Nikon SB-600 / Alternative?

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ExpatinIstanbul

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Si, I'm looking for a flash for my D90, but I don't like spending money so I have a problem.

At the moment I mostly shoot indoors, photos of my twins, and I've been relying on the built-in flash allied to a 50mm F1.8, but I'm thinking I can get much better results with a speedlight, either on the camera or as a remote unit. Right now I'm looking at a Nikon SB-600, as I shoot quite a bit in portrait and the head can swivel to bounce off the ceiling.

But I'm wondering if there's anything cheaper that can do this and be fired remotely by the camera itself?
 
The Nissin di622 can do all that. Can be had for about £100 or below sometimes.

To fire remotely with iTTL, I think you need triggers (might be wrong here though) But you can trigger the flash as an optical slave using the in built flash on commander mode, just need to set the flash output manualy on the flash itself.
 
ExpatinIstanbul said:
Si, I'm looking for a flash for my D90, but I don't like spending money so I have a problem.

At the moment I mostly shoot indoors, photos of my twins, and I've been relying on the built-in flash allied to a 50mm F1.8, but I'm thinking I can get much better results with a speedlight, either on the camera or as a remote unit. Right now I'm looking at a Nikon SB-600, as I shoot quite a bit in portrait and the head can swivel to bounce off the ceiling.

But I'm wondering if there's anything cheaper that can do this and be fired remotely by the camera itself?
Click to expand...

There are cheaper flashes than can be fired as a dumb optical slave, but nothing that will work with the CLS system of your D90
 
TCR4x4 said:
The Nissin di622 can do all that. Can be had for about £100 or below sometimes.

To fire remotely with iTTL, I think you need triggers (might be wrong here though) But you can trigger the flash as an optical slave using the in built flash on commander mode, just need to set the flash output manualy on the flash itself.
Click to expand...

Commander mode is for CLS and the di622 is not compatible with it (it will trigger it, but probably before the shutter opens, as the pop up fires pre-flashes to meter the frame and communicate with the SB, it will most likely set off the slave trigger before it's finished it's "pre-flashes"). That's why Elinchrom's new range of flash heads have a programable slave, where by it can be set to ignore "pre-flashes", and pop at the right time so as to contributre to the exposure.

If the di622 has a slave, then just set your pop up to manual and turn it right down until it doesnt contribute much if anything to the exposure.

Or buy some of them cheap YongNuo triggers, RF602s or something I think. I use Elinchrom Skyports for everything including speedlights
 
for remote it doesnt get much cheaper than my setup to be honest.
i have 3 flashguns and 3 triggers.
triggers were from amazon for about £60 for the set and the flashguns i won on ebay for about £25-£30 each for the nikon sb-28

you have to keep your eye on evay though as the sb-28 can go up to silly prices.
another option is the sb-26 which has the optics built in as well.
 
Well my D700 fires two canon version Nissin di622's whilst in commander mode and it exposes fine, but yes its not compatible with the CLS, its just a optical slave. You have to set the flash output manualy on the flash unit itself.
 
Ok, I think I'm going to reveal my ignorance, bear with me as I'm new to all of this.

From what i can judge so far, the SB-600 is the simplest way to go if I just want to set everything on auto. Although mean with money I'm worse with technology so it's looking as though for ease of use I should go with a Nikon unit, am I right so far?
 
ExpatinIstanbul said:
Ok, I think I'm going to reveal my ignorance, bear with me as I'm new to all of this.

From what i can judge so far, the SB-600 is the simplest way to go if I just want to set everything on auto. Although mean with money I'm worse with technology so it's looking as though for ease of use I should go with a Nikon unit, am I right so far?
Click to expand...

If you want to just stick it all in auto then the SB600 is the easiest/cheapest way to do it, yes.
 
TCR4x4 said:
Well my D700 fires two canon version Nissin di622's whilst in commander mode and it exposes fine, but yes its not compatible with the CLS, its just a optical slave. You have to set the flash output manualy on the flash unit itself.
Click to expand...

What's the purpose of you using it in commander? Are you firing these two units along side SB flashes utilizing cls?

