What would be a good speed light

[jamesparker1250]

I got a D3200 Nikon and would like to get a speed light for doing portraits what would be a good one without spending a arm and a leg for it

 

[IgsEMT]

if sticking with nikon look into sb600 with 5 foot TTL cord (if one exists and or remote radios),or sb800. I believe you can purchase a used sb800,for about the same price as new sb700. In third party lenses, look into metz, vivitar, yungue (I think I spelled it correctly.).

Good luck

 

[JoeW]

I got a D3200 Nikon and would like to get a speed light for doing portraits what would be a good one without spending a arm and a leg for it

One of the HUGE advantages of the D3200 over the D3100 is that the D3200 has a commander mode. Let me explain.

You're probably thinking of mounting your speed light on top of your camera. Workable, more distance and power. But still ugly shadows and easy to wash out your subject. For portraits you at least want to bounce your speed light off the ceiling and ideally you want it off camera.

If you're just going to bounce it off the ceiling, get a Yongnuo 460-II. It will work attached to the top of your camera and cost you about $45 new. Or you can use your popup flash light to trigger the YN-460 as an optical slave (meaning the light of your popup triggers the YN).

However, with Commander mode, you can use your popup flash to send signals (not optical ones) to any speed light that works with commander mode. And the best bet then is to get a Nikon speed light (and yes, the SB-600 is a good one). You can put it off-camera and trigger it with signals from your popup flash but the popup won't flash so you avoid washing out your subject. Now, if you're going to shoot off camera and do portraits, you might want to think of a cheap soft box and light stand (you can get a decent enough setup for a total of $60 off of someplace like Cowboy Studio). That, a reflector, and a home backdrop (like a dark grey sheet) will allow you to shoot portraits.