I'm new! what kind of flash??

[Jenyjeny]

I know there must be a newbie post around here somewhere...

I'm looking for info on what type of flash to buy - I love my camera (Nikon D60) but I don't love the effect of the built in flash in scenarios like a church, or dimly lit rooms. It either gives the lovely dark shadow, or I turn it off, and get a grainy shot, or movement. :S

What to get? Would love to add it to my Santa list...

~Jenni

[Liz Caldwell]

I personally have the Bower SFD728C right now. It's not an "uber-flash" but it's affordable, it talks to my camera, so it can help with focusing and such, and it has the rotating and adjustable head.

Simple, affordable, does everything I need it to for everyday use I still whip out the big boy when it's needed, but the Bower is just fine for everyday use.

[Jenyjeny]

Thanks Liz - I'm seeing a lot of ETTL or I TTL when I shop around... can you (or anyone) tell me what this means?

[Liz Caldwell]

TTL (Through The Lens) is a flash exposure system that uses a brief pre-flash "flicker" before the main flash in order to obtain better exposure and focus.

The E (Evaluative) is generally made for Canon, and I (Intelligent) for Nikon

[Jenyjeny]

ah ha! I see... Thank you!!

[Liz Caldwell]

No problem, happy to help

And welcome to DPS

[metallion58]

Originally Posted by Liz Caldwell

The E (Evaluative) is generally made for Canon, and I (Intelligent) for Nikon

So, what you're saying is
Canon = Evaluative = best guess
Nikon = Intelligent = actually knows what it does
Am I reading this right?

[Jonbar18]

I$ there $omething you're forgetting to tell u$?

[inkista]

Budget and usage of the proposed flash would help. Whether you want on- or off-camera or both.

And here's a post I did a while back on the basic flash features, just so you can get your feet wet with the terminology we're likely to fling at you.

Generally speaking, the usual advice is get an OEM mid or top range flash (SB-700, SB-900) if you can afford it, because it will give you the best feature set, build quality, and future compatibility, and can be used for both on- and off-camera flash lighting work. If you can't afford it, finding their predecessors, used (SB-600, SB-800) is your next step down. Then, the TTL-capable 3rd parties, and lastly, the all-manual flashes.

Only go for the cheapie all-manual flashes (LumoPro LP160, Yongnuo YN-560) if this is your second or third flash, or if you know that you won't be doing any on-camera work, and that your triggering system does not do iTTL.

Typical features you'd want your first flash to have would be iTTL, tilt, swivel, and a decent amount of power output.

[cansan]

I would suggest the Nikon SB-400. It doesn't have too many bells and whistles apart from a tilting head, which lets you bounce the flash off the ceiling. I'm using it for a good while now with my Nikon D40 and for taking pictures indoors and it makes a world of difference to the onboard flash. Also, it figures out the correct exposure itself, so you dont have to take care about how far away the ceiling is, etc etc etc...