Have you tried firing the Di622 flashes with the camera set to auto fp? Would be interested to know if the slaves worked like this past 1/250 sync
 
Mahoneyd187 said:
What's the purpose of you using it in commander? Are you firing these two units along side SB flashes utilizing cls?

Have you tried firing the Di622 flashes with the camera set to auto fp? Would be interested to know if the slaves worked like this past 1/250 sync
Click to expand...

No Im not using any SB's just the two Nissins,
I just presumed thats the way to do it without the on camera flash affecting the image.
Ill try set to auto FP see what happens.
 
ExpatinIstanbul to be honest i was a bit hesitant to start with but a cheap flash with a wireless chinese trigger is so easy to setup and use... couple of test shots to get the right exposure and your away :)
 
evilonion said:
Ecouple of test shots to get the right exposure and your away :)
Click to expand...
Now that's where I'd have a problem. I tend to try to take unplanned unposed shots, which often means powering up and clicking away.

I guess I was hoping for a bit of a miracle, that being a another brand of flash that would do everything an SB-600 can but without additional bits or setting up. Oh well, I shelled out for a D90 so I'll push the boat out on a flash as well.....my wife will love that.
 
A Nissin D-622 on camera will do everything the Nikon will on camera. Even the Sb-600 takes some setting up to fired remotely.
 
Mahoneyd187 said:
What's the purpose of you using it in commander? Are you firing these two units along side SB flashes utilizing cls?

Have you tried firing the Di622 flashes with the camera set to auto fp? Would be interested to know if the slaves worked like this past 1/250 sync
Click to expand...

Here you are.

Auto FP320 f/2.8 @ 1/320 ISO 200. Flashes manual at lowest power.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tcr4x4/sets/72157625823634043/

Doesnt appear to be much difference between TTL, commander TTL and Commander - -
 
I couldnt go past 320 sadly.
 
Still useful to know it captures at 1/320 though with a built in slave
 
evilonion said:
and the flashguns i won on ebay for about £25-£30 each for the nikon sb-28
Click to expand...

Really? These go for £70-£100 on eBay all day long, so I'm curious as to how you got them for such a low price?
 
Are they up for that much now?
I got 2 sb-28 for about £30 and an sb-26 for £25
I just keep watching auctions then bid last min.
Best ones to get are the ones that end either last thing at night, silly o clock on a weekday like 3am or first thing in the morning.

I won 2 manfrotto light stands, 5 in 1 reflector, reflector holder, large umbrella, pop up softbox, and loads of extras including a bag for £80 inc delivery, seller paid over £400 according to his description.

Just have to keep looking and waiting...
 
Ok, so now I see there's a Nissin D-622 Mark 2.

Here's a simplification of what I hope to achieve, your suggestions as to which would be the better option would be gratefully received.

1. 80% of my photos are indoors, portraits of my kids and other family members.
2. 20% are outside, my kids again and some motorcycle photography.
3. The indoor shots are taken in rooms with white / light coloured walls.
4. I want to get as close to fully automatic as possible, and not need to buy anything other than the speedlight itself.
5. I'd like to be able to adjust the power of the flash when used on or off the camera and have the flash have an auto mode for this if possible.
6. Small and lightweight, at least as far as that's possible.
7. Quick recycling times

So, after thinking carefully about my needs I've come up with the above. At this point I see three alternatives:

SB-600
SB-700
Nissin D-622 Mark 2

3 different price levels, but at this point I'm open to which ever gets me closest to my needs listed above.

What does the community recommend?
 
Thanks for the advice guys, I opted for the SB-600. I felt the SB-700 was more than I needed to pay, although I had a good offer from Digital Depot. I ended up buying here in Turkey, as for some reason the 600 was the same price here as the UK (usually all electronic stuff is much more expensive here). I decided against the Nissin not because of it being inferior, which in all honesty for my level of skill it certainly wouldn't be, but because although my head made 80% of the decision the remaining 20% kept shouting "but you'll want a Nikon later!", I'm a brand whore I guess.
 
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