speedlight question

[ghummy]

hi, i am after my first speedlight, i want to get an entry level basic one therefore dont want to spend the big bucks.

wont be doing anything fancy with it, mainly will be used for taking family pics and for for fill flash outdoors sometimes.

i will be mainly using it on full auto mode, which i believe is i-ttl (or have i got my definitions wrong) therefore not really bothered about triggering it wirelessly.

going onto a d3100.

iv been looking at the nissin di622 and the di622 mk2 and i cant really see any different in the specs that affect what i want to use it for.

im after advice on what people think, theres a good £50 difference in the prices for these 2, im just so confused and any advice would be great.

 

[HoppyUK]

hi, i am after my first speedlight, i want to get an entry level basic one therefore dont want to spend the big bucks.

wont be doing anything fancy with it, mainly will be used for taking family pics and for for fill flash outdoors sometimes.

i will be mainly using it on full auto mode, which i believe is i-ttl (or have i got my definitions wrong) therefore not really bothered about triggering it wirelessly.

going onto a d3100.

iv been looking at the nissin di622 and the di622 mk2 and i cant really see any different in the specs that affect what i want to use it for.

im after advice on what people think, theres a good £50 difference in the prices for these 2, im just so confused and any advice would be great.

Get the Mk2. Good value gun, only thing it really lacks is a high speed sync mode - v useful for fill-in outdoors. I wouldn't buy a flash without it, but it's only found on higher end guns.

 

[ghummy]

how about the DI866? it seems to have high speed sync and still much cheaper than nikon branded speedlights.

 

[ghummy]

or even the sb-600, it seems to be about the same price as the di866 on ebay.

 

[HoppyUK]

or even the sb-600, it seems to be about the same price as the di866 on ebay.

If the real deal is affordable, get that. I have five guns and none of them are third party.

That's not to say third party aren't good, and maybe better value, but the camera brands always have the edge, even if it's sometimes small and not obvious until you've used them a lot. One thing they can guaranteee is future compatability that has been a third party issue in the past, and may be in the future.

My advice is always to get one really good gun as your main shooter, then go as cheap and cheerful as you like/want/need with additional ones. Chances are they'll be used in manual-only for strobisty stuff with manual radio triggers, so it doesn't matter so much.

Main thing with flash though is to learn about light and how it works. The first rule is, never point it directly at the subject. Bounce it off a wall or ceiling, use a diffuser accessory* - anything except direct flash.

Unless that is, it's for a dash of fill-in outdoors. Direct works fine for that, learn to balance the ratios, get to know high speed sync (FP-sync in Nikon speak) and use it with your subject's back to the light. Great technique

Get one of these - Lumiquest Quik Bounce http://www.lumiquest.com/store/products/LumiQuest-Quik-Bounce.html Best single flash accessory out there