Flash

madisonofriel

TPF Noob!
Joined
Jun 11, 2014
Messages
121
Reaction score
12
Location
Georgia
Can others edit my Photos
Photos NOT OK to edit
Ok guys, so I was surprised with a new camera for graduation (Nikon D5500) And need flash help.
Do I really need off camera flash for outdoor shoots? If so how much better are they with it?
Also when I try to use my stupid pop up flash, when I try to expose for the background it only lets me go up to 1/200 of a sec. Why is it doing that? And on speed lights won't do that will it?
I need a flash. My budget is $200.
would you consider a used flash? Like a used Nikon SB-600.
One more... How much better would a used speed light compare to a new off brand flash?
Sorry for all the questions, I have no photographers to talk to. Please help I have a shoot coming up soon!
 
Given your budget and what I've seen of your work (if I'm remembering correctly) id start with a reflector. Most people who shoot natural light outdoors tend to prefer reflectors. A flash won't help you too much unless you also get light stands, triggers and light modifiers. The real benefit to a speed light doesn't show up until you can get it off the camera and modify it. The modifiers/stands/radio triggers alone would likely eat up your $200 budget before you ever bought a flash.

The only thing a dedicated flash is really good for when attached to the camera is a fill light for the face and bouncing it. Your on camera flash can provide outdoor fill for the face if needed. And bouncing won't work outside anyway.
 
For the 1/200 question. That is your camera flash sync speed (to avoid shadow of the curtain on the photo - a dark band). You cannot go faster unless you have a flash that support High Speed Sync.
 
For the 1/200 question. That is your camera flash sync speed (to avoid shadow of the curtain on the photo - a dark band). You cannot go faster unless you have a flash that support High Speed Sync.
So getting a flash would help with that?
 
For the 1/200 question. That is your camera flash sync speed (to avoid shadow of the curtain on the photo - a dark band). You cannot go faster unless you have a flash that support High Speed Sync.
To use high-speed-sync both the flash unit and the camera must support that feature. As far as I know the D5500 does not support high-speed-sync, in fact none of the D3XXX/D5XXX series of cameras support it so your maximum shutter speed is going to be limited to 1/200 sec whenever you use flash.
 
to expand on the camera flash sync speed thing, if you do try to go faster, you will get portions of your image that are blacked out. This is because your shutter can't open and close faster than 1/200 of a second.

High speed sync gets around it by pulsing a flash thousands of times quickly, so that it illuminates the exposure multiple times, thus doing away with the sync speed issue.
 
The SB 600 is a good flash for Nikon d-slrs. I have shot the flash a pretty fair amount: it has a simple control layout, and an easy to use interface, and unlike most cheap, Chinese-made, no-name flashes, the SB 600 likely will be still be fully operational in ten years. Yes, the Made in China flashes are low-cost, so, if you want, you could probably by TWO Neewer VK 750 II flash units for the cost of a used SB 600, and that is one way to make buying cheap gear "safer", by buying a spare, or even two spares.

The D5xxx series cameras do not "do" Auto FP Sync, so...you're gonna be shootin' at 1/200 second or slower when a flash is being used with that camera. In practical, real-world terms, what that will mean is that, outdoors, you will most likely end up seeking out areas that are shaded from the sun, and shooting in the shade, using the flash on-camera to add not really fill light as much as "eye sparkle"--the catchlights in the eye, caused from the flash.

As fjrabon mentioned...a reflector is actually probably as good, or better, a choice for outdoor portraiture and senior sessions. The reflector will allow you to shoot at wide apertures in bright sunny conditions, and shoot back-lighted people in open, sunny areas, and then use the reflector to kick some fill light back into their faces, at any shutter speed you wish to use.

Oh--and congratulations on graduating! And on the cool new D5500...I watched the Fro Knows Photo D5500 demonstration of the pizza guy, and was impressed at the capabilities the touch screen brings to the D5500...and so was Fro...he said he had not thought it would be that handy, but he IMMEDIATELY found uses for the touch screen on his very first-ever shoot with the D5500.
 
Last edited:
For the 1/200 question. That is your camera flash sync speed (to avoid shadow of the curtain on the photo - a dark band). You cannot go faster unless you have a flash that support High Speed Sync.
To use high-speed-sync both the flash unit and the camera must support that feature. As far as I know the D5500 does not support high-speed-sync, in fact none of the D3XXX/D5XXX series of cameras support it so your maximum shutter speed is going to be limited to 1/200 sec whenever you use flash.
Crap. Now that is really disappointing. So you are saying there is no way to shoot good flash photography with this camera?
 
The SB 600 is a good flash for Nikon d-slrs. I have shot the flash a pretty fair amount: it has a simple control layout, and an easy to use interface, and unlike most cheap, Chinese-made, no-name flashes, the SB 600 likely will be still be fully operational in ten years. Yes, the Made in China flashes are low-cost, so, if you want, you could probably by TWO Neewer VK 750 II flash units for the cost of a used SB 600, and that is one way to make buying cheap gear "safer", by buying a spare, or even two spares.

The D5xxx series cameras do not "do" Auto FP Sync, so...you're gonna be shootin' at 1/200 second or slower when a flash is being used with that camera. In practical, real-world terms, what that will mean is that, outdoors, you will most likely end up seeking out areas that are shaded from the sun, and shooting in the shade, using the flash on-camera to add not really fill light as much as "eye sparkle"--the catchlights in the eye, caused from the flash.

As fjrabon mentioned...a reflector is actually probably as good, or better, a choice for outdoor portraiture and senior sessions. The reflector will allow you to shoot at wide apertures in bright sunny conditions, and shoot back-lighted people in open, sunny areas, and then use the reflector to kick some fill light back into their faces, at any shutter speed you wish to use.

Oh--and congratulations on graduating! And on the cool new D5500...I watched the Fro Knows Photo D5500 demonstration of the pizza guy, and was impressed at the capabilities the touch screen brings to the D5500...and so was Fro...he said he had not thought it would be that handy, but he IMMEDIATELY found uses for the touch screen on his very first-ever shoot with the D5500.
Thank you :) I was crazy exited.
Now this is scaring me a little bit though. I was really counting on being able to expose for the background. Is there a way around this? Or just a substitute method?
 
Crap. Now that is really disappointing. So you are saying there is no way to shoot good flash photography with this camera?

You can do great flash photography with that camera, it just takes some working around. Also, you don't want to shoot much straight on camera flash for senior portraits anyway. You would want a speedlight softbox and your flash off camera if you want to do that. IMHO, don't bother with getting a speedlight setup until you're ready to do that. Just sticking a speedlight on top for outdoor portraits won't make much difference at all. Certainly not as much difference as $50 quality reflector would.
 
High speed sync also goes through the batteries faster, I have found that I use it very rarely so I think with you not having that on your new D5500 is not really a problem. I think there was a thread here about using an ND filter to stay within the flash sync speed.

And remember with natural light you may want to use the reflector as a gobo to give some shade.

Not too sure on the used flash, I have an SB600 that worked perfect for five years and just broke the flash tube. You just don't know how much use a used one has seen.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top