Flash Unit advice needed (and macro lighting)

[compleks]

Hello again. I have a couple of questions I need some help with.

I shoot with a D90 and would like to get a flash.

I was told that the SB600 would be perfect, and looking on eBay it seems as though one would set me back about $300-$350. Which I cannot really afford.

I'm wondering what the difference between a Nikon flash and a Cheaper after market unit are?
There are Flash units selling on ebay for under $100. More specifically the 'YONGNUO' brand.
( YN560 Speedlite Flash Nikon D90 D80 D5000 D300 D700 D60 (eBay item 230603096385 end time 29-Apr-11 16:33:29 AEST) : Cameras )

What are the real differences?
Am I better off saving for a Nikon SB series, or will the Yongnuo flash do the same job?







Alsoooooooo.

I'm looking for advice on lighting macro photography. I recently ordered some extension tubes, but haven't arrived yet. I assume lighting is very important when it comes to macro photography.
Any advice in this department would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks everyone

[OsmosisStudios]

Man, is Oz really screwing with prices that bad? Theyre $250 here.

[__Legion__]

yeah...they are....

I am Canadian, been here for the past year or so and I was here for about 8 years a decade or so past and, in my experience, it has always been like this here...

I am a musician as well as interested in photography so I get doublely hit, the import duties and markup are phenomenal compared with North American prices and because the retailers get hit first they are often shy about bringing in new product if they aren't certain it will sell so it takes us longer to get the new toys. Another effect is that there is less market price fluctuation, because the retailers paid high when ordering they are far less likely to drop prices much when the products passes it's initial peak, where as in the US and Canada after a month or so we usual see prices drop quite a bit.

It's a strangle hold...

[RichardTaylor]

Lighting is very important for all photography.
Personally I like to use flash for a lot of my macros (not that I am a prolific macro shooter) because it allows me to shoot at smaller apertures when shooting in the field.

You may be interested in this guys photo stream (one of my Flickr contacts), he doesn't use flash for his macros.

Flickr: © Limpus48's Photostream

[compleks]

All gear here is fairly expensive unfortunately.

That said, does anyone have any experience with the after market flash mentioned above??

cheers.