Which VFM flash for a Nikon D90

Paul SWD

Paul SWD

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Hi,
I'm looking for a flash for my Nikon D90, I mainly do underwater photography, but try to fit in a bit of land photography when I can and I'm looking for an external striobe that obviously doesnt get obstructed by my lens, one with manual and TTL, I dont want to spend the earth on it weither, any tips please?

Cheers
Paul
 
:)
I mean value for money! not necessariiliy cheap (as in rubbish)! I would assume if it was Nikon it would be dearer than a sigma for example? and uin some cases a sigma could be just as good as, or even better
 
In that case, I'd say a secondhand SB900 offers the best value, as you can pick them up for around the £250 mark.
 
Get old manual flash like SB24, SB26 or SB28 and learn how to use in manual mode. TTL is only useful once you know why they do what they do.

These old flashes are robustly made, and will outlast your current camera and the next, probably. Power/colour consistency are still about the same as most new models, and you can pick them up for around £50 a pot. SB26 even comes with built in optical slaves as a bonus :)
 
hairboy said:
Get old manual flash like SB24, SB26 or SB28 and learn how to use in manual mode. TTL is only useful once you know why they do what they do.

These old flashes are robustly made, and will outlast your current camera and the next, probably. Power/colour consistency are still about the same as most new models, and you can pick them up for around £50 a pot. SB26 even comes with built in optical slaves as a bonus :)
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Maybe for a 2nd, 3rd or 4th unit, but for a 1st Speedlight to go with the D90 I'd suggest that the OP only look at CLS compatible Speedlights. The SB-900 is a fantastic unit, but possibly a bit OTT for someone just getting into things. An SB-600 would work fine. It's CLS compatible so you can fire via the D90's pop-up flash in commander mode and should be less than half the price of a 2nd hand SB-900.
 
NorthernNikon said:
Maybe for a 2nd, 3rd or 4th unit, but for a 1st Speedlight to go with the D90 I'd suggest that the OP only look at CLS compatible Speedlights. The SB-900 is a fantastic unit, but possibly a bit OTT for someone just getting into things. An SB-600 would work fine. It's CLS compatible so you can fire via the D90's pop-up flash in commander mode and should be less than half the price of a 2nd hand SB-900.
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The reason I (slightly tongue in cheek) suggested the SB900 was that it offers better value, at around £250, than an SB600, which tends to be around £170-200, it's a long long time since I've seen one go for £120-130....
 
Flash In The Pan said:
The reason I (slightly tongue in cheek) suggested the SB900 was that it offers better value, at around £250, than an SB600, which tends to be around £170-200, it's a long long time since I've seen one go for £120-130....
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Really? In that case I might have to stick my two SB-600s up for sale then! :naughty:
 
Flash In The Pan said:
A quick look on Fleabay suggests £170 as the going rate, and to correct my earlier post, around £275 for a 900
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Hmm, would a 3rd SB-900 be more useful than 2 SB-600's? Or should I sell my SB-800 to and get 2 SB-900's for 4 in total? :thinking:

I'm going to have to shift a bit of my gear in the next week or two anyway so it's something worth considering.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Two flashes are always more useful than one, it's not as if the 600s are going to be the main light, are they?
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True, but in fairness I've never used all 5 together, (the most I've needed is 4)

The advantages that come to mind of having 4 SB-900's would be same model back-up, increased power, increased zoom range, same controls, two equal pairs etc.

Typically I don't use the SB-600's at all, they're usually left at home. As most of my flash work is editorial type stuff, I have the two SB-900's on stands as key and fill lights and the SB-800 either plugged into my Orbis ringflash, used as a controller when my SU-800 isn't cutting the mustard/as a back up controller or occasionally a third light. Having 4 the same would make switching between lighting set-ups much easier for me.
 
NorthernNikon said:
True, but in fairness I've never used all 5 together, (the most I've needed is 4)

The advantages that come to mind of having 4 SB-900's would be same model back-up, increased power, increased zoom range, same controls, two equal pairs etc.

Typically I don't use the SB-600's at all, they're usually left at home. As most of my flash work is editorial type stuff, I have the two SB-900's on stands as key and fill lights and the SB-800 either plugged into my Orbis ringflash, used as a controller when my SU-800 isn't cutting the mustard/as a back up controller or occasionally a third light. Having 4 the same would make switching between lighting set-ups much easier for me.
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Methinks you've just talked yourself into another 2 SB900s :naughty:
 
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