Cheap Backup flash.

The link below is for a very cheap Chinese made Flashgun. I ordered one just for to try it out as a slave unit, for the price it's a cracking flash. Ideal for a backup or as myself, operate it as a slave unit. So get yourself a great little flash unit if your not too snobbish about the fact it ain't got Nikon written on it.
Fast delivery here in the UK, ordered mine 21st Dec arrived 31st December. Apologies if someone has already made reference to this item before me.

Happy New Year everyone as well.

Regards Peter



Yongnuo YN468 II TTL ITTL Flash Speedlite For Nikon D7000 D5100 D5000 D3100 0609224103728 | eBay

Peter, I look forward to hearing your impressions.. I started looking at the 468, then migrated to the 568... I finally decided to bite the bullet and make my primary flash (on camera TTL) a Nikon SB-700. This was not to be snobbish but to make sure I got the maximum capability and compatibility along with something sure to work if I ever upgrade.

I will eventually be looking at off camera applications and will likely grab a couple inexpensive triggers and Yougnuo units (possibly lesser expensive 560's for slave units...

Keep us posted on your progress .. what Camera Model are you using?? Thanks for posting up for everyone...

Pat in NH

Hello Pat,

I work with a couple of Fuji S5 pro's, Fuji IS pro, D90 and a D7000. Nothing I have tried comes close to what I get from the Fuji's superb sensor, especially in my line of work which is Wedding and Portraits. That's only my opinion and why I stick with it. I have only a couple of years till I retire so I'm hoping they will see me through. May have to buy another body but I'll just wait and see. Borrowed a mates D3 a while back and it's a superb bit of kit but I still like my Fuji's, they are not as fast but you don't need 12 frames /second at a wedding,, well I don't. anyway.
I do a lot of commercial work for my Local Car dealerships updating their websites and I have used the D90 for that because they only need email size jpegs uploaded the same day straight from the camera and on site.
The D90 is 3years old and has over 150,000 shutter actuations and still going strong. Now thats the kiss of death if ever there was one. My flashes are SB800,SB900, and a SB400 used shooting car interiors and also it slips in my pocket just in case I need to fill in quickly at a wedding, and also now, the YN468-11. Oh and an old Metz 45-CL4 hammerhead which is probably dead by now, never been used on a digital camera and the battery packs will be goosed by now, old NI-Cads.
Oh the bad old days! Well they were not that bad, digital has increased my workload x 10. Used to shoot about 5rolls of 120 bang them into my lab and slip the pictures into album pages, done in a jiffy. Takes me a day to edit out the trash from about 500/600 images and make a DVD slideshow now. Then another couple of days constructing album pages on Photoshop ready to print or send off to an album manufacturer.
Thats my rant for today over.nthego:

Regards as aye, Happy New Year to all and stay lucky.:encouragement:

Peter

The YN 468 is a great gun and I find all YN stuff to be of great quality ..the YN 465 is also good but does not have the slave facility .beware guns listed as fits Nikon and Canon as they are not iTTL

Hi pistonbroke,

You are right mate, the gun is not iTTL. It is however TTL, manual and slave. The TTL is very accurate on my D90, D7000 and also my Fuji S5. I don't think anyone would expect all the bells and whistles of a £300 SB-900.
It is, as you concur, a very well made piece of kit but it does have some limitations. It is perfect for a spare flash unit or a very good slave unit. For the price though, I think it's money well spent.
Bear this in mind if anyone is thinking of buying one.

no mate the gun is iTTL but your old D90 does not support the modern system and its doing what your D90 tells it ...a pre flash.....works fine with a D7000 ..read the spec its iTTL

And stop calling it a cheap back up gun its fine for the rough and tumble of shooting weddings or any other works ..do you want to drop and smash an expensive Nikon gun ,,,,(Or get it stolen like I did)

Haha,

You're right, it is iTTL, teach me to read the bloody book properly. I looked at so many different units I must of got mixed up. Some of their units are slave only. Anyway as long as it works ok, that will do for me for £65. I'd spend more than that for a meal out with the wife. I only got it to use as a slave. I left my SB-800 on a church wall in the rain last year. When I returned two hours later it was gone. I was gutted. I wouldnt be so bothered if I left this one behind. There was a happy ending though, I kind person found my flash and took it into the police station and the police contacted me because I had a sticker on it with my address. Still some decent folks in this mad world.
Regards. Peter

Bossman said:

Hello Pat,

I work with a couple of Fuji S5 pro's, Fuji IS pro, D90 and a D7000. Nothing I have tried comes close to what I get from the Fuji's superb sensor, especially in my line of work which is Wedding and Portraits. That's only my opinion and why I stick with it. I have only a couple of years till I retire so I'm hoping they will see me through.
Peter

Click to expand...

Interesting I still use a Fuji S3 as my main camera along with a D90, have yet to find a camera that gives me the files that the S3 gives, though it can drag with its 3 frame buffer. Bt boy do those files look beautiful and where other cameras have given me useless sky the fuji allows me to pull it right back. I do ponder getting an S5 at some point though for its bigger buffer and better AF etc.

