Fair trade?

[jwbryson1]

I own the Nikon D90 and the Nikon D40. D40 is an entry level DSLR, but is a really terrific camera and in some respects, outperforms some of the higher end DSLRs.

I also own the SB-400 speedlight which does not work off camera. Since I primarily use my D90 at this point and just keep the D40 as a backup, I was thinking of swapping the D40 body for a used SB-800 or SB-900 (assuming somebody would swap with me), so I can do off camera flash.

Thoughts on whether this is a good idea or a bad idea? Would you swap?

 

[D-B-J]

I would. The SB900 sells for about 450 new. If you could trade the D40 for that, i would in a heartbeat. The D40 was a great camera, but is falling so far behind the new technology.

 

[KmH]

Then D40 is still a nice camera. It, and the D70/D70s, has an electronic shutter and can x-sync flash all the way up to 1/4000, even though Nikon's specs say it can only x-sync up to 1/500.

The SB-400 can indeed be used off camera, with a radio trigger, though the SB-400 has no external manual power controls.

If you can find a sucker, trading the D40 (body only) for an SB-800 or SB-900 would be morally difficult to justify.

I no longer have any Nikon speedlights. I never used any of the bells and whisles they have, so I sold them all.

 

[D-B-J]

Then D40 is still a nice camera. It, and the D70/D70s, has an electronic shutter and can x-sync flash all the way up to 1/4000, even though Nikon's specs say it can only x-sync up to 1/500.

The SB-400 can indeed be used off camera, with a radio trigger, though the SB-400 has no external manual power controls.

If you can find a sucker, trading the D40 (body only) for an SB-800 or SB-900 would be morally difficult to justify.

I no longer have any Nikon speedlights. I never used any of the bells and whisles they have, so I sold them all.

IT would be difficult to morally justify, as the D40 is nowhere near the worth of those two speed lights.

 

[Mike_E]

Do you need a backup body?

If not then I'd just sell it and get some wireless triggers and off brand flashes.

 

[jwbryson1]

I've never considered an off-brand flash before. Lately I keep reading about flat lighting and I think I understand what that means now. It seems that shooting with my SB-400 attached to the D90 will generally render flat lighting so I began to think about getting another flash that I could use off camera with a slave setting. I said SB-900 earlier, but I think the SB-600 would even be a nice upgrade that would give me more flexibility than the SB-400.

What off brand flashes are there and which are good? Thanks.

 

[chaosrealm93]

do it