Flash for D40

spav

I'm off to a wedding tomorrow and it just dawned on me that I could do with a flash - I've been idly been thinking of getting one for a while, but haven't had much of a need to date.

Anyway - is there a standard, all purpose flash I should be looking for? If so, would I be able to get this in Dublin without paying well over the odds, or would it be fair more sensible to order online and do without this weekend?

There's nowt like forward planning, eh?

CabanSail

I have the SB600. I was tossing up between it & the SB800 & have found it quite good. The price of either are high in Dublin. I bought the 600 in Australia for less the the price of a Sigma Flash here.

If you can get by without flash & shoot with natural light as much as possible. Camera mounted flash will flatten the images. Maybe take along some reflectors for fill light?

Lionsden

For a D40, the flash range is basically the SB400, SB600, SB800.
I think most people here will tell you to get the best flash you can afford... so it really boils down to "Whats your budget?"

bp_me

Lionsden wrote: »

For a D40, the flash range is basically the SB400, SB600, SB800.
I think most people here will tell you to get the best flash you can afford... so it really boils down to "Whats your budget?"

And the SB-900.

Is the D40 capable of commander mode? If not skip the SB-600 and get a SB-800.

The SB-800 has the highest guide number of any of the current Nikon speed lights though I wonder if the extra zoom in the SB-900 makes up for it..

spav

Lionsden wrote: »

For a D40, the flash range is basically the SB400, SB600, SB800.
I think most people here will tell you to get the best flash you can afford... so it really boils down to "Whats your budget?"

If here's a big difference in quality (and I assume there is) then I'd rather wait and pay more for something that I won't want to replace in a year or so. I'm trying to build the best kit I can with a view to eventually upgrading the body. Might hang on and save for the SB800 then.

Is there anything I can do with the built in flash to get better results for the time being? Cabansail mentioned light reflectors - how do these work?

CabanSail

Have not read this article ... but it looks like it may give you a few ideas.

bp_me

You could rig up something to diffuse or bounce the on camera flash. Probably better off shoving up the ISO and hoping for the best.

For the reception some rear curtain sync might be useful to deal with movement, depending on what you are shooting. Or front curtain maybe (usually only available shooting full manual on nikons).

CabanSail

For a really quick easy reflector you can use a piece of Styrofoam. If you can get a nice flat piece all the better.

spav

Thanks for the advice chaps - I'll do a bit of reading and look into the ISO and front / rear curtain sync suggestions, see if i can't teach myself something

Borderfox

If you havent used much flash yet then dont use it at the wedding, you would get better shots moving everybody around into the light and use high ISO in the church and just make it black and white and grainy