Nikon Flash suggestions?

Helvegr · January 11, 2013

Hi -

So I've got a single SB-910 flash. I'd of course like to get up to 3 flashes (would love more I'm sure), but really I think 3 of them would really give me plenty of simple lighting options.

Anyway, of course the SB-910 isn't cheap, and it doesn't really seem like if I'm using say the 910 for a key light, and I want a couple of accent/hair lights, that I would need more 910s.

I've looked at older units, very low cost yongnuo units, etc. My real question is what type of things should be be considering for these extra flashes? Any particular ports/settings or watt seconds that I really should be aware of when using additional speedlights like this?

Any feedback welcome, I can't really justify dropping a grand on 2 more SB-910s right now, so looking at alternatives with hopefully very little compromise.

Thanks!

Mike J · January 11, 2013

You don't say how will you use them. TTL? Manual?

Zerodog · January 11, 2013

SB 600s if you can get them cheap. I see 700s go for good prices used too. 800s are great if you can get a good price. Occasionally I see 900s sell for less than $400. Whatever you choose, stick with Nikon to get the most out of the CLS. Same thing if you end up going pocket wizards later. You get the tt5s and you can use just like the Nikon CLS and even use your commander to change the power or turn off your flashes too. Really they are all good.

ziggy53 · January 11, 2013

You can never have too many flashes, nor can you have too many flash modifiers.

I suggest adding one more high-powered flash, like another SB-910, SB-900 or a used SB-800. There are a lot of things that you can do with 2 high-powered wireless flashes.

Then start adding some additional flashes, flash modifiers, reflectors, etc. The additional flashes might even be manual flashes triggered from simple radio master/slave sets.

If you want (relatively) inexpensive wireless TTL flashes, I'm very happy with Sigma DG Super flashes. I have 4 - Sigma flashes and 2 - Canon flashes, to show you where I put my own money.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/741718-REG/Sigma_189306_EF610_DG_Super_Flash.html
http://www.adorama.com/SG610NK.html

Then I also have 4 - Sunpak 611 handle bracket flashes (old flashes that are dangerous and may not be hooked up directly to a modern body, but they're fine running from a radio slave), and lots of old manual and auto compact flashes too.

ZBlack · January 11, 2013

Not that I'm an authority of any sorts on flash photography, but I've been quite happy with my Cactus AF50 from Gadget Infinity. It is of course ships from Hong Kong, but I had decently fast support when I emailed them prior to my purchase and the shipping was pretty quick.

It works well and on par with my SB700 and supports wireless TTL at a good price. Just one more to throw into the mix if you're looking to save some money.

MomaZunk · January 11, 2013

With the SB-910 finally addressing the problems with the SB-900, the price of the SB-800 has started to fall. I would look for those used.

One of my SB-600's stopped working. When I took it in to get fixed the camera repair guy said the SB-600's could not be worked on like the other flashes and to stay away from them in the future.

He said he felt the SB-700 was a very good flash as he rarely saw them in repair.

Matthew Saville · January 13, 2013

Sell the SB910, and pick up a few used SB700's.

Okay maybe not that brash of an idea, but I do love my SB700 as a backup, heck I started using it all the time now and the SB900 ends up not getting used because it's just so much heavier and larger.

Really, we can't reply unless you first tell us whether you're interested in staying on with Nikon's system, CLS, or if you're looking for a radio wireless system that simply triggers flashes reliably.

The first option is very expensive, because all of your flashes will need to be compatible with the CLS system, so you're pretty much limited to the SB910, 900, 800, 700, 600. And on top of that, if you wish to add radio triggering to such a system then the likes of of the Radio Poppers and Pocket Wizard TTL options are expensive.

The second option can be very cheap, with reliable "dummy" flashes costing around $100-140, and "dummy" radio triggers ranging from $60 for an entire set, to just $130 each for PW3's...
=Matt=

jww · January 13, 2013

Along the same lines as the OP.

I have a few Nikon flashes... an old SB26, SB800 and SB900. I have used the SB900 and SB800 as master slave before which was awesome fun on a few projects. However, I was wanting to use them both off camera and as I like wireless and hate fooling with cables, I take it I would need either a Radio Popper or a Pocket Wizard transmitter to make this happen? Would it be ok to also use the SB26 as a slave (at least I was thinking it had that capability) or should I sell it to get another SB800 or SB900?

Thanks for any advice!!

Matthew Saville · January 14, 2013

jww wrote: »

Along the same lines as the OP.