Alex,
I love the images from my S5's I have nothing but full praise for them. Slow by more up to date cameras but I'm more for quality not speed of shooting at weddings and in the studio. I also have an S3 which is backup to my backup, love it for using only 4AA NiMH batteries too. We bought the last couple of S5's from Calumet a couple of years ago, they were the last we could find on sale in the UK. I have seen them sold on ebay recently for as little as £160 too. Keep checking you may get a bargain.

Peter

yes bossman thats why I use a Nikon SB 400 flash as its so low profile you dont need to take it off !!!! ( athough I do use a flash flipper to take out the shadows)

Thats why I use my 400 shooting car interiors, I dont have to duck down too low, lazy old fart that I am. haha.
Bought mine about 4 years ago on ebay for £60. Virtually brand new as well. I even got the Jessops receipt showing it was less than 3 months old.
The seller bought it a bit of a pig in a poke, didn't like it because there was no buttons to play with. He probably never knew that you adjusted it by the camera settings, obviously new to photography. My gain his loss, but thats ebay.

I have the 465 camera from the same people, someone was selling it on the bay with a set of cheep triggers Rf602? and for £15 for an iTTL flash and the triggers was a no brainer. The triggers being the same ones that are used with my strobes any how so if the flash was not perfect little loss. The vendor even left a set of Duracell rechargeable batts in the flash too. The flash is simple, it has either iTTL or adjustable manual so if I want to use it off cam I can use it with a couple of other flashes like a full size strobe if some one wants me to take photographs away from my studio units. The flash is alright and for the price I did not expect the same quality as an SB800 say.

The last time I saw a Fuji S5 go for a good price I did not have the money spare and also I do have the desire to get one of the Kodaks as I do have a fondness for them too. Also I have been trying to round off a set of primes and pay fees for a masters. Though I did buy a D3000 for a good price the other day £70, still expensive compared to the S3 with a 50mm 1.8d for £25.

Alex,

I cannot speak for the Kodak DCS Nikon but I can for the Canon version. I do not know just how close these two cameras are to each other but the Canon version was absolute garbage. My pal at the studio bought one because at that time he had all Canon gear whereas I had always been a Nikon man.
The DSC-C was really awful to use, the screen was tiny and only reviewed when shooting RAW, if you had a job needing just jpegs then you could not view them as you were shooting. The quality of that screen was pathetic also, looked out of focus and always blue, no matter the parameters the camera was set at. It was horrible, keep away from the Canon version. Like I said though, I cannot speak of the Nikon version which may of been a different beast altogether.

Regards, Peter

Peter,

I do know that with the Nikon mount bodies they are based on the f80 as the camera front end if you like so it should be similar to the Fuji S3 in operation. The Canon version was based on a Sigma made body and I have been told it was a bit of a dogs dinner on numerous times. Still being an uber tight wad or just plain skint I would not go for one for more than £150, I have seen S5's going for £200 a couple of times and the Fuji sensor is a known entity. As I would guess you would agree it is a beautiful sensor, now if only I could have a camera with a scaled up to full frame Fuji sensor.

Alex

A full frame Fuji sensor would indeed be nice. To be honest, a D7000 with a Fuji sensor would do for me!

interesting what you learn,, this camera takes Nikon lens, so an option for people,

Found this thread as looking for my first flashgun on a budget. Had originally seen this Yongnuo YN-560 II Speedlight Flash which for £50 appears to be a bargain. However not sure how it compares fully with the flash in this thread?
By the model number would assume its newer but that doesn't mean better..

WelshSnapper said:

Found this thread as looking for my first flashgun on a budget. Had originally seen this Yongnuo YN-560 II Speedlight Flash which for £50 appears to be a bargain. However not sure how it compares fully with the flash in this thread?
By the model number would assume its newer but that doesn't mean better..

Click to expand...

The 468 II is a full TTL or manual unit... It is roughly (US) 1 1/2 times more expensive than the 560 II. I wanted a manual flash for off camera radio trigger work and looked seriously at the 468 II (it could also be a backup to my SB-700) but went for the 560 II because of the lower cost. I am pleased with mine, used it on several shoots and think it works well, easy to operate and good build quality.

Having said then, if you want a unit for both on and off camera and want the ttl features when on-camera, I would suggest the 468 II, Note, it is NOT an SB-700 but if you are on a budget, good buy...

Hope this helps some.

Pat in NH

Ah ok yeah ttl option prob swings it as guess its more user friendly for amateurs too - one less thing to worry about when taking shot!

WelshSnapper said:

Ah ok yeah ttl option prob swings it as guess its more user friendly for amateurs too - one less thing to worry about when taking shot!

Click to expand...

Yes, if you are going to use the flash on camera, you can use it in auto ttl mode for bounce and everything. I looked at one myself but opted for the SB-700 as I could afford it. Had I had a crash crunch, I would have gone to the 468 II.

If the build and ease of use is as good as the the 560 II Manual unit I bought, you will be pleased.. Just be sure you get the one for NIKON.. they also have a canon model.

Pat in NH