# Nikon Speedlights vs Off Brand??



## eevoh (Feb 11, 2010)

Sorry for all these questions guys and i really appreciate your help. i promise this will be the last thread for the month... hopefully

so my question is whats the difference between a nikon speedlight and the off brands? if i was to buy a nikon speedlight it would most likely be the sb-600 bc its not too expensive but should there be anything thats stopping me from buying the off brand ones?


----------



## TJ K (Feb 11, 2010)

Get the SB600. You know it was built to work with that Nikon camera and if you can afford it no reason to kick yourself in the butt later saying you wish you would have just bought the nikon flash. GL
TJ


----------



## eevoh (Feb 11, 2010)

btw is "off brand" the correct term?...


----------



## mdtusz (Feb 11, 2010)

If it's your first speedlight, get the sb600. The features between the 600 and 900 probably aren't used to their full potential by 70% of the people who use them. The 600 is cheap, reliable, and if it breaks, so what. Buy a new one.


----------



## camhabib (Feb 11, 2010)

I would without a doubt go with Nikon as apposed to 3rd party. They offer a lot of features when combined with a Nikon camera that you can't really get with other brands. As to which model, I would stick with the SB-600. the SB-900 isn't going to really offer you anything extra at this point, as you're only controlling one flash on camera and not an several off camera. Should you pick up a few more SB-600's and need to control them, I would get a 900 at that point, but until now, not worth the extra cost.


----------



## eevoh (Feb 11, 2010)

i have a feeling everyone is just gonna say sb 600 so my next question is what are these accessories that are included in the package for? 

if i dont need them i'm just gonna buy the speedlight itself.


----------



## TJ K (Feb 11, 2010)

Just go for the speedlight itself. You don't need any of that other stuff and chances are you won't ever use it. Do you plan on using the flash off camera? Most likely you will so you will want to pick up a speed light adapter for the SB600 so you can use a pc sync cable with it. This is a very crucial piece of equipment if you plan on off camera work. GL
TJ


----------



## AliasPros (Feb 11, 2010)

I wish I had bought a full kit when I bought my speed light, had to pick the stuff up later and had to pay more $$$ in the long run, but it depends what you need right now.


----------



## PhotoXopher (Feb 11, 2010)

History:
1 Nikon SB400
2 Nikon SB600's
1 Nissin Di866

I love the SB400 for it's size and how well it works around the house, battery lasts a long time and it's easy to operate.

SB600's are nice, I never had any issues with them but the menus were awkward and I could never remember what key press combos did what.

My new flash is the *Nissin Di866* and so far I absolutely love this thing! It's a wireless master, slave, wireless, PC port, USB port for firmware upgrades, power pack capable, auto mode, TTL mode, manual mode, aperture priority mode, color display that auto rotates, sub flash (adjustable power), diffuser with bounce card, stand and tons of power! Best of all it's $249 shipped at Adorama, I'm very impressed with it so far.

And yes, it can control Nikon flash units as well as be controlled by an SU800, SB800, SB900.

Definitely worth looking into... check out the reviews from others who own this flash.

http://www.adorama.com/NIDI866N.html?searchinfo=di866


----------



## eevoh (Feb 11, 2010)

PhotoXopher said:


> History:
> 1 Nikon SB400
> 2 Nikon SB600's
> 1 Nissin Di866
> ...




thanks for your input and i will definitely look into the Nissin Di866. so i guess im down to the Nissin Di866 and sb 600. 

are there any other users here who have experience with the Nissin Di866?


----------



## Felix0890 (Feb 11, 2010)

Here's what I'm doing.  I bought one big brand flash (Canon for me, Nikon for you) and will buy the off-brand $85 ones to be used as fill, slaves, etc.  

Why? The Canon 430ex (the Canon version of the sb600) can be used with Canon's TTL system so when I just need general snapshots, I can pop it on the camera hotshoe, set it to ETTL mode and shoot while the camera and lens do all the work for me.  I wouldn't be able to do this with the cheap flash.  But I don't need every flash to have ETTL since they'll be off-camera anyway, so the rest can be offbrands.

So basically, get one good one for when you want TTL but if you want more, get offbrands that will work fine in manual.

EDIT: To answer your future question (it will pop up once you receive the flash), get the cheap yet effective Cactus V4 wireless trigger system to sync the flash wirelessly.  Trust me when I say that after a week of having the flash on the camera, you'll want to explore the opportunities that come from using the flash off camera.


----------



## PhotoXopher (Feb 11, 2010)

Actually Felix, with the Nissin you could.


