Looking for a flash for Nikon D5100

[yioties]

So father's day is coming up and wife wants to get me a flash for my Nikon. $200 is what she wants to spend.

I need the flash to be TTL and need some guidance here because i have never owned a flash

 

[Designer]

Apparently, and I have not had personal experience with them, but the Yonguno make has one that will do TTL with Nikon. And they are cheap.

 

[yioties]

I have no idea where to order them from. Here in Canada they are almost double the price

 

[TheFantasticG]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/999547-USA

That's the one my Dad is picking up.

 

[yioties]

i need something better than the sb300

 

[D-B-J]

I love my SB600's, and just picked up an SB700. The 600's have not failed me yet, and should be able to be bought used for approx. 200 or under.

Cheers!
Jake


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WayneF]

So father's day is coming up and wife wants to get me a flash for my Nikon. $200 is what she wants to spend.

I need the flash to be TTL and need some guidance here because i have never owned a flash

See Beginners Guide to Select a Hot Shoe Flash

and maybe

Review of the Yongnuo YN565EX Speedlight

 

[JoeW]

The Nikon D5100 doesn't have commander mode--that's the ability to communicate to speed lights that are off-camera wirelessly. You can buy plenty of speed lights to put on the hotshot and fire on top of the camera but this almost always result in crappy photos (unless you just bounce it off the ceiling or get a modifier). So for your $200 you want a setup that allows you to fire you speed light off-camera if possible.

I too praise the Nikon speed lights but you can't get any of them new that are TTL for under $200.

I suggest you get the YongNuo-560EX. That speed light will run about $100. It will operate with the Nikon Commander Mode (in case you upgrade your camera or you buy the Nikon SU-800 which turns your camera into a commander). It will operate on top of your camera on the hot shoe and will be TTL compliant (it has TTL capacity). I suggest you also buy a set of Cowboy NPT-04 trigger and receiver (one trigger, one receiver). You put the trigger on your hot shoe, and the receiver on the speed light. This allows you to manually off-camera. And of course you can always use the UN-560EX as an optical slave (i.e.: use your popup flash to trigger the speed light).

This option (the YN-560EX and the Cowboy trigger and receiver) will run a total of about $130 if you buy them new off of Amazon (that's in USD). And you'll be able to then use the Commander Mode if you upgrade your camera later. In fact, with the money left over (your wife's budget is $200), you can buy an inexpensive stand and soft box with speed light clamp for under $70. Again, the trigger and soft box/stand combo isn't going to be professional level. But you are not going to be able to buy a TTL-compliant speed light that will fire off-camera for under $200 unless you get it used or troll E-Bay and search for bargains.

 

[TWright33]

You can purchase one YN-603 controller($20), and then buy you as many YN 560-III's as you want ($74) and flash away

 

[Designer]

Just a note on "slave mode". Yes, you can fire most flashes remotely in slave mode using the built-in flash, but that flash will most likely add light to the scene, and from a disadvantaged position of being right next to the lens. Adding light is one thing, adding shadows from that light is quite another.

Probably the best all-round solution is to use radio remote triggers on your flash off camera.

 

[WayneF]

I suggest you get the YongNuo-560EX. That speed light will run about $100. It will operate with the Nikon Commander Mode (in case you upgrade your camera or you buy the Nikon SU-800 which turns your camera into a commander). It will operate on top of your camera on the hot shoe and will be TTL compliant (it has TTL capacity).

On the hot shoe, the YN560II is only a manual mode flash. It does TTL only remotely with a Commander.

Yioties said TTL, so I think he would want the YN565EX, $14 more currently at Amazon, but it will do anything the 560 does, plus hot shoe iTTL.

 

[ruggedshutter]

I bought the Vivitar DF-583 ~$160 at Amazon and I have another Vivitar 283 from years ago. I put the 583 in slave mode and use it as my main and bounce the 283 to fire it. I have used Vivitar flashes for years without any problems. I'm not sure of the quality of the YongNuo's. It seems to be hit or miss.

 

[astroNikon]

mentioned above is using a Nikon SU-800 and Yongnuo 560EX ...

I have that combination.
I use 2 Nikon SB-800s for Key and FIll flash
then a Nikon SB-700 for a hairlight
then a Yongnuo 560EX for a background light or swap with the sb700

I had the darnest time getting the Yongnuo to work. I found out that the IR sensor is only good for about 8 feet away. In a basement, with no outside ambient sunlight .. only the basement lights - direct line of sight. So the Yongnuo IR sensor on my sample isn't the greatest. And Yes, I made sure the IR was pointed directly to the SU-800.
After I realized everything worked up close I keep adding a few feet and then it started failing after about 8 feet out.

drove me batty for a couple weeks on/off. Now I know. I can put my sb-700 as a background light now if farther away.

FWIW, The Yongnuo 560ex did work fine at long distances (for being in a basement) with the (d7000 & d600) on board flash as the trigger.

 

[yioties]

So what is the price of the YN565EX because on amazon.ca its anywhere from 150-200 and on amazon.com the cheapest i see it is for 115 - 120. I don't need wireless triggers and all the bells and whistles. I want a good flash that I can bounce some light off the ceiling. My choices right now are a used sb600 a used sb400 or the YN565EX.

 

[WayneF]

So what is the price of the YN565EX because on amazon.ca its anywhere from 150-200 and on amazon.com the cheapest i see it is for 115 - 120. I don't need wireless triggers and all the bells and whistles. I want a good flash that I can bounce some light off the ceiling. My choices right now are a used sb600 a used sb400 or the YN565EX.

Yongnuo has no North America presence. Vendors here do import and sell the products, which is a mixed bag, varies every day, and I would imagine no warranty situation exists (other than an Amazon return capability). Still, the price and performance sure does make them very attractive.

So there is no fixed price... Whatever deal you can find, on whatever day. So daily variations means the versions for Nikon and Canon can have different prices on any day.

The price on Amazon.com often varies a few times a day, as the Amazon page rotates vendors. The best price probably is Ebay, direct mail from Hong Kong, which probably takes a couple of weeks. Seems very likely any Amazon.com offer provides much better chance of a returns if necessary.

I paid $107 for a Yongnuo YN565EX (Nikon version) on Amazon.com, shipped by Amazon. That same Nikon version is $109 at the moment. I have seen it for $102 there, and also for about $160 for a day or so. Different vendors.

The YN565EX has more power than the SB-600, and also more features (slave modes, PC sync connector, etc).