FLASH or TRIPOD?

[ricardinho]

Hello all,

I want to buy a flash or a tripod. I can only afford one item.

Nikon SB-400 or Manfrotto 7302YB

Both are about the same price.

What would YOU buy?

Thanks.

[kirbinster]

Well I think I would go for the tripod. You already have the pop-up flash on the camera and the SB400 does not give you a lot more bang for the buck. If you were comparing an SB600 then it might be a tougher choice - but I think you would probably get more value out of the tripod.

[inkista]

Tripod. If you're going to go with a flash, you want at least an SB-600 or other speedlight that will let you manually set the power level. The SB-400 is only a stop more power than the pop-up flash, and it's i-TTL only (iirc. I may not. I'm a Canon shooter).

Also, this is just my opinion, but a tripod is a more basic piece of equipment, and lets you overcome the tyranny of shutter speeds for handholding. And the cool part is that, like the flash, it'll work with all your lenses.

The basic advice I tend to throw out about flash is that if you're not comfortable shooting in Manual mode and swapping stops among iso, aperture, and shutter speed, then you may want to wait to get the flash until you are. Because it's just going to add power and distance to the mix, and if you can't juggle three balls, juggling five isn't going to be any easier.

[candleman]

if you are only considering the sb400 .....get the tripod

the sb400 is prety useless IMHO... as above.. minimum i'd suggest is sb600

[ricardinho]

Thanks for all your input....Still Undecided.

[ricardinho]

I read a few other posts about flashes and I did myself a favour and bought the Nikon SB-600....WOW! What a flash!

Something as simple as bouncing light off walls and ceilings is amazing.

Once again, thanks for all the advice.