Buying Flash

D7100-79

Senior Member
I'm thinking of getting 2 or 3 External flash/strobe light. Was looking at SB 5000 but is backordered on B&H. There are few used sb900 available at Adorama. I haven't read or done any research on Flash. Which one's do you guys recommend.
 

D7100-79

Senior Member
Save yourself a lot of money and get the a Yongnuo Speedlite I have both Nikon and Yongnuo speedlites and personally I can't tell the difference.

I don’t know much about flash, I was going through some Adorama photography video tutorials on YouTube and they had 3 flash set up tht were remotely connected. Will I be able to do that with Yongnuo? Will be using it at home for macro and other at home photography work. Thank you.


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D7100-79

Senior Member
They sell remote triggers that will sync multiple flashes. I use them myself.


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Thank you for ur suggestion. Looking at B&H right now. YN-560-IV. Plan to get at least 3 with some Tripp’s stands for flash along with a cheap Westc ott’s basic studio set up.


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LouCioccio

Senior Member
Sound like your going to do studio type of photography? That’s how I started before getting large ac/dc type strobes. Not sure what your budget is. The Nikon controlled flashes do work but there is always a but; indoors are fine but outdoors will work but not in all situations. One of most wisest purchase is a flash/ambient light meter. Follow some Joe Brady utube videos. I come from the old school film and a manual camera and learned the basics. This is missed when a person picks up dslr that has auto. I would suggest the sb700 refurbs at Cameta for Nikon branded. In fact just few days ago I shot a family gathering using two flashpoint studios with the big battery packs with umbrellas (thank goodness the rain stopped) and the sun came out. I had 17 in the group and broke them up into families,singles,sons, daughters and grandchildren. You get the idea I trusted my sekonic meter to giv e me 40% flash to ambient. Only when you zoomed to the eyes you could see the two flashes.
I am sure others will chime in.
Lou Cioccio
 
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Thank you for ur suggestion. Looking at B&H right now. YN-560-IV. Plan to get at least 3 with some Tripp’s stands for flash along with a cheap Westc ott’s basic studio set up.


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Start small and add as needed. No point in spending a lot when you might not really need it


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hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
I wouldn't necessarily go with a preowned SB-900. Those tended to overheat which is why Nikon came out with the SB-910.

As Don mentioned, Yongnuo is a much less expensive alternative to Nikon. But Godox is also another less expensive option. The difference is Godox tends to be more middle-of-the-road whereas Yongnuo is closer to the low-end. I've never owned either, but from reading reviews, Godox flashes seem to have more longevity. If you read Yongnuo reviews, some people will say that because Yongnuo is so low-cost, they simply toss them out when they break and buy another. BUT as was already mentioned, buying less expensive flashes gets your feet wet and gives you an idea if you will really like and use them.

One thing to consider is do you want HSS (high speed sync)? Flashes with that option cost a little more but allow higher sync speeds than flashes without it. If you are shooting in broad daylight, flashes can be too strong and overpower the scene. HSS is one way to combat that issue. Or you can use a flash without HSS and opt to use an ND filter on your lens.

Good luck with whatever you choose.
 

Andy W

Senior Member
After reading many posts and reviews I went with the Godox[FONT=&quot] V860IIN & the Xpro trigger. There is a lot of information in the Flashes section of this forum.[/FONT]
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I'm thinking of getting 2 or 3 External flash/strobe light. Was looking at SB 5000 but is backordered on B&H. There are few used sb900 available at Adorama. I haven't read or done any research on Flash. Which one's do you guys recommend.
I recently switched over from an entirely Yongnuo based flash system to a Godox system and couldn't be happier. The XPRO controller is superb and the entire Godox system is, in my experience, simpler, better thought out and more comprehensive. The built-in triggers of the TT685N (or it's lithium-ion battery powered twin that I use the V860IIN) make life a whole lot simpler: there's just less gear to hassle with and fewer batteries needed since the radio triggers are built-in to the flash. One thing I really like about the XPRO controller is the TCM function which is, I believe, unique to the Godox system. With the push of a button my Godox flash will use the TTL function to establish a proper exposure, switch the flash to Manual mode and apply the TTL settings. From there you tweak exposure as needed. It's a huge time saver in the studio and a convenience I no longer want to be without.

I will say the Yongnuo system is good, very good. It was very reliable for me when I used it and I used it a lot. I have nothing bad to say about it, frankly. For someone seeing themselves using only a single hot-shoe mounted flash, I'd say a Yongnuo flash is an equally good choice but... From your post it sounds like you're talking about getting into a full blown off-camera setup and this, I think, is where the Godox system outclasses Yongnuo and is why I'm suggesting you invest in a Godox based system over a Yongnuo based system.
 
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Fortkentdad

Senior Member
I bought into the Godox system (sold by various names in the USA for some silly reason)
I like it, cheap and good. Check it out.
Amazon carries them.
Good qualify and a whole system of lighting.

I already had several Nikon flashes when I 'upgraded' to Godox btw. They are as good as Nikon imho. Better in some ways. And a lot less expensive.
 

spb_stan

Senior Member
I have home built/designed studio strobes that sit in the closet after getting speedlights from Nikon(3 SB900's) and then adding 3 Yongnuo 568 ex flash for 1/6 the price. I am using the 622 tx flash controller with a bunch of 622 transceivers. None of them ever fail to flash at levels I set remotely and tested them up to about 300 feet. Yongnuo has flash with built in receivers for less than my individual 568 ex flash heads. The shift from studio strobes to speed lights is due to I can carry an entire outdoor light session with softboxes and strip boxes and stands by myself by public transportation. This set up did high-end furniture manufacturers new catalog( beds in classic styles from $20,000 and up, dining room tables up to $200,000) which were mostly reproductions of 17th through 19th-century museum pieces.
It is so easy working with light gear and so much less expensive. None of my gear has failed except 1 SB900 soon after I bought it, I repaired it myself since the store could not replace it from stock for a few weeks. A small surface mount capacitor shorted on the controller board, a $0.01 part that I had many of. There were some reports of SB900 overheating be only for those using rapid fire full dumps so Nikon fixed that by just dropping the power of full output on the SB910. I almost never need full dumps, it is never needed if one knows how to expose correctly. Even with modifiers it is not often needed to use full power that slows down recycle time a lot. At 1/2 power, an SB900 or 910 has zero recycle time.
My cheap Yongnuo speed lights and controllers are some of my best photo investments, just as much power as the top of line Nikon at less than 1/6th the price. They feel a little more rigid with thicker cases than the Nikon and the only difference is the beam focusing on theSB900 will go own to the equivalent field of view of 200mm. That might be of interest to a wildlife photographer but not for general photography or stuidio. If one needs a narrow beam in the studio they use grids and snoots for much more controlled beam size.
All of the controllers and flashes work perfectly with iTTL but 95% of multiple light usages is full manual exposure in sessions so that is only really useful when using them shoe mounted. When I do an event that uses a flash on the camera, I just pull a random speed light out of my bag, it makes no difference if a cheapy or SB900, they work the same.
The next step up in controllers is the 10 times more expensive Pocket Wizards which do no more. I have several of the Godox softboxes and their really cool universal flash/Bowens/mount that allows use of umbrellias , softboxes, mounting for light stands. They will mount a softbox and hold a speed light or a Bowens style strobe. Get a bunch of those. They are plastic but really strong and tough. They also have lots of essential modifiers....snoots, flags, barndoors, and grids.
 
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