MiroFoto

I have a cheap ($40) Vivitar SF-4000 flash for the side light. It is light and nice for travel. I have used it as a slave. But now somehow it fires, but very very weak light. Just can not figure out why.
So, I would like to buy a cheap flash which will work as a slave BUT ALSO as a main flash. It means a slave type but without the need to fire the one on camera main flash nor with a cable connection. I would like to play with the portrait against the black backdrop.
I know, I can use a camera w/o flash and hang two-three pocket lights to get the side illumination … but . My camera is Nikon 7100 . Maybe there is a wireless feature in it .

Any advice will be appreciated.

Thank you Miro

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Indoors you can bounce the on camera flash off a wall off to the side so it doesn’t really affect the main exposure from the off camera slave. Any optical slave trigger for the off camera flash will see enough pulse from the weak bounce to provide synch.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

Nikon has several flashes that may be of interest. Look at the SB700 and, if too expensive/heavy, go down the line from there. Best of luck.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Neewer has a full line of very good flashes at a pittance, compared to Nikon gear.

flyboy61 Loc: The Great American Desert

Miro;
Definitely not an expert with these things, but I do own a D 7100 and a flash or three. The 7100 is a marvelous camera, and has a commander mode. BUT, the Commander mode uses the built in flash dialed down to a bare wink of light to trigger either Nikon or other flashes that have an optical slave feature (triggered by the built in flash.) The low setting (1/128 power)will eliminate all but a smidge of the built-in flash's light, if you do not want it to be part of the original exposure. The next option is a set of radio frequency flash triggers like the Yongnuo ones. The really inexpen$ive ones are only manual...no ttl feature, except the camera's. There are lots of those, but reliability can be a problem. The next possibility is the Yongnuo TTL triggers. Apparently, they don't care what brand of flash you have, you can adjust power levels from the transmitter unit on the camera. Then there are Pocket Wizard$ and the like. Apparently they work marvels, if you can afford them.
Now, for a cheap flash with both optical and radio slave/commander modes. Adorama's Flashpoint offerings (rebranded Godox) have Adorama's 1 year warranty, and the Godox units offered by B & H are covered by B & H's own warranty, which is here, if you are in the U.S.A. Godox seems to be a highly-regarded brand. Some flashes, like the Godox 685 TT, the Yongnuo 568 EX III, or for a small flash with not much range, the Godox TT350, are iirc, under $100. Vivitar and Sunpak (Tocad America) also have flashes that will do. I have had good service from Sunpak flashes through the years, and also my Nikon ones. I hope I have not thrown mud in the stream, or told you how to build the bicycle when all you needed to know was how to change a tire!
Sooo...Good luck in your search!

flyboy61 Loc: The Great American Desert

Yep, them, too. Altura is relatively cheap, too, and Amazon Basics is another of the "Better, cheaper" models.

jwreed50 Loc: Manassas, VA

I would agree with this. The SB-700 would be an excellent flash for your D7100. Or the SB-500 would be a good second choice. As you would expect, the Nikon speedlights integrate well with Nikon DSLRs.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

And so does the Neewer. And you don't have to sell your firstborn to afford them. There is no excuse for the obscenely expensive Nikon accessories when they already make so much money on their cameras.

lloydl2 Loc: Gilbert, AZ

i am a big fan of the flashpoint (godox) sold and serviced by adorama. You can also get a wireless rf trigger that will send a rf signal to the flash and will allow you to control the power amount and also the flash zoom and do so for all operating modes ttl, manual optical or RF. Priced to please too I have multiple flashes and a trigger so can set up a single to a multiple light setup. The flashes are well priced and work great

MiroFoto

OK, thank you very much. It is plenty to dig thru.
I knew, I can do the bounce, but it did not work - that flash I had. Maybe did, but the power beam was to weak. I see, first I have to learn a bit about the radio transmitter from my 7100.

Thank you all for the quick hints. Now I have a directions for my homework. Miro

CO

Take a look at the Nikon SB-500 and SB-700. The SB-500 ($247) is a basic flash and can be used as a slave. The SB-700 ($346) has far more functionality. You put your D7100 in commander mode to trigger the speedlights remotely using its pop-up flash. You can also use radio triggers. I use a PocketWizard Mini-TT1 and Flex-TT5. I have an SB-700 and SB-5000.

It's possible that your Vivitar flash fires weakly because of the capacitor. If the capacitor isn't charged for a long time, the dielectric layer can deform, causing the capacitor to electrically leak. It will not fully charge and/or may heat up internally. Nikon recommends that their flashes be fired a few times every month to reform the capacitor.

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What if they are selling cameras at a loss to create a market for accessories ?

Polaroid sold cameras at a loss cuz they had a monopoly on expensive film.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

You can get less expensive flash's from B&H or get a nice used Nikon SB-800 from ebay. Make sure you get a rotating and tilting head, it will pay dividends later as you discover the wonderful world of TTL tilt and bounce flash.
The Godox TTL685N is nice.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=TTL%20flash%20for%20Nikon&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma

The older reliable Nikon SB-800 is also a good starting point, if you get used, make sure the battery compartment is clean. Read descriptions carefully to make sure everything works as it should.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR7.TRC1.A0.H0.XNikon+SB-800.TRS0&_nkw=Nikon+SB-800&_sacat=0

MiroFoto

CO - thank you … I think you are right. It flashes, but very weak. I had no idea about the capacitor issue. I have stored flash w/o batteries, but did not use it for long time. Well. I am old enough I should know the rule for everything:" You don't use it = you loose it."
And you know? The sales photo experts with 15 y experience did not know this. !!!!

Miro

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Then I would have even more Nikons than I already have. And even more second party accessories. Well, maybe not, I have a D200, D5000, D500, D610 and D850, that might be enough.