best flash for less

[e213ill]

Hi, I just bought Nikon D5100 with 18-55mm & 55-300mm lenses and am looking for the best flash for less! Any help, or any other tips and suggestions for this beginner would be much obliged! Thanks in advance

 

[cgipson1]

Budget? Desires? Know that budget and desire may not co-exist peacefully together.....

 

[osirus]

find a used nikon sb600

I picked up 2 used ones off kijiji for $260 about a year or so ago.

 

[markj]

YN560 if your on a tight budget

 

[Mach0]

If you are on a budget, I like the old sb28. You can find them starting at $75 bucks.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

ebay/craigslist

 

[djacobox372]

If you are on a budget, I like the old sb28. You can find them starting at $75 bucks.

Good choice, TTL is overrated IMO. I also like the SB80dx for it's optical slave function and metal hotshoe.

 

[NE-KID]

If you can swing the cash check in to the Nikon SB-700 speedlight flash.

 

[Mach0]

Good choice, TTL is overrated IMO. I also like the SB80dx for it's optical slave function and metal hotshoe.

To be honest, the only thing I really like about Ttl compatible flashes is the af assist light. Using manual Nikon flashes will cancel the af assist light. Not the worse thing but it beats carrying an LED flash light in super low light situations. Other than that, totally happy with them. Good build, pc port, good power. You can't go wrong. Plus they make excellent OCF

 

[greybeard]

I use an old SB28 that I bought years ago for my n80.......I haven't had need of anything else.

 

[KmH]

Yep, learning to do iTTL flash is a lot more involved than learning how to do flash manually.

The $86 Vivitar 285HV Auto Professional Flash has an independent, built-in, semi-automatic control system known as a Thristor. At one point I had 14 of the 285HV's.

The picture at the top of this article shows the 285HV's built-in flash exposure calulator guide. Strobist: Guide Number: Your Free Flash Meter

 

[jrizal]

The Bower 728N or Sunpak DF300N are TTL speedlights costing around $50 - $60. It has only a manual zoom but can swivel also. Yet it's still better and cheaper than the Nikon SB-400 which can't swivel. They use four AA batteries though unlike the SB-400 which uses only two.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

I can't say enough about the Vivitar 285's and their mad bright GN through my modifiers =)

 

[shady195]

I havent gotten one yet but plan to get the Oloong SP-690, it looks and functions similar to nikons speedlights though only works as a slave flash for off camera using a sensor. It doesnt look as cheap as others and a few I know that have used it said its a great flash for the money, and really unless you use a flash all the time and rely on one constantly then it should work just fine.

Amazon.com: OLOONG SP690 SP-690 Speedlite flash for Nikon i-TTL D7000 D5100 D3000 D3100 D90: Camera & Photo

 

[2WheelPhoto]

I havent gotten one yet but plan to get the Oloong SP-690, it looks and functions similar to nikons speedlights though only works as a slave flash for off camera using a sensor. It doesnt look as cheap as others and a few I know that have used it said its a great flash for the money, and really unless you use a flash all the time and rely on one constantly then it should work just fine.

Amazon.com: OLOONG SP690 SP-690 Speedlite flash for Nikon i-TTL D7000 D5100 D3000 D3100 D90: Camera & Photo

If you're into TTL. Some of us use manual flashes and monolights.

The GN number appears low on it too.