I need help choosing a flash for my Nikon

[Multipara]

I am clueless! I have no idea which one to get. I live in a very rural area so I have to buy from online. I have a Nikon D5100, and I do mostly portraits. I would like something with a very quick recycle time.
Please help!?

[OsmosisStudios]

SB-700, unless you can find an SB-800 used for a similar price.

[Multipara]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

SB-700, unless you can find an SB-800 used for a similar price.

Do you know of any that are under 100 that will suffice?

[Tito87]

Originally Posted by Multipara

Do you know of any that are under 100 that will suffice?

Wouldn't you like to be able to use the flash off-camera?

[Multipara]

Originally Posted by Tito87

Wouldn't you like to be able to use the flash off-camera?

Im not really sure how that works. Cant all flashes be used off camera, or only the expensive ones?

[Tito87]

Originally Posted by Multipara

Im not really sure how that works. Cant all flashes be used off camera, or only the expensive ones?

Not really, but for my first flash, I would like to stay with the same company that makes my camera--but that's just me. I'm sure there are many that would disagree, but heck, there's no point worrying about that.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by Multipara

Do you know of any that are under 100 that will suffice?

Depends on your definition of "suffice".

If this is your first flash, my general recommendation is to bite the bullet, save up, and get a top-of-the-line OEM flash, so you have at least one speedlight with all the bells and whistles for on-camera AND off-camera use. But an SB-900 is a very expensive thing, and if you're doing a studio-type setup, you might be better served by going for a plug-in studio-strobe, rather than a batter-powered speedlight. More power. Bigger light. More versatility, but heavier, bigger, and has to be triggered off-camera.

A speedlight is more portable and easier to power. You can take them on location, and use them both on- and off-camera.

If you seriously only have $100 to spend, though, you can get a flash, but it won't do much for on-camera shooting, and will be pretty darn limited on the hotshoe. No iTTL (you'll have to dial in the power manually), no high-speed sync, no rear-curtain sync, etc. etc. And chances are good, you'll only have 270-degree swivel, which kind of sucks for on-camera work.

Whatever you do, though, stay away from flashes that don't swivel and don't tilt (i.e., tiny little flashes like the SB-400). They're a lot of money for very little function, and unless tiny size is a huge priority to you, you'll be bettter off with a full-size unit.

Here's a post I wrote about basic flash functions, so you can get a feel for the terminology going on here.

I'd recommend taking a spin around Neilvn.com's Tangents blog for a good feel on what on-camera flash is all about, and the Strobist for a feel on what off-camera flash is all about. In broad terms, on-camera flash is generally for simplicity and run'n'gun event situations. Off-camera Strobist setups are more like setting up some form of studio lighting for editorial/music/fashion photography. Which one you want to do will determine what kind of gear you want to get.

And then speedlights.net can give you hard facts/figures/specs. It's kind of like dpreview for flashes.

You don't know enough yet to know what you want. It's time to do some homework. First off, tell us your budget, and how you envision using the flash. What's the typical "portrait" scenario you're thinking needs a flash?

[ccting]

Don't buy cheap speedlights like YN560. I bought a few, only 1 work without mulfuction. I dropped one from 12 inches and the hotshoe separated from the body. USD70 for 2 days usage. Worth it?
Go for speedlights that are durable enough for baby to throw..

[drakedgar]

I also have the d5100 and I'll would save money and get the SB-700, that's the one I use and can't complain.

Plus your camera doesn't have a flash commander built-in, so it might be a good idea to get a nikon flash that can act as a flash commander in case you want to take multi-flash pictures in the future. You cannot take off camera flash(wireless) pictures with your camera for the same reason. (unless you have an SB-700 or SB-900 and add another compatible wireless flash as slave, still one on camera)

Also it must be noted that your camera is not FP compatible (High Speed Sync), so you won't be able to take pictures faster than 1/200, bad if you want to use the flash as fill light outdoors, you might need to lower the aperture,iso or get an ND filter.

Good luck!
-Ed

P.S. Also recycling time is awesome in the SB-700 using NiMH batteries

[bhursey]

Ya I made the below 100 mistake.. :P I went out and bought a 580EXII years later.