Speedlight suggestion

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I'm looking to invest in a Speedlight for my D3000.

I looked on Nikons site, the only difference I could determine was price.
The specs were foreign to me. So before I go out and ask some random salesmen some questions. I wanna roll in with some info.

Thanks guys.
 
People are going to want to know how you'll be using it (mostly).
 
If the specifications were meaningless to you, stick with the less expensive and simpler SB-400.
 
There are some third party flashes that work pretty good for less money. I think Nikon has some lesser priced versions as well.
Just starting out maybe don't spend a lot of money. As you get more shooting experience you will get a feel for what you really need, then spend some more on a better flash if you really need it.
 
If the specifications were meaningless to you..........
SB-900 or fail.......... :lmao::lmao::lmao:


The SB-600, 800 & 900 will give you varying degrees of power output. They will all gve you rotating and tilting heads as well as various zooms. To my knowledge the SB-400 only tilts, is cheap and may offer you what you need.
 
I would say the sb600 unless you want really budget and simple then the sb400 is nice as well. GL
tj
 
I'll be using the flash for sports photography.

Sorry, totally forget to include that.
 
I'll be using the flash for sports photography.

Sorry, totally forget to include that.
Then you'll definately need the SB-900 and a Better Beamer Flash Extender. That will work for night field sports some of the time. The rest of the time your subjects will be to far away for you to get enough light to them. Inverse Square law

Indoor sports shooters using cameras with less than stellar ISO performance usually set up a couple studio strobes or a few radio triggered speedlights, because veniues don't allow flash photography from the floor.

If you'll be shooting from the stands/bleachers instead of the sidelines/floor, the Inverse Square Law will again limit your results when using on camera flash.
 
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Well I'm poor.
So I'll see if I can raise money for a decent flash...
 
What part of Indiana are you from? I'm from NW Indiana, if you want to meet up some time and take a look at my SB-800 so you can get an idea if it will even have enough power to do what you want or not. The only way I could see it working are to do it off-camera so the flash is nearer to the area you are shooting. But, I don't know WHAT sports you are wanting to do. If your profile is accurate, I don't think the D3000 can do Commander mode (trigger a flash remotely) and your lenses with their f/5.6 aren't going to help out the flash be any more powerful.
 
Well I'm poor.
So I'll see if I can raise money for a decent flash...
Then stick to the SB-400 for now, (Guide Number (GN) 98).

An alternative would be an after market speedlight (Vivitar 285HV, GN 120, $90 new) used off the camera with a radio trigger set up (starting at $20). The aftermarket speedlight would would be manual mode only. An aftermarket speedlight would likely be more powerful and cost less. See www.Strobist.com .

Shooting sports requires some of the more expensive camera gear made.

It's not uncommon for a pro sports shooter to have $20,000 to $40,000 invested in camera bodies and lenses.

Here is a lens a lot of pro sport shooters that use Nikon gear would have, and this camera body is what that lens would be mounted on.

With this setup, pros don't need flash.
 
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SB600. I got mine and was pretty contempt with it until I got to play with SB800. At which point I wanted to byte my head of for not getting sb800 to begin with.
SB800 if you can find it.
For SB900, being that they are so popular/unpopular due to their ability of blow up, burn, brake, etc etc I asked Joe McNally regarding this issue. Below is his reply
they have gone a long way to fixing it. It remains the only flash out there that is firmware upgradeable. The upgrade did help the thermal situation. I just use mine like an 800, and turn off the thermal cutoff in the menu
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SB400 - not sure you want to spend $ on it since the difference b/n in and the built-in is that sb400 is a bit stronger :)

good luck
 

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