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Post #1
Hi, my dad's birthday is in a month, and I think he'd love a flash for his Nikon D300s, since he's never had one. I don't know anything about cameras or flashes, so I'm asking here. My budget is between 300 and 400 €. I'm not sure you can afford anything professional with that amount of money, but he takes photography quite seriously. He usually takes photos of buildings and places, and quite often of people aswell. So yeah, what can I get?
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The SB-900 is Nikon's top-of-the-line external flash unit. Supports commander and slave modes, TTL metering, power zoom, guide number 34, the whole nine yards. Seems to fit right in your budget, and technically, it is a professional unit
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Why not get a SB-600 and use the remaining money for accessories or something like a 35mm f1.8?
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I just googled that, but I didn't understand much about it. My dad's current one is a bit longer than that. What's the difference? (sorry, I can't tell you much more about it right now)
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If he doesn't know anything about cameras, it's dangerous for him to be lens shopping, B-haz. That might be a decent option, however, if you can get us an exact inventory of your dad's equipment TerabyteS (i.e. sneak into wherever he keeps his gear and go through it, look over his lenses and write down pretty much everything you see written on them. Be careful while handling!)
I'd think the SB-700 would be better than the SB-600 though, it's newer and better, and seems to be a little cheaper purchased new on top of that. The main reason I'd avoid the 600 with a budget like that is the lack of a commander mode.
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I just talked to him about lenses and he already has a good idea about which lenses to get and he says he'll buy them sometimes for sure, so I'll leave that to him in order to avoid possibly fucking it up.
I think I might go and buy the SB-900 if my mother agrees. It's much better than the others after all, right?
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It's the top-of-the-line Nikon-brand. You could probably get by on the SB-700 just fine, but if you really want to impress him, the SB-900 should fit right in the middle of your budget.
You might be able to get him a setup he could use off-camera though, if you go with the SB-700. Something like the SB-700, plus an SC-28 remote cord, a Manfrotto light stand, Manfrotto umbrella adapter, and one or two umbrellas.
I'm no expert in off-camera light, to be honest I haven't even started in it myself, but I know you can do some amazing things with it. That kit includes the name-brand flash equipment and a very high quality name stand. I don't know about the umbrellas, it's difficult to find good ones without knowing what exactly to look for. Still, all that should be under your upper limit for the budget.
As for the compromise on the flash itself, it seems the main missing features are only a tiny loss in power and a few jacks for PC Sync cords and an external power pack. The PC Sync cord might be a better option for off-camera flash, so in that case it may be better to just get the SB-900 and let your dad do the off-camera stuff himself.
Agh, my advice is so wishy-washy. Someone with experience recommend one of these plans! (Or something better!)
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Da best. Lots of flashy flashy ka-bow!
Friendly x 1
Dumb x 4
Agree x 2
