Which flash for D3100?!?!?! :S:S

George.d(^^,)b

George.d(^^,)b

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Hey all, anyone know the best cheap flash for a D3100, mainly for natural looking portraits of family members.. I was looking at the SB 400 earlier but don't have £100 :/ any ideas?
 
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Ah - well I think I'd rather save and get a second hand SB 400 or something along those lines.. Just literally put a piece of thick paper over my flash and took a self portrait and then removed it and the pictures are incomparable. I can see why others warned me against internal flash in my last thread. Wondering now though whether or not I should just get a flash defuser? Any idea if the SB400 is worth the £100? I suppose I could do some extra shifts.. ^_+
 
I got a couple of those to use for off camera flash a couple of months ago and I'm very happy with them, like said above they are manual only so if you're new to flash it will take a bit of getting used to
 
 
Thank you! And you get good portrait results indoors? Also, is it manual or automatic, whatever that means in flash - lol?! total newb here..
 
If you do end up deciding to spend £100, then I suggest a Nissin Di622 which is about the same price as an SB-400 but more powerful and with more features. It's fully automatic on a D3100 (but make sure you get the Nikon version). For £20 more you can get the Di622 Mk 2 which is even more flexible.
 
I have an SB400 and an SB600 and to be honest I rarely use the SB600 as the SB400 is small, light and just does the job with fuss whatsoever.
 
Thanks both, i'll deffo be saving for a new flash, have any of you used the flash diffuser's though? For pop up flash? I've seen a lot of before and after shots online and they seem a good thing to have until I can get an external flash??
 
The Nissin Di622 can be used off camera aswell with the built in flash popped up as it has a slave mode.
 
I know it's not exactly elegant, but have you tried a DIY approach to it - making a paper reflector on your inbuilt camera flash to point the illumination?
 
freecom2 said:
I know it's not exactly elegant, but have you tried a DIY approach to it - making a paper reflector on your inbuilt camera flash to point the illumination?
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Just done this, works great :)
There's a big difference between flash shots indoors and diffused flash shots(The diffused shots look so much more natural)..But the diffused flash shots are still far easier to focus than the shots taken without flash all together, so for now - i'm rather chuffed ;) For more important events though, I will have to invest in a decent flash soon, hopefully i'll get a few extra days at work and that should cover it :)
 
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How do the Nissin flash's look in real life? I've only been able to find them from Hong Kong suppliers and they look in contrast to my camera, which I'm rather picky about ^_+
 
Microglobe do them as well.
 
Thank you :D So, if I wanted a nice portrait indoors of my brothers or parents, this flash could create a natural looking light and keep the image clearer? Also, I notice it's got buttons on the back, do you need to use these or will it automatically just flash when you want it to? Lol, I feel so stupid asking these questions, but otherwise, i'll never know ^_+
 
The buttons enable you to set different modes for the flash, but in the default situation all you have to do is connect the flash unit, switch it on, and take pictures. The flash is controlled automatically by the camera.

There are lots of reviews to be found on the net - here's just one for example: http://www.modsynergy.com/review187.html
 
I have 3 nissin di622's. I used to have a nikon sb800. I bought all 3 nissins for less than one sb800 and bar a few small features the nissins do everything the nikon did. They are super easy to set up, even for manual shooting. Just adjust the power, shoot, review and adjust if needed. The ITTL works very well and they are built very well. They don't look out of place on my d700. 7 day shop used to be the cheapest in the uk not sure now though.
 
George.d(^^ said:
Thank you :D So, if I wanted a nice portrait indoors of my brothers or parents, this flash could create a natural looking light and keep the image clearer? Also, I notice it's got buttons on the back, do you need to use these or will it automatically just flash when you want it to? Lol, I feel so stupid asking these questions, but otherwise, i'll never know ^_+
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You need to 'bounce' the flash off the ceiling (i.e. point it upwards), this is what will give the pictures a lovely even look.
 
George.d(^^ said:
Lol, I feel so stupid asking these questions, but otherwise, i'll never know ^_+
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Haha, I know nothing about using flashes so don't find the questions stupid :) I'll be looking to start with a flash for a nikon in the coming month so finding this useful :thumbs:
 
Thanks everyone, I too have found this useful! :) I'll let everyone know when I've bought my flash and see if it's what I expected :)
 
I'd still recommend an SB400, it is very quick at recycling. My friend has an off-brand flash (jessops I think?) and it takes about 5 seconds betweens shots, whilst the SB400 can fire about 10 before it has to recharge. stick a diffuser on it and it's perfect for 99% of situations.
 
Ok, my jessops 360AFD finally showed up and it's damn near perfect on the Nikon D3100, it pairs up beautifully and all the automatic functions work. It's about three seconds to recharge but this is on brand new batteries. I'm really rather chuffed that I didn't spend £200 on one now.
 
Decca said:
Ok, my jessops 360AFD finally showed up and it's damn near perfect on the Nikon D3100, it pairs up beautifully and all the automatic functions work. It's about three seconds to recharge but this is on brand new batteries. I'm really rather chuffed that I didn't spend £200 on one now.
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Sorry to bring up an old thread - i'm considering the 360AFD for my D3100 too. How have you been finding it now you've had it for a few months? How many pictures would you say you've gotten out of a set of batteries before you've noticed a reduction in recharge time?
 
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