoy it.
 


I have a Bower for my Nikon D5000. I bought it from B&H for about $110. I have had good luck with it so far.
 
I have the SB600 for my D80. I don't use it very much but its great when I need a flash. I keep a Sto-fen diffuser on it.
 
If you can still fine the SB-600 I would go for that. Nikon has a GREAT flash system and I personally would not go with a 3rd party flash with a Nikon body.

I've had an SB-600 for about 5 years. I originally used it with my D50. After I upgraded to the D300 I realized the true power of the Nikon Creative Lighting system. I was able to trigger the SB-600 wirelessly with the pop-up on my D300 (the entry level Nikon dSLR's don't have this feature, not sure about D5000). After that I went out and bought a 2nd SB-600 for a great portrait set-up using the 2 SB-600's on tripods off to the side. I bought a diffuser for the pop-up to make the lighting even better.

A few months back I got lucky on a lottery ticket and won enough money to buy the Nikon SB-900 which is WICkED AWESOME!! Rather than the pop-up on my D300, I can use the SB-900 as the master flash to trigger the 2 SB-600's.

I love the SB-600 and got tremendous use out of it for 5+ years. For the basic flash photography the SB-600 (or now the SB-700) will be more than perfect for most people. I use a diffuser on mine 95% of the time and get great results.
 


I have the SB600 for my Nikon D90. I really like it! I would just avoid the SB400 because it doesn't swivel and tilt much.
 
If you can still fine the SB-600 I would go for that. Nikon has a GREAT flash system and I personally would not go with a 3rd party flash with a Nikon body.

I agree!!!

I just had to return a Bower SDF 52N Dual Intelligent Speed Light for Nikon i-TTL Cameras because it was not working correctly with my D90. I would lose power on the D90 and have to flip the on/off switch to get the camera to operate after each exposure with the Bower flash.

I ordered a Nikon SB 700 and I have spent the day reading/watching videos on this flash.
:worship: ~ All hail the great youtube!~ :worship:

I am basically starting with zero knowledge of flashes and the information/tutorials out there for the Nikon flashes is another reason to stick with the name brand.

Good luck,
Marlton mom
 
I agree!!!

I just had to return a Bower SDF 52N Dual Intelligent Speed Light for Nikon i-TTL Cameras because it was not working correctly with my D90. I would lose power on the D90 and have to flip the on/off switch to get the camera to operate after each exposure with the Bower flash.

I ordered a Nikon SB 700 and I have spent the day reading/watching videos on this flash.
:worship: ~ All hail the great youtube!~ :worship:

I am basically starting with zero knowledge of flashes and the information/tutorials out there for the Nikon flashes is another reason to stick with the name brand.

Good luck,
Marlton mom

I just got this flash too but haven't found many videos on youtube! Maybe I am just not looking hard enough! off to search now...
 
I just got this flash too but haven't found many videos on youtube! Maybe I am just not looking hard enough! off to search now...

Here are some links that might help.
http://www.digital-photography-school.com/slow-sync-flash

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy2fR4Qr48I

I have also copy pasted info I found on the web into a word document. This should get you started (I can just hear Mom2RTK now saying "when is your Canon version of this coming out!" :eek:)

Nikon SB 700

Pre flash Icon: fires off 2-3 flashes to measure the main subject and to send data to the flash for proper exposure.


TTL: Through The Lens, flash measures the overall image to send info to the flash to give proper exposure to the main subject.


TTL BL = through the lens Balance Light: The flash measures the foreground and the background, it automatically adjust the flash power to balance the foreground to combine with the backgrounds amount of brightness by fill light (Fill light = fills the shadows).


TTL-FP : (through the lens flash power): measures the brightness of Foreground to combine with the background allowing you to use high shutter speeds and /or high (small) apertures.

Auto Aperture Flash : The flash measures light to give flash power to combine with the selected aperture and ISO sensitivity the user set on the camera.
Non TTL Auto Flash : Allows the user to adjust the exposure compensation easily by adjusting the Aperture ALONE.


GN Guide Number: (distance priority flash) allows the user to adjust the shooting distance. The flash automatically adjusts the power once you set the distance information. It will deliver the same exposure at any selected aperture.


M Manual Flash: the flash is now disconnected from the camera allowing the user to manually adjust the entire flash unit (Exposure compensation, Flash power Output, Distance info, Zooming range to match the cameras selected shutter speed, aperture and ISO sensitivity).


RPT RePeaTing Flash, similar to manual flash, the flash fires repeatedly during a single exposure creating a stroboscopic multiple exposure like effect within the single exposure.


Auto FP (Automatic Flash Power)(Nikon D90 (e5 in CSM, not supported for D60) allows you to override the cameras max aperture/shutter speed setting so you can have a large aperture with a shallow depth of field or you can freeze the action with a super fast shutter speed or both. AFP automatically adjusts your flash power requirements for using higher shutter speeds that the X sync limitation of 1/250s and for using Higher (smaller) apertures with out the aperture locking you experience per ISO selected with sync-ing.

Steps: ATTACH FLASH FIRST. In D90 menu, Custom settings menu, Bracketing flash menu, e5 is the Auto FP setting. Once you have auto FP setting selected the SB700 will sense this and display a FP icon on the screen. Now set camera to the shutter speed and aperture you want. You will have to experiment to see what aperture shutter combo works with the flash.


