Okay, I accept the slang and I do agree with you that off-camera flash, although not a new concept, really has come on in leaps and bounds recently because of the demand for manufacturers to progress associated technology. It can only be a good thing, whether you call it strobism or not
I agree with this also... if you want camera-controlled (e)TTL flash. This is still very costly (plus with Canons you can't use the onboard pop-up flash as the trigger so that's one Speedlight out of the equation straight away*). We're also talking beginner tactics here and that kind of investment is seriously massive for someone who's only just getting into flash.
*
Unless they've changed this since I stopped using a 40D and a 550EX. If they have then I'm wrong
I agree also that having a veritable plethora of different brand flashguns, all set to manual and firing via ebay triggers in manual mode does seem alarming considering the advances made in camera-controlled flash like Nikon's CLS, but the plain fact is A) it's cheaper (a set of triggers is £25 or so, an old SB26 about £50-60), and B) manual flash isn't something that's bad or wrong, it's just different to the fully-automated processes we use for much of our photography so it's beginning to be seen as a bit old fashioned and archaic. I still shoot manual in the studio, as do thousands of others, so why not take the same thinking to the outdoors - it's the same principle after all. Plus, using manual keep you fit as you run around changing power outputs by 1/3 stop every few seconds
It's two different POV. Everybody's flash darling, Joe McNally loves his camera-controlled Nikon CLS setup but he's minted and for me (and probably loads of others) that's the prohibiting factor in why we don't have same brand flash set-ups and why we all persevere with the somewhat unreliable ebay triggers. If SB900s were £75 then I'd be swimming in them now, but alas, they're £300
If the OP was on Nikon then he could buy
SU-4 TTL units, attach some old flashes to them and them you have a relatively inexpensive TTL set-up (controlled using pre-flashes). I don't know id these work with non-Nikon Speedlights but they are certainly a good idea, albeit a bit limited because their sensor can be fooled in bright sunlight. Also, I don't find my Nikon's that puny - noisey, maybe the SB26, but still packs enough punch to allow me a wide degree of creativity.
Up yer bum
The
OP must be thinking he's stepped into a right warzone...