Nikon Flashguns.

bloodhunter

bloodhunter

bloodhunter

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I am looking to buy a Nikon flash, either the SB-800 or 900. A very experienced member of our club says to get the 800 but the 900 is OK too.
Looking on the bay they are both available with only about a £30 difference between the two on some listings in similar condition etc... so which do you recomend i buy?

Thanks.
 
The 900 is the replacement to the 800. I owned the 800 and its a great piece of kit, however both of them are pretty damn expensive. I'd recommend buying a third party flash instead depending on what you actually require from the flash.

The things you need to ask yourself when looking at the top end flashes are the following:

How much power do you really need?
Do you need the flash to be a master to other slave flash units?
Will you ever use it off camera?

When I replaced my entire kit with canon stuff, I opted for the VASTLY cheaper yongnou 565 II flash unit, which is remarkably similar to the 3 times more costly canon 580 II. It can act as a master unit if needed, works as an off camera flash via wireless trigger (built in) and does ETTL. The power of the flash is also pretty damn good!

Give us a bit more info and we can properly assess which flash unit is best for what you have planned mate :)
 
I bought a SB-700 first, then a couple of YN-465 flashes and aside from a couple of things you are better off saving your money and going with the cheaper flashes.

The only options I like on the SB-700 are:

Off camera flash can be controlled by my D300s in commander mode in TTL or manual mode etc
Auto-FP which is useful for shutter speeds over 1/250.
Slightly better battery life
LCD screen
Zoom head

Most of the time I just set my flashes manually and control them by wireless triggers attached to the camera and flashes.

Depending on what you want to do with the flashes will point you towards what flash you will need.
 
I'd also recommend the Yongnou flashes; the YN-4XX series are ok, feel a bit flimsy but up until recently the 4XX series was the only way to get TTL on Nikon. I had the YN-560 too (non-TTL) and it was a lot more substantial feeling, I've even read that it uses the same casing as the Canon flashes (maybe someone can confirm?).

With the release of the YN-565 (TTL) for Nikon I'd completely recommend going this route, I plan on grabbing a couple myself because at ~£100 a unit they really are a bargain!
 
Auraomega said:
I'd also recommend the Yongnou flashes; the YN-4XX series are ok, feel a bit flimsy but up until recently the 4XX series was the only way to get TTL on Nikon. I had the YN-560 too (non-TTL) and it was a lot more substantial feeling, I've even read that it uses the same casing as the Canon flashes (maybe someone can confirm?).

With the release of the YN-565 (TTL) for Nikon I'd completely recommend going this route, I plan on grabbing a couple myself because at ~£100 a unit they really are a bargain!
Click to expand...

They do use the same casing as the canon flashes and share some of the internal components also. They really are a bargain, especially at around £100.

An Exception said:
sb700 is better than sb800 overall from my experience. I'd get either a sb 700 or 910.
Click to expand...

If you MUST have a Nikon flash, follow this advice.
 
I fancy a flash, for no real reason. Just to 'have' one in my bag. This could be a good idea. I take it this would be fine with a Nikon D80
 
i've got Nissin Di622 mk2. it's got similar flash power to SB900, but only costs £120.

because my D3100 doesn't have commander, when off camera, i use optical slave mode and it works great.
 
Thanks for your suggestions and advice everyone. I ended getting an SB900 used but mint including all the accessories that are supplied when new for £220 so i will now start to get to grips with it.
 
what wll you be using it for? just the odd few pic's or wedding etc where lots of pic's will be taken, i ask because there are a lot of reports the sb900 overheats and thats one of the reasons for nikon bringing out the sb910
 
the 900 didn't change much, it still overheats at the same rate as the 910. the difference is the 910 will slow its rate of fire to stop the overheat, the 900 will keep shooting till it bakes.
 
Sorry for not replying sooner.
I bought the flash as i did have an SB600 and never really used it much so sold it a couple of years ago and did not get round to replacing it.
I got the SB900 to use and get some practice in before my Nephews wedding in August for which i am only a guest and and want to do my best with it for my own personal usage.
The flash will be used now that i have got it for situations where the built in one will fail.

OK so i am not that experienced a photographer as it is only a hobby so some might think the SB900 is overkill which is fair enough but the SB900 is what i wanted.
 
I own the SB-800 & 910 and I do prefer the 800 tbh little bit smaller bit better to use or more to the point its what I'm used to the 910 has better menus but I dont understand them yet!

Had better results with the 800 but again not used the 910 much to be fair!
 
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