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Which flash would you suggest for my Nikon D800?


stipe

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I'm in agreement with David here.

 

For what you are looking to shoot I don't think a hotshoe flash is what you need.

 

You could have shot all of those images without flash, and if you wanted to vastly improve the quality then you really need a couple of light sources and the ability to place them off camera axis. A quadra would be a really good solution. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

buy the best you can afford.....but also learn how to use them well

 

fwiw i have  a pair of SB910's , a trio of SB900's and a couple of SB800's...plus a bag full of Pocketwizards of various descritions. Sometimes i'll need to use all of them, sometimes none of them.

 

and get out of the mindset of thinking of them as toys. They're tools for image making, not toys for impressing your mates with

 

 

km

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I've used Nikon on camera flashes since the SB-24, before that was the good old Vivitars 283, 285 etc,  I also use a D800 along with 700's  and Fuji S5's and the SB-800 works like

a million on all of my F mount bodies.  I would suggest looking for a Nikon reconditioned SB-800 from Nikon or if you use eBay get it on eBay for less than $300 USD

 

I still have 4 Vivitar 285 flash units (and use them).  SB-800 is a good place to start with flash....I would recommend Paul C. Buff Einstein's if you are looking for something geared more for the studio.

 

I have an Elinchrom Ranger RX Speed and quite frankly, I think for the money, you would be much better off with an Einstein and the portable power pack- and you'd have quite a bit of cash left over for buying light modifiers.

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I mainly shoot with available light, with D4, but after LOTS of research, I recently got 2 Einsteins & Vagabond portable power packs w. accessories (beauty dish, octobox, umbrellas...), since I need solidly satisfactory, economical lighting for certain on-location assignments. (also have SB900, SB800)

 

 

 

I've used Nikon on camera flashes since the SB-24, before that was the good old Vivitars 283, 285 etc, I also use a D800 along with 700's and Fuji S5's and the SB-800 works like

a million on all of my F mount bodies. I would suggest looking for a Nikon reconditioned SB-800 from Nikon or if you use eBay get it on eBay for less than $300 USD

I still have 4 Vivitar 285 flash units (and use them). SB-800 is a good place to start with flash....I would recommend Paul C. Buff Einstein's if you are looking for something geared more for the studio.

 

I have an Elinchrom Ranger RX Speed and quite frankly, I think for the money, you would be much better off with an Einstein and the portable power pack- and you'd have quite a bit of cash left over for buying light modifiers.

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We don't have the option of the Einstein brand in the UK - many US electronic items are not sold here because they can't pass EU or UK safety or materials standards. Recently, the Chinese have had to fall into line with these standards, and of course most US products are like European ones, made in China, so there's more crossover. I'll tend to recommend Elinchrom or other truly internationally supported brands, only because they are worldwide. Often there are neater US-only options.

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David Kilpatrick, on 21 Feb 2014 - 12:57 AM, said:

 

I would not even consider the battery operated camera top flash. For the D800 and portraits and interiors, the two fields specifically mentioned, I would use the system I have from Elinchrom - a Quadra Ranger RX Hybrid 2-head kit. It costs maybe half as much as the D800 body, or twice as much as the Nikon 900 gun with any kind of long life/external power pack.

 

However, at 400Ws and two heads - purely manual, you have to work out or test the exposure, but it has modelling lamps - it will handle holiday apartments, hotels, restaurants, bars, homes for sale; groups, families, portraits - and operate without needing AC power. You can also get a bracket and mount a head next to your camera for events (with the pack on a strap over your shoulder).

 

I do have a set of wireless auto flash with the usual power output, GN 36 to 58 across different heads, but there is no way they match using something like the Quadra kit for paid assignment work. I've always worked like this, from Braun and Metz high power shoulder packs in the 1970s through Norman and Quantum.

Totally agree with David, the hotshoe flashes are very limiting for many uses. Whilst the Quadras are great, especially for higher speed flashes, I would recommend the Lencarta Safaris as the OP is EU-based. More power than most other portable strobes and best of all, they have the s-type bayonet fitting which brings in the widest range of third party modifiers. For portrait work, or model work, having the use of molos/beauty dishes as well as strip softboxes etc makes such a difference to light modification.

 

I tend to try and still use my Bowens strobes for work which is within easy enough distance of my car - an Innovatronix battery pack powers the units.

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David, I'm not sure where you get that Paul C. Buff products are made in China?  I'm sure certain parts are made "overseas" wherever that may be, but the strobes are in fact manufactured in the U.S.  They also have a warranty service center in Canada.

 

Here is a link to their explanation why they don't sell in the UK (though they use to - and they still honor the warranty on the products they used to sell in the UK)

 

http://www.paulcbuff.com/faq.php#international

 

...and here's their suggestion if you would like to ship to the UK - essentially they recommend a freight forwarder service (you will need to pay duties and taxes).  Their Einstein product is compatible with UK 240 VAC

 

http://www.paulcbuff.com/international.php

 

I am not certain what duties would be required for import - it's probably the same reason Elinchrom is so expensive here in the U.S.

 

 

We don't have the option of the Einstein brand in the UK - many US electronic items are not sold here because they can't pass EU or UK safety or materials standards. Recently, the Chinese have had to fall into line with these standards, and of course most US products are like European ones, made in China, so there's more crossover. I'll tend to recommend Elinchrom or other truly internationally supported brands, only because they are worldwide. Often there are neater US-only options.

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