flash/speed light for Nikon

[cwindle1]

Own a Nikon D5100. Really want to start adventuring into portraiture/fashion photography for a bit of fun and looking into investing in a flash/speed light. Which one's are best to buy? Haven't got a lot to spend so nothing over £40. I know you get what you pay for but I'm sure there's something simple out there? Not looking into any professional kit like that as yet! (Saving for D610!!!!!)

 

[KmH]

Your budget will get you a Chinese made manual hot shoe flash unit.
Yongnuo YN-560 II Speedlight Flash for Canon and Nikon. GN58

I have one on order too, but I already have eBay iShoot 4-channel radio triggers so I can use it off the camera.
OCF (off camera flash) gives you more light direction options for doing portraiture/fashion.

Here is another brand, but from Amazon.com - Neewer Wireless Remote FM Radio Flash Speedlite Trigger w/ 2.5mm PC 2 Receiver

Instead of a D610 I would save for lenses and more lighting gear - like some reflectors/scrims, a couple more speed lights, light stands, light modifiers (umbrellas/brolly/softbox) etc.

 

[Derrel]

Yes--buy light modifiers!!! DEFINITELY look into a good-sized white on one-side reflector, or make one yourself using PVC pipe and elbows and some white fabric. Light stands are really handy to have. Controlling the light is more important than the camera body you have to use. As KmH mentions so,so many times here, the quality and direction of the light is really the key thing to good photos, especially of people.

 

[cwindle1]

So will this do? YongNuo YN-460 Speedlight Shoe Mount Flash Speedlite for Canon Nikon Pentax UK 0608607192267 | eBay

 

[Designer]

Yes, that will work, but I don't think it will support TTL, meaning that you will have to do everything manually.

 

[MartinCrabtree]

TTL doesn't always give you what you sought in the first place. It's good to learn lighting exposures manually. I have a Canon Speedlite 199A I use on my Nikons and it produces nice images with a little preparation. And I think it cost me $14 USD. I also have an SB-400 and SB-28 I picked up used for good prices. The SB-28 is an amazing unit. The 400 works well as a fill when you don't want to carry a lot of gear.

 

[KmH]

So will this do? YongNuo YN-460 Speedlight Shoe Mount Flash Speedlite for Canon Nikon Pentax UK 0608607192267 | eBay

It will work but it has less maximum power (GN-33) than the 560 has (GN-58).
Guide number - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The guide number represents an exposure constant for a flash unit. For example, a guide number of 80 feet at ISO 100 means that a target 20 feet away will be correctly illuminated with an aperture of f/4 (80 = 20 × 4) using a sensitivity of ISO 100. For the same guide number and an aperture of f/8, the light source should be 10 feet from the subject (80 = 10 × 8).[SUP][1]

[/SUP]The guide number is the product of the maximum flash-to-subject distance and the f-number of the aperture that will correctly expose film or a digital sensor with the specified sensitivity.
GN = distance × f-number
This simple relationship is well-defined because the brightness of a flash falls off with the square of the distance, but the amount of light admitted through an aperture decreases with the square of the f-number.