I have a few Nikon flashes... an old SB26, SB800 and SB900. I have used the SB900 and SB800 as master slave before which was awesome fun on a few projects. However, I was wanting to use them both off camera and as I like wireless and hate fooling with cables, I take it I would need either a Radio Popper or a Pocket Wizard transmitter to make this happen? Would it be ok to also use the SB26 as a slave (at least I was thinking it had that capability) or should I sell it to get another SB800 or SB900?

Thanks for any advice!!

You have to buy into the Radio Popper or PW TTL system entirely, meaning not just a transmitter but also a remote to go with each of the off-camera flashes you want to use.

With Radio Poppers, you can still use your SB26 by switching from the advanced PX / RX system to the RP Mini / RP cube system.

=Matt=

jww · January 14, 2013

Matthew Saville wrote: »

You have to buy into the Radio Popper or PW TTL system entirely, meaning not just a transmitter but also a remote to go with each of the off-camera flashes you want to use.

With Radio Poppers, you can still use your SB26 by switching from the advanced PX / RX system to the RP Mini / RP cube system.

=Matt=

Oh really? AWWWwww dang.

I guess the cable is the cheap way then, but doesn't get you much distance to the main flash. ..and doesn't look near as cool. lol

Appreciate the advice!

Matthew Saville · January 15, 2013

jww wrote: »

Oh really? AWWWwww dang. I guess the cable is the cheap way then, but doesn't get you much distance to the main flash. ..and doesn't look near as cool. lol

Appreciate the advice!

No, the "best" cheap way to get your flashes off-camera is with simple radio triggers, in my opinion. You give up wireless control and TTL, but for just a few bucks the stuff like Cactus triggers are great.

=Matt=

jww · January 15, 2013

Ahh.. ok. I shall investigate.

Thanks for that!

Helvegr · January 16, 2013

Thanks for all the responses. I was thinking mostly about lighting setups for portraits. I do have a couple of PW FlexTT5 and the SU 800 commander. Although I'm not 100% married to TTL, its always a nice tool in the bag. Sounds like I probably want to stick to something in the Nikon lineup. Maybe try to snag a couple of SB 800s used if I can.

jww · January 17, 2013

..and thanks for the thread! I have been curious about some of that stuff for awhile and seemed like a good time to ask.

For my situation, I ended up just getting another flash for now. I got an SB910 and worry about anything else later. I had something come my way that I needed a good third flash and the SB28 wasn't helping me at all. So I at least have 3 that will talk to each other and look at something like the Cactus triggers down the road.

Matthew Saville · January 17, 2013

To anybody who is in this category- be careful with the SB910 and SB900. They are too large and top-heavy for the D700, apparently, and possibly other non-flagship bodies. The D700 has a known error where the SB900 will eventually stress out the hotshoe enough to lose the connection intermitently, so you'll want to pre-emptively get a hotshoe brace, a little thing that Nikon sells. Or, like I did- just buy an SB700 instead, for ~$250, and save weight, size, camera stress, and of course the $$$.

(The SB700 is of course a little less bright than the SB900 / SB910, but the recycle time these days is so fast that I've never had a problem just blasting at full-power when the situation demands it, which is hardly ever. Like I said I originally bought the SB700 as an affordable backup to the SB900, but when I got it I tried using it for a couple weddings and it was so nice that I just kept on using it as my main flash!)

=Matt=

ghostcrab · January 29, 2013

Matthew Saville wrote: »

To anybody who is in this category- be careful with the SB910 and SB900. They are too large and top-heavy for the D700, apparently, and possibly other non-flagship bodies. The D700 has a known error where the SB900 will eventually stress out the hotshoe enough to lose the connection intermitently, so you'll want to pre-emptively get a hotshoe brace, a little thing that Nikon sells. Or, like I did- just buy an SB700 instead, for ~$250, and save weight, size, camera stress, and of course the $$$.

(The SB700 is of course a little less bright than the SB900 / SB910, but the recycle time these days is so fast that I've never had a problem just blasting at full-power when the situation demands it, which is hardly ever. Like I said I originally bought the SB700 as an affordable backup to the SB900, but when I got it I tried using it for a couple weddings and it was so nice that I just kept on using it as my main flash!)

=Matt=

I've been using the Really Right Stuff (RRS) flash brackets for a number of years-they work very well with the heavy flashes SB900/SB910. RRS hardware is expensive but very well machined. I've never had any problems selling the gear when I upgraded. For remotes I always use the Nikon SU800 and found it very reliable especially when using 2 or more strobes.

EphTwoEight · February 3, 2013

I too just added a 700 to my mix, and I really like it. I had to set mine at 1/8 power across the basketball court, cause it was too bright otherwise. Its fast, light, and easy.

babowc · February 4, 2013

I see 900s going for $350 now..
The CLS is so finicky outdoors, I ended up switching to cheapo RF triggers.

Nikon Flash suggestions?

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