Spirit Vision Photography Loc: Behind a Camera.

I can’t recommend the SB-800 enough. A very reliable unit with power.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I agree. It is a great speedlight for use (although the menu is not the easiest thing to navigate). Too bad it's not in production any more. You have to rely on the used market and repair could be difficult.

jcboy3

I sold off all of my Nikon flashes because the radio triggers I used with them didn't work well with the Z cameras, and I was already using Godox more often than Nikon. I only used Nikon if I was just sticking the flash on top of the camera, but I usually use a flash bracket or off camera flash and Godox is much better for that.

Larryshuman

The SB-5000 is made for the D5, D6 and the Z9. I'm not sure for the mirrorless cameras. Also its uses a radio signal to the camera. Its a wireless setup. Using it without the radio accessery its about a SB-910. I got a used SB-910 for $139.00 and its works like new

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

The SB-5000 is more powerful than a SB-910. I have both. The SB-5000 works with all the DSLRs of its time. I have not tested in on either a Z6 or Z9, but I'll bet it will work with either. I consider it a bit top heavy with a Z6, so I use a SB-700 with that. I normally use a Elinchrome One with my Z9. The SB-5000 can be used wireless, but it doesn't have to. The wireless system is wonderful. Best of luck.

bnsf

B&H $596.00 for this item on their internet now.

MJPerini

For long distance flash , in some situations where you cannot be close to the subject, can you set up Remote flash and trigger with a remote trigger from the camera position.? Second there is a gizmo called a "bletter Beamer" which is a cone with a Fresnel lens to concentrate your flash to a narrow angle (effectively multiplying its power over a narrow area.
Some bare bulb type flashes can be fitted with a long throw parabolic reflector
A Used Alien bee with their long throw reflector would provide LOTS of light for a few hundred bucks and give you a nice umbrella light for nice portraits
good luck

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

It sounds like the long distance shots are a small part of the total.

IMHO, when dealing with low light and distance together, I think ISO is the key.

While you can take the speedlight and concentrate the beam to get more illumination at the subject by various subterfuges, that still gives you direct lighting at a small angle from the field of view. There are disadvantages to that kind of lighting. First of all, you get sharp edged shadows behind the subject. That is mitigated slightly by the fact that the effective separation of the lens and the light is small, so the shadows are not going to extend far from the subject. That also means they are hard to get rid of.

Secondly, a small angular separation between the lens and the light means there will be danger of redeye. Not a big deal but increases PP work.

An off-camera flash nearer the subject can be bounced, which makes the lighting much better in terms of shadows. The question will then be can an on-camera speedlight reliably control an off-camera light at the distance required?

If the off-camera flash near the subject is the answer, is there time to set things like that up beforehand? How many such situations do you come across and do you have enough equipment to distribute around the room to meet all the requirements. And distributing equipment around a room (or even several rooms) becomes an issue of keeping track of where things are and are they charged or even still there when you need them.

If you can deal with higher ISO you can use your speedlight on camera. You still have the redeye and shadow problems but you will not need extreme power.

The important thing is what you are using the photos for. If you're doing a wedding, you want the lowest noise you can get. If you're shooting a speaker at a Rotary club meeting, it's probably going to be used in a newsletter or brochure, so the image will get downsized significantly and that will help with noise reduction.

I would look into using higher ISO than you are used to. Do some experiments.

bnsf

What you truly need to solve your problem is an extra flash, transmitter and receiver, along with a stand for the flash. If your flash that you have now has a built-in transmitter that you will just need receiver to hookup the second flash to. Godox sells a flash with a built-in transmitter. This is what I have done to solve this problem. Works great. When you set the camera to flash both flashes will fire at once. Tripod for the flash run about $20.00 and the Godox flash's are around $250.00 tops with a built-in transmitter and the receiver run around $40.00.
this will solve your flash problem.

Larryshuman

MagMod has a wildlife kit that I use for only $76.00.

jamesl Loc: Pennsylvania

-------------
If you will be doing off-camera flash, you might want to consider Godoz/Flashpoint AD200.

kmielen Loc: Eastern NC

Many Godox lighting items are on sale today during Amazon Prime Day (1). The TT685ii speedlite is an exceptional value. Two of those along with their 2.4 GHz trigger and you are in business for less than the cost of one Nikon-branded speedlite.