----------



## Felix0890 (Feb 11, 2010)

PhotoXopher said:


> Actually Felix, with the Nissin you could.



Yeah but those are basically the same price as the Canon/Nikon ones.  I'm talking about the cheap <$100 flashes (Vivitar, Precision, Opteka, etc) that are just good for slaves and backups.


----------



## PhotoXopher (Feb 11, 2010)

Aha, gotcha... :thumbup:

Depends though, feature wise you're comparing a $249 flash to a $450 flash in the Nikon world, and is compared to the 530ex in the Canon world - but I see what you're saying.


----------



## mdtusz (Feb 11, 2010)

The sb600 works with CLS doesn't it?


----------



## eevoh (Feb 12, 2010)

Felix0890 said:


> Here's what I'm doing.  I bought one big brand flash (Canon for me, Nikon for you) and will buy the off-brand $85 ones to be used as fill, slaves, etc.
> 
> Why? The Canon 430ex (the Canon version of the sb600) can be used with Canon's TTL system so when I just need general snapshots, I can pop it on the camera hotshoe, set it to ETTL mode and shoot while the camera and lens do all the work for me.  I wouldn't be able to do this with the cheap flash.  But I don't need every flash to have ETTL since they'll be off-camera anyway, so the rest can be offbrands.
> 
> ...




hahaha thanks felix, i actually had that question in the back of my head


----------



## eevoh (Feb 13, 2010)

btw guys, is there a thread that teaches us how to use speedlights? i have no idea what ttl, awl, etc... modes are

and yes i did a search - "how to use speedlights" and i didnt find any thread dedicated to speedlights

oh and to all those who voted for sb-600, would you guys recommend the *Nissin Di866 *over the sb-600and to those who voted for other, which one would you recommend?


----------



## Felix0890 (Feb 14, 2010)

TTL (through the lens) means that the flash, when synced with your camera, talks to it so that it can do all the work for you.  It reads your camera settings and adjusts the flash power to what it needs to be.  www.strobist.com has great tutorials on how to use the speedlights.


----------



## Formatted (Feb 14, 2010)

eevoh said:


> btw is "off brand" the correct term?...



Third Party provider would be better.


----------



## eevoh (Feb 15, 2010)

Felix0890 said:


> TTL (through the lens) means that the flash, when synced with your camera, talks to it so that it can do all the work for you.  It reads your camera settings and adjusts the flash power to what it needs to be.  www.strobist.com has great tutorials on how to use the speedlights.





Formatted said:


> eevoh said:
> 
> 
> > btw is "off brand" the correct term?...
> ...



Thanks guys :mrgreen:


----------



## IgsEMT (Feb 15, 2010)

alright, here's my take on it, and that comes from using/owning them...

*sb400* - if u're REALLY on tight budget and can't afford better BUT want/need something better then pop-up
*sb600* - mediocre power output and recycling time, especially when at 1/1 Manual mode. With stofen - puts out over saturated color cast of sort. So have to take that into consideration.
*sb800* - LOVE it. decent recycling time, power outages. Plus ability to use both as commander and slave are very helpful. WORKHORSE.
*sb900* - used it briefly - it's like sb800 with more power & greater/easier control options. Although Nikon claims that firmware update has fixed the issue of it shutting down, user experience haven't really confirmed it. So personally, I'd wait till problem will be solved.
*SB80Dx* - replaced by Sb800 sometime ago but not sb800 is discontinued . If looking for a unit to be on your camera and/or through ttl cord and really want something similar to sb800, it would be a way to go - HOWEVER, it'll work in M and A modes, will not work in ttl. _I made a mistake of selling mine and now after looking for it, some ppl sell it around for $100-150. _
*Quantum Units* - I think they are all very good - in terms of light quality, power out put, recycling time, etc etc BUT they are a bit more pricier.
*Various other off-brand ones* - few friends have used vivitars, were pretty happy about light quality but were cursing the recycling times and power outage.

Since you're looking into flash. unfortunately even used sb800 is around $300 but if you can get it, I'd get it. IF want to spend less, I'd recommend sb80dx; maybe shooting manual isn't where you want to be but you'll be forced to learn it well  and will enjoy it.
SB900 would then be an obvious choice  if going up to $500 isn't a problem.
BUT if you got the $ and willing to take time to play with light, see why many love quantum units, go for it. Now, Quantums aren't "G-Ds in lighting" but I just happened to like it as an off-brand unit.
good luck


----------

