I need an external flash unit for D40

[pageerror404]

I need to purchase a speedlight for my d40. I want it to experiment with creative lighting techniques, and I plan on using it off camera quite a lot. I was looking at the SB-600 but then I heard that the D40 doesn't have a commander mode to operate it wireless. What do I need to purchase to make this work for my camera? Whatever it is, would it be cheaper/worthwhile to just sell my D40 and then spend a little extra to buy a more advanced body?

What other options are there?

Also out of curiosity, how do you mount a speedlight to a tripod? They aren't threaded as far as I am aware.

 

[compuwar]

I need to purchase a speedlight for my d40. I want it to experiment with creative lighting techniques, and I plan on using it off camera quite a lot. I was looking at the SB-600 but then I heard that the D40 doesn't have a commander mode to operate it wireless. What do I need to purchase to make this work for my camera? Whatever it is, would it be cheaper/worthwhile to just sell my D40 and then spend a little extra to buy a more advanced body?

What other options are there?

Also out of curiosity, how do you mount a speedlight to a tripod? They aren't threaded as far as I am aware.

Depends a lot on how and where you plan to use it- if it's indoors on a flash bracket, you just need a cord, if it's indoors on a light stand or off a Justin Clamp then you'll need a hotshoe adapter, and a commander-mode trigger. If it's outdoors, then radio triggers, but you'll lose TTL unless you go with RadioPoppers.

 

[fulcrum.1995]

consider both the SB-400 and SB600

both can bounce flashes but the SB400 is more compact and light at the expense of wireless unit, manual functions, and horizontal rotation

 

[telecomm]

I was in a similar situation with my D60 over the holidays, and decided to go for an SB-600. It can't be controlled wirelessly by a D40/D60, but just having the option of using the bounce flash is a lot to start playing with, and when I upgrade to a D90 or higher I'll be able to use it wirelessly without buying a transmitter.

IMHO the big weakness of the SB-400 is that it can't bounce off a ceiling when the camera is in portrait orientation, since it only swivels on one axis.

 

[OreoCookie]

I second the suggestion to have a look at the SB-400 and the SB-600. I have recently upgraded from an SB-400 to an SB-600 and I love both!

The SB-400 is very small and literally fits in your pocket. It's a lot more capable than any built-in pop-up flash. I've found it powerful enough for most things, especially for indoor pictures.

The SB-600 is more powerful and I love that I can use it off-camera. My D80 can use the built-in flash to do its magic and use both flashes at the same time However, it's a lot bigger. It adds quite some heft to your camera.

 

[epicwelshman]

SB-600 all the way. For a first flash it's great. I use two of them all the time with radio triggers. Nikon's commander mode isn't without it's flaws - the flash has to be line of sight with whatever commander unit you use, which can make life very difficult.

Buy the SB-600, practice with it on camera, and pick up a couple of cheap eBay radio triggers to play around with.