Flashguns for Studio Use?

TheTripodSquad

TheTripodSquad

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Starting a small home studio, already have some continuous lighting (via a dual Interfit Tungston 3200K Light Kit), but I'm looking for some flash guns to work along with some Hahnel Combi TF Remote RF Triggers/Receivers.

My question; SB-400s, 600s or Jessops 360AFDs for a small budget studio? I'm inclined towards the 400s for cost. Using a D5000 and (soon) a D200.

Thanks
 
Well if you are buying flashes just for this purpose then I would suggest YN flashes from FITP. Easiest would be models with slave mode on them so you only need to fire ONE flash and they will all go off. The SB400 is not really ideal for studio work when cheaper flashes that will be better in that use are available.
 
The SB400 is no use for off-camera work, it doesn't have any manual adjustment and is onl slightly more powerful than the onboard flash on your D5000. Any of the others will do for a basic set up, it just depends on your budget - if you're going to use the setup exclusively in one place then a set of cheap studio lights might be a better investment though....
 
cowasaki said:
Well if you are buying flashes just for this purpose then I would suggest YN flashes from FITP. Easiest would be models with slave mode on them so you only need to fire ONE flash and they will all go off. The SB400 is not really ideal for studio work when cheaper flashes that will be better in that use are available.
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Flash In The Pan said:
The SB400 is no use for off-camera work, it doesn't have any manual adjustment and is onl slightly more powerful than the onboard flash on your D5000. Any of the others will do for a basic set up, it just depends on your budget - if you're going to use the setup exclusively in one place then a set of cheap studio lights might be a better investment though....
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To both points, I'm aiming a small-a-budget as possible, but I am looking for versatility and portability in use.

I'm inclined to believe that going for a set of SB-600s would be most appropriate at this point.

Any thoughts on second-hand SB-800s?
 
TheTripodSquad said:
To both points, I'm aiming a small-a-budget as possible, but I am looking for versatility and portability in use.

I'm inclined to believe that going for a set of SB-600s would be most appropriate at this point.

Any thoughts on second-hand SB-800s?
Click to expand...

I have just swapped my SB800 for an SB900 so I would suggest that SB800s are holding their value very well. SB600 flashes are better than YNs but will triple or at least double the total cost. Treating this in the same way that you treat a normal studio means that using YN flashes in manual mode with triggers is fine. Having one SB900 and 2 or 3 YN flashes would give you most flexibility in my opinion.
 
YN are cheap easy and fun to use for that puropse, just dont drop them, they break easy too
 
TheTripodSquad said:
To both points, I'm aiming a small-a-budget as possible, but I am looking for versatility and portability in use.

I'm inclined to believe that going for a set of SB-600s would be most appropriate at this point.

Any thoughts on second-hand SB-800s?
Click to expand...


If you're planning to use them on a set of a triggers then the SB600 is a waste of money, you'd be better off either spending slightly more for SB800s or a bit less on YongNuo or older Nikon SB xx (24/25/26 etc) flashes.
 
I'd say go with one Nikon flash and some Yongnuo too... .but that's because I like using one flash handheld off camera in CLS mode for quick and easy, anything more complicated I use RF602's.
 
I think there is a bit of a consensus here! One decent Nikon flash as your normal flash so maybe an SB900 plus 2 or 3 older SBxx or YN flashes as slaves (anything better is a waste unless you are going for full CLS)
 
SB 28's for off-camera work if you're using radio triggers.

SB 600's or SB 800's if you're using Nikon CLS (One 800 and two 600's is usually enough so you can use the extra grunt from the 800 for key lighting)

If you're talking home-studio and are not concerned about power supplies or portability, for the cost of 3x SB600's you could probably get a collection of Elemental heads and accessories that will give you more studio options, but limited portability.
 
TheTripodSquad said:
To both points, I'm aiming a small-a-budget as possible, but I am looking for versatility and portability in use.

I'm inclined to believe that going for a set of SB-600s would be most appropriate at this point.

Any thoughts on second-hand SB-800s?
Click to expand...

That's nuts. If you want budget, quality and power then go for YN-560's or YN-460-II's.
 
I have an
sb900
sb600
2x yn460 (i think)

I have done some hilite portrait work with them and i sold my studio lights to swap to this "mobile" setup.

I have since been out and got another studio setup because of over heating issues with the sb900.

So i now have the "portable" option for weddings and the studio option for studio and events.

The sb600 cannot be used as an optical slave unless you are triggering it with your pop up flash or another nikon flash as a commander.

The cheap 460's can......!

As a startout and to save cash i would advise to go with the 460s as well..!

Mac
 
crashtestmac said:
...
The sb600 cannot be used as an optical slave unless you are triggering it with your pop up flash or another nikon flash as a commander.

The cheap 460's can......!

...
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It is certainly pointless to buy SB600 flashes for off camera work if you don't want to use the nikon AWL and control them from your camera. (The control flash can be set to "--" so it won't have an impact on the exposure.)

However, since you can do this in "manual" as well as "TTL" mode and adjust the flashpower without leaving your camera, I think thats pretty convenient compared to a "stupid" optical flash.

However, in a "mixed" enivronment you would have to trigger them with radiotriggers like the rf602 or an optical slave cell for 5 bucks.
 
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diogenes said:
(The control flash can be set to "--" so it won't have an impact on the exposure.)
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"Minimal" impact is probably more appropriate. Depending on your subject you'll still see a flare catchlight from the onboard flash and in low power or closeup conditions it will affect the exposure to a reasonable degree. It's controllable but it's certainly "There". Bit of cardboard to deflect it upward, or a bit of old neg taped over it mitigates it quite nicely however.
 
Denyerec said:
"Minimal" impact is probably more appropriate. Depending on your subject you'll still see a flare catchlight from the onboard flash and in low power or closeup conditions it will affect the exposure to a reasonable degree. It's controllable but it's certainly "There". Bit of cardboard to deflect it upward, or a bit of old neg taped over it mitigates it quite nicely however.
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The flash coming from the SB when it is in "-" mode should only be the pre flash which is used to work out the iTTL exposure etc it only tends to affect things if you are firing other flashes using slave mode. This is bourn out by my set unless your are doing something different :shrug:
 
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