Question for my Strobists!

PatrickJamesYu · Dec 25, 2011

I shoot Nikon.
I've recently sold all of my strobes.
I had a few cheapie old Vivitars.
They worked well but the recycle time was heavy, and the power consumption seemed heavy.
Also, sometimes they'd fall asleep, and they wouldn't wake up remotely so I'd have to walk around to them and hit the test button.

What advantages would a Nikon branded flash have VS a third party flash?
I'm considering a Nikon SB, possibly the SB-600 as there is one at my work or waiting for a SB-700 to come in

OR

Possibly the Yonguo branded flashes
They are a bit more affordable, I'd be able to buy a few of them.

cgipson1 · Dec 25, 2011

The main advantages to the Nikon flashes are build quality, power, and TTL compatibility. Some third party flashes have the power, but they don't usually have the build quality. Some have claimed TTL compatibility.... and they do, to a degree (depends on brand). The Nikon bodies and the TTL on their own flashes allow you to shoot flash in fast moving, fast changing situations and to usually get good to excellent exposures.

Depends on what you want.. top quality, or inexpensive!

The Nikon flashes are not cheap.. but I feel they are worth it. I have only used Nikon flashes when shooting TTL, but have done quite a bit of research on the subject.. that convinced me to go with Nikon for that need. I do have some Yongnuo 560 full manual flashes that I use for background lighting or hair lights.. but that is all.

nickzou · Dec 25, 2011

Is the Yongnuo 560 weaker than the Nikon flashes at all?

Tony S · Dec 26, 2011

Not sure what you Vivitars did, but the Nikon flashes will also allow you to set the power of each flash remotely from one you have set as the master. Makes life easier for dialing in the light.

cgipson1 · Dec 26, 2011

Tony S said:
Not sure what you Vivitars did, but the Nikon flashes will also allow you to set the power of each flash remotely from one you have set as the master. Makes life easier for dialing in the light.

Good call. forgot to mention that. Works great with my pocket wizards and SU-800 also.

KmH · Dec 26, 2011

With my Vivitar 285HV's I used radio receivers that had 2 hot shoes so I could mount 2 flash units, set each to half power to improve the recycle time, yet have the same amount of light as a single flash unit at full power.

KmH · Dec 26, 2011

nickzou said:
Is the Yongnuo 560 weaker than the Nikon flashes at all?

Investigate what a flash unit's GN number is all about.

PatrickJamesYu · Dec 27, 2011

KmH said:
With my Vivitar 285HV's I used radio receivers that had 2 hot shoes so I could mount 2 flash units, set each to half power to improve the recycle time, yet have the same amount of light as a single flash unit at full power.

Very cool
Make's complete sense but never thought about that.

But of course, you can do this with any flash, right?

I had a 285. It worked well for me
I like how big the face/head was on it, and it was a solid unit.

Mach0 · Dec 27, 2011

KmH said:
With my Vivitar 285HV's I used radio receivers that had 2 hot shoes so I could mount 2 flash units, set each to half power to improve the recycle time, yet have the same amount of light as a single flash unit at full power.

Good idea. I have two 285hv's and a sb24. What brand receivers did you use?

FattyMcJ · Dec 28, 2011

You can double up flashes with radio receivers like KMH said, mixing and matching flash brands/models will however result in different flash output powers (SB-800+285HV ≠ SB-800x2 or 285HV x2...if that makes sense). If you don't mind doing test shots to get your exposure correct, then it's not an issue (Strobists won't mind). Just thought I'd mention it.

Also, if you get optical slave hotshoes for the Vivitars, you won't need radio triggers. They'll see a flash, and flash themselves...works great with more than 1 flash. Just another way to trigger the older flashes and keep them being used.

Nikon flashes have the advantage of being able to use the CLS system (both TTL and manual) while the Yongnuo flashes are just hefty manual alternatives (good power, manual controls, built-in optical trigger). Like I said, with the optical triggers, they're a set it & forget it type of flash.

Lots of choices, but if I were you, I'd get 2 of the Nikon brand flag ship flashes (SB-800, SB-900, SB-910....to be able to use the CLS system for ease on small setups, and to make sure you have a commander flash if/when you upgrade to a body like the D3s that doesn't have a built in flash to use) and LOTS of off-brand flashes with good power and optical triggers (to save money on radio triggers)...like 4 or more (let's face it, you can never have too many flashes! lol).

Hope that helps!

Mach0 · Dec 28, 2011

If you don't want to have a commander flash, you can always use a su 800( just less range)Many options.

KmH · Dec 29, 2011

Mach0 said:
KmH said:

With my Vivitar 285HV's I used radio receivers that had 2 hot shoes so I could mount 2 flash units, set each to half power to improve the recycle time, yet have the same amount of light as a single flash unit at full power.

Click to expand...

Good idea. I have two 285hv's and a sb24. What brand receivers did you use?

I used:

iSHOOT, PT-04 C Wireless Remote Radio Flash Trigger, with 3 Recievers

I have a set left over I'll sell you for $45 including CONUS shipping.

PatrickJamesYu · Jan 1, 2012

I ended up picking up an sb600 from my work, and ordered a Yongnuo 560 online.
I figure this way I'll have a dedicated flash so I can learn some of the advantages of it, than I'll have the sb600 and the 560 to use as fills/ accents.

FattyMcJ · Jan 1, 2012

An excellent starter set. Can't wait to see how you progress!

kassad · Jan 1, 2012

PatrickJamesYu said:
I ended up picking up an sb600 from my work, and ordered a Yongnuo 560 online.
I figure this way I'll have a dedicated flash so I can learn some of the advantages of it, than I'll have the sb600 and the 560 to use as fills/ accents.

Good choice. I have a similar setup. Did you also get radio triggers?