Advice for a fella without a flash.

Dooku77

Dooku77

Senior Member
I am planning on purchasing a flash this week. It's quite overwhelming. I like the 400 for its compact traveling size but do not know much about the 600 or 700. I know the 400 doesn't share the advanced features or the larger ones. I'm not a portrait guy so having the ability to fire off other flashes isn't a concern for me.
 
RockyNH_RIP

RockyNH_RIP

Senior Member
Dooku77 said:
I am planning on purchasing a flash this week. It's quite overwhelming. I like the 400 for its compact traveling size but do not know much about the 600 or 700. I know the 400 doesn't share the advanced features or the larger ones. I'm not a portrait guy so having the ability to fire off other flashes isn't a concern for me.
Click to expand...

Willy, the 400 is a nice compact flash but my first question to you would be why do you need an external flash??? What have you found that you need flash for and what parts of that did the built in not handle???

The 400 will do if you just want a little more ummph than the pop-up and also to get it up higher... It also a little bounce capability ..

I went through a similar exercise... I was looking at the 400 for its compact size etc.. Realized it only did bounce in one direction and that it was only slightly more than my built in.. My built in handled my "snap shot" needs so I went for the SB-700 so I could expand my flash capabilities. (decided to spend more now rather than spend twice!)

Unless you just want small, for what you pay for a 400 , you can get a Full Featured Yongnuo 468 II that has most of the capabilities of an SB 700. If you cannot afford the 700, I would go Yougnuo before the 400 as you get so much more for the same dollars.. Just be sure and get the Nikon version as they make a canon model also..

I went with the 700 and never looked back... very pleased. You have to evaluate your flash needs but do not limit too much and wish you you had more later..

My 2 cents worth and to some, its barely a pennY!! :highly_amused:


Pat in NH
 
Dooku77

Dooku77

Senior Member
RockyNH said:
Willy, the 400 is a nice compact flash but my first question to you would be why do you need an external flash??? What have you found that you need flash for and what parts of that did the built in not handle???

The 400 will do if you just want a little more ummph than the pop-up and also to get it up higher... It also a little bounce capability ..

I went through a similar exercise... I was looking at the 400 for its compact size etc.. Realized it only did bounce in one direction and that it was only slightly more than my built in.. My built in handled my "snap shot" needs so I went for the SB-700 so I could expand my flash capabilities. (decided to spend more now rather than spend twice!)

Unless you just want small, for what you pay for a 400 , you can get a Full Featured Yongnuo 468 II that has most of the capabilities of an SB 700. If you cannot afford the 700, I would go Yougnuo before the 400 as you get so much more for the same dollars.. Just be sure and get the Nikon version as they make a canon model also..

I went with the 700 and never looked back... very pleased. You have to evaluate your flash needs but do not limit too much and wish you you had more later..

My 2 cents worth and to some, its barely a pennY!! :highly_amused:


Pat in NH
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advise. I usually shoot events at my martial arts school and the lighting is terrible in there. On sunny days they don't turn the lights on because of all the windows there but it still requires some flash to fill out the dark areas. I tried this with the pop up flash last time and it washed out my photos.
 
F

fotojack

Senior Member
Willie, I am a former student of Peter Siringano Sr. of N.Y., so I know what the inside of a dojo looks like. :) Please....spend your money wisely and go for the SB-700. You will never regret it.
 
Dooku77

Dooku77

Senior Member
fotojack said:
Willie, I am a former student of Peter Siringano Sr. of N.Y., so I know what the inside of a dojo looks like. :) Please....spend your money wisely and go for the SB-700. You will never regret it.
Click to expand...

Thank you fotojack. I will do just that. You feel my pain lol
 
Dooku77

Dooku77

Senior Member
Just so people get an idea of what kind of photography I enjoy, visit

www.nesubonly.com

It's not an up sell or a promotion or a spam site. It's a submissions only competition for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and all the photos used on the website were shot by yours truly. I did not shoot the video. I struggled but shot all the pics without a flash except for the medals awarding.
 
F

fotojack

Senior Member
From what I can tell of the inside of that dojo, you don't really need a flash. Lighting looks quite adequate. I would suggest that any time you're shooting anything that moves, such as 2 guys going at it like that.....shoot in Shutter Priority. Really, they came out pretty good. Now....question: do you know what kind of lighting they have in there? Doesn't look like fluorescent lights. I'd say they were mercury vapour lights, but not 100% sure. The reason I'm wondering is, you could set your white balance to the available light in there, making for much better contrasting shots of the players.
 
Dooku77

Dooku77

Senior Member
fotojack said:
From what I can tell of the inside of that dojo, you don't really need a flash. Lighting looks quite adequate. I would suggest that any time you're shooting anything that moves, such as 2 guys going at it like that.....shoot in Shutter Priority. Really, they came out pretty good. Now....question: do you know what kind of lighting they have in there? Doesn't look like fluorescent lights. I'd say they were mercury vapour lights, but not 100% sure. The reason I'm wondering is, you could set your white balance to the available light in there, making for much better contrasting shots of the players.
Click to expand...

That is an empty industrial building that was rented for that particular venue. This April it will be at my school with the bad lighting lol. Thanks for the advise. You are correct. Those were not fluorescent. They emitted a weird pinkish color. I'm going to definitely try shutter priority this year. It's so hard to try and get any decent shots most of the time.
 
Eduard

Eduard

Super Mod
Staff member
Super Mod
RockyNH said:
The 400 will do if you just want a little more ummph than the pop-up and also to get it up higher... It also a little bounce capability ..

I went through a similar exercise... I was looking at the 400 for its compact size etc.. Realized it only did bounce in one direction and that it was only slightly more than my built in.. My built in handled my "snap shot" needs so I went for the SB-700 so I could expand my flash capabilities. (decided to spend more now rather than spend twice!)

