Looking for flash advice: I'm looking for a good off-camera flash for my Nikon D7200. I haven't done much with flash in the past but now find myself shooting about 100 shots a week...

skipwv Loc: West Virginia

I'm looking for a good off-camera flash for my Nikon D7200. I haven't done much with flash in the past but now find myself shooting about 100 shots a week using it. I want to replace my current--and old--Vivitar DF 383 with something similar that is of better quality. I need a quick recycle time and better TTL function. I've looked at Nikon's SB300, 500, and 700 models. What are your experiences with them and what other brands might you recommend looking at? Thanks!

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

I really like Nikon’s speedlights, but for off camera use, a radio remote is invaluable.
I’m loving my Godox (Adorama Flashpoint) lights.
Built-in radio transceivers and a ton of accessories and light options.
On the upper end for Godox speedlights, the V1 is amazing. Really long battery life.
Link here
It’s all I took for a wedding in France last month.

At $110, the TT685 is better on the budget.

The Lithium-ion powered Ving 860 will have you shooting all day on one charge for $179

The X-
ProN Transmitter is really intuitive to use.
They just came out with the X2 transmitter which is a bit more compact and better UI than the X1, which is a bit wonky tpo use.

I also have an AD 200, my favorite!... supposedly 3x the power of a speedlight in a package not much bigger, and an AD 600 monolight.
Those last two will work with Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus/Panasonic as the built-in recedivers know what kind of transmitter you are using. A Canon-shooting friend and I share.

I rarely pull out my Bowens monolight kit anymore.

skipwv Loc: West Virginia

GoofyNewfie wrote:

I really like Nikon’s speedlights, but for off camera use, a radio remote is invaluable.
I’m loving my Godox (Adorama Flashpoint) lights.
Built-in radio transceivers and a ton of accessories and light options.

Thanks!

Steve DeMott Loc: St. Louis, Missouri (Oakville area)

skipwv wrote:

I'm looking for a good off-camera flash for my Nikon D7200. I haven't done much with flash in the past but now find myself shooting about 100 shots a week using it. I want to replace my current--and old--Vivitar DF 383 with something similar that is of better quality. I need a quick recycle time and better TTL function. I've looked at Nikon's SB300, 500, and 700 models. What are your experiences with them and what other brands might you recommend looking at? Thanks!

I've had good luck with the Altura Photo Flash Kit for NIKONs

https://www.amazon.com/Altura-Photo-Professional-Flash-NIKON/dp/B00H84WRK2/ref=asc_df_B00H84WRK2/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309822971200&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17108687323308420706&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9052587&hvtargid=pla-568628022862&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=70157059668&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=309822971200&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17108687323308420706&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9052587&hvtargid=pla-568628022862

For me it was a way to gain experience with speed lights at a rather inexpensive cost compared to the Nikon speed lights. I have used these lights for over 2 years with no problems except when I dropped one.

Hope this helps

skipwv Loc: West Virginia

steve DeMott wrote:

I've had good luck with the Altura Photo Flash Kit... (show quote)

Thanks!

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

All this being said, you can set up the pop-up flash on your D7200 to control off-camera Nikon flashes.
https://www.creativepadmedia.com/blog/how-to-set-the-commander-mode-flash-feature-on-nikon-d750-d7200-d7500/

It works surprisingly well within its capabilities.
It uses an infrared signal, not radio so the range isn't as good and you need to make sure the flash sensor can "see" the flash, or at least light, from the commander.
The shot below was done with my old Nikon D200 and 2 Nikon SB-800 speedlights using the pop-up in commander mode. The speedlight in the box was covered by a piece of paper to act as a diffuser, so it wasn't getting direct light from the commander, but it worked!
I have a friend who has a Nikon SB-600 speedlight for sale that can do this.
Contact me if you're interested.

Magaliaman Loc: Magalia, CA

skipwv wrote:

I'm looking for a good off-camera flash for my Nikon D7200. I haven't done much with flash in the past but now find myself shooting about 100 shots a week using it. I want to replace my current--and old--Vivitar DF 383 with something similar that is of better quality. I need a quick recycle time and better TTL function. I've looked at Nikon's SB300, 500, and 700 models. What are your experiences with them and what other brands might you recommend looking at? Thanks!

Another vote for the Godox Lithium Powered Speedlite. V860II-N. Affordable, Flexible, Powerful, and Well Built. Nearly as good quality wise as the Nikon costing 3x as much.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Some great resources for off camera lighting:
https://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html
https://blog.joemcnally.com/
https://neilvn.com/tangents/about/books/

And there are several great FB sites for Off-camera flash
2 here
Learn to Light - An OCF Lighting Community
Portraits and OCF (Off Camera Flash)

skipwv Loc: West Virginia

GoofyNewfie wrote:

Some great resources for off camera lighting:
https://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html
https://blog.joemcnally.com/
https://neilvn.com/tangents/about/books/

And there are several great FB sites for Off-camera flash
2 here
Learn to Light - An OCF Lighting Community
Portraits and OCF (Off Camera Flash)

Thanks!

skipwv Loc: West Virginia

Magaliaman wrote:

Another vote for the Godox Lithium Powered Speedlite. V860II-N. Affordable, Flexible, Powerful, and Well Built. Nearly as good quality wise as the Nikon costing 3x as much.

Thanks!

out4life2016 Loc: Bellingham, Washington

One more vote for the Godox 860. I have two with a remote transmitter and love them. Currently I am using them on stands in my home studio shooting through a set of soft boxes and sometimes the bounce umbrellas

skipwv Loc: West Virginia

out4life2016 wrote:

One more vote for the Godox 860. I have two with a remote transmitter and love them. Currently I am using them on stands in my home studio shooting through a set of soft boxes and sometimes the bounce umbrellas

thanks!

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

You may want to consider a Yongnuo #685 flash unit. Somewhere in the $120 range. A clone of the Nikon SB-910. Godox is a good too.

skipwv Loc: West Virginia

mas24 wrote:

You may want to consider a Yongnuo #685 flash unit. Somewhere in the $120 range. A clone of the Nikon SB-910. Godox is a good too.

Thanks!

CatMarley Loc: North Carolina

GoofyNewfie wrote:

I really like Nikon’s speedlights, but for off camera use, a radio remote is invaluable.
I’m loving my Godox (Adorama Flashpoint) lights.
Built-in radio transceivers and a ton of accessories and light options.
On the upper end for Godox speedlights, the V1 is amazing. Really long battery life.

I second the Godox nomination. Good performance, modest price, best value.