Bounce guide. Ceiling = 45 degree tilt Tends to deliver shadows under eyes and forehead
-9 degree tilt is for Macro (or on a FLASH BRACKET)

Built in Bounce Card (USE WITH 90 TILT!!) is designed to make subjects eyes vibrant with out shallow eye shadows that are caused by bouncing with out the card.
Built in WIDE FLASH ADAPTER for use with WIDE ANGLE LENSES that have a WIDER ZOOMING RANGE WITHOUT THE BUILT IN WIDE FLASH ADAPTER A N D for MACRO shots that are within 2 feet tilt down the flash head to – 9 degrees and pull out the built in wide flash adapter to widen the flash but Macro flash would probably be better.

Diffuse dome (BOUNCE THE FLASH! 45 or 90 degrees) : softens light from flash WHEN DOING BOUNCE FLASH. It creates extremely soft lighting and zero shadows. It can also deliver a much wider flash angle

Flash Gel Filters = white balance adjusters. Orange = Tungsten/ Incandescent light, GREEN is for FLOURESCENT light. Red, yellow, blue = creative


multi-step auto zoom, which automatically detects the lens focal length and adjusts the flash output accordingly for angles of view from 24mm to 120mm.

Three illumination patterns can quickly be selected to match each shooting situation, making it the ideal flash for a range of scenarios. The Centre-weighted pattern offers more power and higher guide number which highlights the subject from its surroundings. The Even setting works well for indoor group shots or a flat surface whilst the Standard setting has a slight emphasis on the centre.
three illumination patterns (standard, center-weighted and even) can be selected in SB-700 to match each shooting situation. When “even” is selected, the light from the flash will cover a subject from center to edges without light falloff. This pattern is suitable for shooting group photographs indoors. The “standard” pattern will cover all conventional, standard flash coverage. The center-weighted pattern provides larger guide numbers than other light distribution types at the same focal lengths. This illumination pattern is suitable for subjects such as portraits, in which the light falloff at the image edges can be ignored.


Nikon SB 700 flash FOR NIKON D90


TO ADJUST MODES listed BELOW ON FLASH YOU MUST DO IT FROM THE CAMERA. Hit INFO, press and hold Flash Comp button on front left hand side of Camera body, Turn rear wheel to adjust to below settings
1. Front Curtain sync light streaks in front of moving subject
In this mode, the flash fires as soon as the front curtain opens completely. The shutter then remains open for the duration of exposure, until the rear curtain closes. If you are shooting moving subject, it will produce stream of motion blur lights effects also called ghost effect in front of the subject.

2. Rear Curtain sync light streaks behind moving subject
With this mode, the front curtain opens completely and remains open for the duration of the exposure. After then, the flash is fired and the rear curtain closes. If the subject is moving, you will get ghost effect behind the subject. When you’re using rear curtain / second curtain flash sync, then there might be an appreciable interval between the preflash and the main burst. The slower your shutter speed, the greater this delay between the preflash firing and the main burst. When you’re photographing people, then at slower shutter speeds, they DO react to the preflash, and most people will blink in response.

3. Red-eye reduction
In this mode, there is one second lag after pressing the shutter release button before the picture is actually taken, during which the D90′s red-eye reduction lamp lights, causing the subject’s pupil to contract, and thus reducing potential red-eye effects.

4. Slow sync Background = blurry lights, subject in front clear and white lit. Flash fires first
Slow sync mode allows D90 to use shutter speed as slow as 30 seconds with the flash to help balance a background illuminated with ambient light with your main subject, which will be lit by the electronic flash. It’s better to use tripod to avoid camera shake if you are using slow sync mode. The flash is disconnected from the camera and allows it to Meter for proper exposure. It combines the foreground and the background readings. The flash fires at the beginning of the exposure.

5. Red-eye reduction with slow sync
This mode combines slow sync with D90′s red-eye reduction behavior when using Program or Aperture priority mode.
Slow Sync + Rear Curtain The flash fires twice, at the beginning and then again at the end of the exposure.

Which sync mode can be used with which exposure mode?

In Program and Aperture Priority modes, you can use all five sync modes.

In Shutter Priority and Manual Exposure modes, you can use Front Curtain sync, Rear Curtain sync and Red-eye reduction modes

whereas in Auto, portrait, closeup and scene modes, you can only use Auto (same as Front Curtain sync) and Red-eye reduction mode.
In Night Portrait mode, you can only use Slow sync and Red-eye reduction with Slow sync mode.

I have the icons for the controls/settings in my word document but the wouldn't display in this post.

I hope that helps, you really have to put the time in and work your camera. This took me 3 days of reading/ playing with the camera to figure out. Now I'm going to be the world's SLOWEST photographer at WDW as I try to set my camera up for these flash modes!

Good luck,
Marlton Mom
 
wow thank you so much! right now it is all foreign to me. I am still learning the basics of the camera but was told that to get the flash eventually anyways and since my birthday came- that is what my husband decided to get me. I feel like I figure something out and then I try it again and can't get it! And now that I added the flash I am learning all over again... I am going to be the slowest picture taker ever lol
 
An inexpensive option to maybe check out is the Yongnuo YN465. You may have to get it off eBay, from a Chinese seller; but there's no problem there. I have one for my Canon, and I really enjoy it.

I also use the Yongnuo YN465 flash. It has ETTL, manual controls, built-in bounce card, diffuser, etc. and it only $65 !
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!











facebook twitter
Top