Best flash for the money?

[PaulWog]

honestly? ive been messing with the sb700 on one camera, and the yn568 on another camera and i cant find any reason NOT to get the yongnuo over the sb700.
the 568 seems to outperform the sb700. i dont know how it would compare to a sb900 or sb910 since i dont have one of those, but i would get a YN568EX over a sb600 or sb700. The TTL feature on the 568 works flawlessly, the recycle time is FAST, and it has yet to fail to fire.
the yn568ex new is cheaper than a used sb700.

i would say, after testing a sb600, sb700, and yn568EX on two different cameras...I would recommend the YN568EX. if you dont care about HSS, the 565EX does TTL.
we will be getting a few more of the 568EX's, and i can easily see it replacing our sb700's as our "go to" on body flashes.

Thanks! That really reassures my money-saving choice of going with the yn568ex.

To clarify though, it seems like your two replies contradict each other. You said: "I personally feel the BEST flashes for the money are a used OEM flash."

I just want to make sure I am not interpreting you wrong, and that the yn568ex really is the way to go.

The reasons why I think the 568ex is going to be the best choice are:
1) I can match all of my flash heads together (identical yn568ex units), rather than mixing and matching brands/models.
2) The cost of adding additional yn568ex models is only $170 a piece, give or take a couple bucks. Although, I do want to pair the wireless triggers ($40-ish a piece) with each one.
3) The flash power of the yn568ex is approximately equal to the sb900, or so I've read at least.
4) You and others rave about the yn568ex as being very good.

I'm going to think things over (I'm shooting the seawall in Vancouver today possibly)... and then I might put in an order tonight. Thinking about picking up the 85mm 1.8G also, since it just went on sale for $20 off locally, so that I can start doing some flash portraits -- I really enjoy learning new things in photography, and admittedly I think I'm spending faster than I'm learning.

 

[pixmedic]

past models have not had the features that OEM flashes offered, and up until very recently i have not considered them very competitive with their OEM counterparts.
a used sb700 is around $250ish, and the 568EX is $180 brand new. a used sb900 is close to $400.
in previous years, flash functions have kept me from getting third party flashes. TTL is a pretty recent feature added to third party flashes, (the last few years) and HSS even more recent. (last few months)
after REALLY taking some time to give the yn568ex a good workout, i am extremely pleased with its performance and I have no problem recommending one over a sb700.
I don't know if the sb910 is a little more powerful or not, but i don't think i could personally justify the price difference for only a slight performance difference.
I can only directly compare the 568ex to the sb600 and sb700 since those are the flashes i own, but I would rate the 568ex higher than both of them. unless you are absolutely set on only using nikons CLS as a trigger, i would absolutely tell you to go with the 568ex and not look back.
i will definitely be ordering more of them, as well as yongnuos new TTL triggers.

alternately, if someone offered me an EX+ condition sb900 or sb910 for the same price as a 568ex...i would probably take the nikon flash.
other than that...i am fairly confident i will be sticking with the yonguos for future flash purchases.