SB400 or SB600

[Exposures]

I am currently using a Nikon d40X and absolutely love it. It is by no means top of the line, but it does everything I need it to do without costing me a fortune at start up.

I have been using the pop up flash and kit lens (all used for these pictures: exposures-photography.com)

I am looking to get a decent flash. I don't need anything complicated as I'm still learning, but I would like something that was 'money well spent'. I will be shooting two inside weddings in this next couple of weeks and would like advice for a speedlight flash:

I have found two that seem to be pretty good for what I need:
SB-400 or SB-600

Are those good? Which is better for the money spent?

[scootermcq]

The SB 400 does not swivel, only tilt, so you can not bounce off of a wall, only the ceiling. This will give you shadows for eyes and pretty flat lighting. It is also less powerful and does not have manual controls if you decide to go off camera with a wireless trigger. Also if you upgrade to a d90 etc in the future you will have cls with the sb600

For weddings, especially shooting at receptions when the lights are down the SB600 is working pretty hard to properly expose images. I am going to be upgrading to the 900 soon, just to get the extra umpff needed for those venues. While I have never used the 400, I would be scared to even try it with it having even less power than the sb 600

[Exposures]

Great advice. Do you make the diffuser boxes like in your picture above? Can you still swivel with one attached? Thanks so much for the advice. Would you say a 600 is worth buying?

[scootermcq]

I did make the diffuser using these instructions:

DIY Reflector-Diffuser

They do a wonderful job in a venue like a church where the walls are brown and the ceiling is 20 feet away and brown. Bounce is just not an option in those situations.

I can still swivel and bounce off a side wall, or open the top to bounce off of the ceiling. If you turn it backwards (swivel) you can bounce off a back wall or with the top open, bounce off the back wall and ceiling and have no direct flash hit the subject.

So far it is the most useful on camera diffuser I have tried. It beats:

Omni bounce
Light Sphere
Little plastic softbox thingy
One of those cloth sock thingys
and definitely direct flash

The SB600 is a great flash, It has served me well.

If you go to the wedding page on my website, you can see some indoor wedding shots in a church that would have been impossible to bounce in that I shot with the SB600 and that diffuser. They are among the first shots in that page. www.capturesbymcq.webuda.com