looking into a flash, advise please?

thephotoroom

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Well im not looking into a flash, that might hurt!

But i am looking into purchasing a flash unit for my D60. When I bought the camera, the salesman said if i got the SB-600/800 i would be able to shoot with it being a wireless flash, but after reading lots of reviews and tech sheets on these items, it apears not to be the case.
With that in mind I also saw on ebay some of these flash triggers that mount to the hot shoe and then your flash, i guess making it a wireless system.

My 2 Q's followed with me thingking out loud!

1.) Which flash would be a better buy, bang for your buck? If all the 800 does is fire out more light at a slower pace, and for not as many shots it seems like the 600 wins, but are all those extra filters and difusers and whatever it comes with worth the extra coin?

2.) does anyone have a wireless trigger that works well for them and what would I want to know about brands before I purchased one of these. (assuming that the flashes in question can NOT be used wirelessly, alone)Are they practical or is it something that seems cool, and not having much shutter time am I just dreaming about unessesary toys that look really cool?

I got around $400 +/- to spend here, and I want to get something that Im going to be happy with.

Or should I get a wide angle lense? I have the D60 kit with the 18-55 and 55-200.

Just a beginer here with some money burning a hole in my pocket.

Thanks a lot!
 
I can only help you with the wireless trigger bit. I use a "cactus flash trigger" Its pretty much what you discribed and its pretty cheap. It sometimes misses a fire or flashes if you didnt push anything. It doesnt bother me at all, cause after all, you get what you pay for :)
I usually use it when im shooting macro. You can get some great lighting on bugs when the flash can be moved around. Its up too you if its just a nice toy or if its really needed. Depends on what you're planning to shoot and all that jazz.
In short, im glad i bought it :)

ps i just posted a couple of threads in the Nature & Wildlife part of this forum. All of those shots are made with help of that trigger
 
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cool, I apreciate the input. I was looking on ebay and they had triggers for like 35 bucks or something crazy. I still have yet to decide on a flash though, kinda the more important part of the questions, but hopefully some nikon people will chime in when they get out of work.
thanks.
 
SB-800 does a lot more than just put out more light than the SB-600. The biggest difference is it's ability to act as a commander for other flashes whereas the SB-600 can only act as a slave. I'm guessing the D60 has Commander mode? If so, then with the SB-600 you can use the onboard flash to fire the SB-600 wirelessly and despite your initial thoughts, the onboard flash doesn't have to contribute any thing to the photo. It prefires before the shutter to trigger the SB-600. With the SB-800 you can have it fire other flashes as well though not needed as much since your onboard can do that.


I have the cactus triggers and they work fine for me. Of course, you have your flash in manual mode only doing this, but sometimes that is preferred for me. The advantage to the Commander mode is that you can use TTL to help expose the photos with flash automatically.

I also have an SB-600. When doing macro stuff, I usually use the commander mode, however I plan to start using the cactus triggers for this as well. With the triggers, you aren't limited by the camera's max flash sync speed. You can shoot a 1/1000th with the flash if you want to get the background completely black instead of being stuck at 1/200 or 1/250 with commander mode.


So, in short, I"m very happy with my SB-600 and also happy with the cactus triggers. There have been quite a few times when I could have used the extra flash output, but that's solved by using a slightly larger aperture so no biggie.
 
$400? two SB-600's and be done with it, much more flexible then one speedlight when used wirelessly.
 
$400? two SB-600's and be done with it, much more flexible then one speedlight when used wirelessly.

:thumbup: I've been wanting a second one for backlighting and other needs since about 2-3 days after receiving my first one.
 
$400? two SB-600's and be done with it, much more flexible then one speedlight when used wirelessly.

Hey, can the D60 act as master wireless commander? I don't think (I think only the D80 and better models have that capability built in).

Also, since the SB-600 is slave only (here again, master capabilities start from the SB-800 and more expensive strobes), I don't think a D60+SB600 combination cuts it for multiple flash setup (except full manual mode (maybe), which sucks).

With a D60 you'll need a SB-800 or SU-800 mounted to act as master.
 
2) I just bought a Cactus flash trigger and got some great results - My Photos - see portrait gallery.

Anways if you are into portrait, product or possibly wildlife photography (close ups) then get the flash and wireless triggers, other wise get the lens.

I got a sigma 70-300mm lens way before I got flash triggers mainly because I take a lot of boat and sport pictures.
 
$400? two SB-600's and be done with it, much more flexible then one speedlight when used wirelessly.

For that matter, you could pick up an SB600, an older flash like a SB24, and the eBay triggers for a little less than $400.
 

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