Unless you just want small, for what you pay for a 400 , you can get a Full Featured Yongnuo 468 II that has most of the capabilities of an SB 700. If you cannot afford the 700, I would go Yougnuo before the 400 as you get so much more for the same dollars.. Just be sure and get the Nikon version as they make a canon model also.
Click to expand...

I went in the other direction and it might give you another perspective to consider. Most of my photography involves travel. I purposely invested in fast glass and rarely use flash.

I had a SB-400 and SB-800. I found that the SB-400 was adequate for my needs for fill flash and to avoid vignetting from the pop-up flash and 17-55. Since the SB-400 is so small I always had it with me. I wound up selling the SB-800.

The Yougnou flashes are inexpensive and I've been considering adding on to my kit.

My 2 cents worth. . . ;)
 
Dooku77

Dooku77

Senior Member
Eduard said:
I went in the other direction and it might give you another perspective to consider. Most of my photography involves travel. I purposely invested in fast glass and rarely use flash.

I had a SB-400 and SB-800. I found that the SB-400 was adequate for my needs for fill flash and to avoid vignetting from the pop-up flash and 17-55. Since the SB-400 is so small I always had it with me. I wound up selling the SB-800.

The Yougnou flashes are inexpensive and I've been considering adding on to my kit.

My 2 cents worth. . . ;)
Click to expand...

I wish I had the funds to pay for faster glass. The little bit of paid work I do it would even be enough for more expensive lenses. I'm am going to get the sb-700 and maybe for giggles if I find a used 400 for a good price I'll pick it up then.
 
Eduard

Eduard

Super Mod
Staff member
Super Mod
Dooku77 said:
I wish I had the funds to pay for faster glass. The little bit of paid work I do it would even be enough for more expensive lenses. I'm am going to get the sb-700 and maybe for giggles if I find a used 400 for a good price I'll pick it up then.
Click to expand...

I bought a used Nikkor 17-55 not long after getting the D300 when it was first released. I'll bet nearly 90% of my images are with that lens. Best lens purchase ever. With some folks moving to FX, you can get great deals on them used now. I've used a friend's Tamron 17-50/2.8 (the original non-VC version) and it was very nice. I've seen good results with the Tokina 16-50/2.8 too. The original Tamron is a real steal.

I bought my SB-400 used as well. I think I paid around US$90.
 
Dooku77

Dooku77

Senior Member
I let a used like new 400 slip though my fingers for 88.00 bucks the other day :(. I'm going to keep my eye out for used lenses in the mean time. My 35mm 1.8 works like a charm but that belongs in the prime lens section. I just wanted to be able to provide some additional lighting for the lenses I already have.
 
W

WayneF

Senior Member
Dooku77 said:
That is an empty industrial building that was rented for that particular venue.
Click to expand...

So maybe it has a 12 foot ceiling? That makes bounce flash harder. You have two basic choices with a on-camera hot shoe flash. Direct flash, or bounce flash.

Direct flash is affected more by the inverse square law - the light falls off fast with distance. Basically, your flash exposure can be correct at only one distance, and the background is dark. The flash lighting is frontal, and flat. The SB-400 should do this fine. It may be about 1.5 stops stronger than the internal flash.

Bounce flash aims the flash head up at ceiling, and it is much better lighting (shows many subtle gradient shading tones, not flat. A very desirable skill to learn). Then, much of the room is about the same distance from the ceiling, so the background lights up (within reason, really speaking of a smaller normal size room). However, the distance up and down at the ceiling is a much longer path, and this requires substantial flash power, still at maybe ISO 400 f/4 with SB-700 flash. You can use high shutter speed (towards maximum sync speed, which is 1/250 second for the D7000), to keep out effects of the off-color room lights. Another skill to learn. But SB-400 power may need ISO 800 or more, and then you start seeing the off-color room lighting more.
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I have the Nikon SB400 and I also have the Yongnuo YN-468 II. The latter is both far more powerful and configurable; it also cost significantly less than the SB400. A diffuser, which I think is absolutely essential, for the SB600 will fit the YN-468. The Yongnuo flashes are really getting noticed lately; you should consider looking into them.
 
Dooku77

Dooku77

Senior Member
Horoscope Fish said:
I have the Nikon SB400 and I also have the Yongnuo YN-468 II. The latter is both far more powerful and configurable; it also cost significantly less than the SB400. A diffuser, which I think is absolutely essential, for the SB600 will fit the YN-468. The Yongnuo flashes are really getting noticed lately; you should consider looking into them.
Click to expand...

I have a Yongnuo in my cart on a certain website lol
 
S

slowpoke

Senior Member
For what it's worth.I use a flash cord with my sb400 and bounce the flash off the floor or even the nearest wall.The more I play around the more I find that works or doesn't.The sb700 works great too.It's very versitile,but costs more than the sb400.:)
 
P

pistnbroke

Banned

Attachments

  • flash flipper.jpg
    flash flipper.jpg
    12.7 KB · Views: 114
Dooku77

Dooku77

Senior Member
So I found the Nikon 50mm 1.8 on sale for 195 and a used like new sb-400 for 100. I need the flash but I don't think I can pass on that price for a new 50mm.
 
C

carguy

Senior Member
Dooku77 said:
So I found the Nikon 50mm 1.8 on sale for 195 and a used like new sb-400 for 100. I need the flash but I don't think I can pass on that price for a new 50mm.
Click to expand...

Is the 50mm 1.8 the D or G lens? I believe you'll want the G lens to autofocus on your D3200 if memory serves. I have the 50mm 1.8G for my D40, great choice.
 
Top