Needed advise on SB 400 please..

I read a lot of rave reviews on this sb 400. I recently bought one with the diffuser for my D7000 for every day use plus I am on a budget so I cannot afford the sb 700. I am going to a wedding and hoping that this should be enough. So my main question is do I need a diffuser while in the wedding reception since it is dark? or should I just let it be open? My other question is, Should I use it directly or bounce it? I am just afraid that it would not be enough light if the subject is a little bit far. I am currently using Nikon 35 mm prime lens and 18-105 mm lens. I am newbie to a fill flash. Thank you

If you're going to do a wedding, and it's indoors, I would highly recommend you rent an SB-700 flash, as the SB-400 is just not powerful enough for this type of photography, especially for far shots. You'd have to be about 20 feet away with the SB-400 to get anything decent. I hate to say it, and I know you're on a budget, but you'd be wise to spend the money on a much better flash, such as the SB-700. As for your question about bouncing..........depends on how far away you're trying to bounce the light.

Re: Nikon SB-400 external flash vs. SB-700: Nikon D90 - D40 / D7000 - D3000 Forum: Digital Photography Review Try this link to see others thoughts on the SB-400 versus SB-700.

Thanks for the link Jack, I've been pondering between the two also. JugHead28- You might want to scope out the Wedding/Reception area, you might not be able to bounce even the SB700. From everything I've read they are both great for their intended purposes, but if you are concerned with range, the 700 is the natural choice (between these 2). I'm gonna go with the SB400, for it's size and my budget. Read the specs for both, one of those posters really overated the power of the 700 over the 400, it is actually only 50% more powerful (not "several times more powerful" as the poster indicated).

Here's a few tips to get the most out of your flash:

I would use that 35mm prime lens exclusively at the reception. The SB-400 doesn't have a lot of power, especially at distance. Using a fixed focal length will give you much more consistent results. It's going to produce sharper images as opposed to the kit lens as well.

The diffuser and bouncing serve the same purpose: to soften the harsh light of a small flash unit. The smaller the light source, the more harsh the light. The SB-400 is going to produce some nasty hot spots and shadow cast, almost as much as the popup flash.

How you choose to soften your light will greatly depend on the location itself. Ideally, you will want to bounce light off the ceiling. The SB-400 does not swivel horizontally, so you will not be able to take portrait-oriented shots or else your flash will go shooting off into Grandpa Joe's face standing next to you. Typically, reception halls have tiled white ceilings that are somewhat low. If that's the case, you're golden.

Keep in mind that the SB-400 is an i-TTL flash. It will not know you are bouncing, and your shots will probably be a bit dark. You will have to increase your exposure balance to compensate for this since there is no manual option on the SB-400 (to my knowledge). I would remove the diffuser if bouncing, just for the sake of getting the most amount of light possible. If the light seems too harsh, put it back on.

Set auto, half depress the snap button, and note the settings. Switch to manual and make settings as they were under auto.
Now play. Try stopping down , changing aperture and so on. You'll see some amazing results. The SB400 isn't the choice flash, but it's certainly very capable of good interior shots for wedding photos ... But you need to play with it.

Thank you guys for the advice.. I decided just to use the SB 400 with 35 mm prime lens as Anthony suggested. I just bought the "Demp saucer flip" for sb 400 and should be arriving soon, which I heard a lot of good reviews. As far as the SB 700... I would like to get it, but I will probably not use after the weddings since I kind of like the sb 400, which is a great flash for my needs. fotojack, thanks for the links. Patrick M.,thanks for the suggestion, I have 2 weddings of my close friends; we shall see the results. Someone told me that prime lenses are very good to use rather than zoom lenses because you can learn more about photography and you tend to think more on your compositions. I know that there are better lenses for every occasion out there, but I "kind of" believe him. That's just my 2 cents idea. Here's the link for the Demp products: http://www.dembflashproducts.com/

I've had great results with this as my travel flash. One tip is to dial the flash down. I almost always have it set at -0.7 or less.