Which Flash for a Nikon D40 ?

[james_tigerwoods]

I've decided that I will be getting a flash for my D40 - I've taken a lot of photos recently and they've all been, well, rubbish as the on board flash is just washing everything out and it's driving me nuts.

So, which flash do people have/recommend? I've borrowed a Speedlight SB-600 from a friend to try out, but is the 400 any good? Or is there a comparable alternative? (Budget is up to £150 at the most)

I've a friend in the States just now so I might ask him to pick something up for me if the response is quick enough

Thanks

JTW

[VxDuncan]

Does the D40 have flash compensation? Might be work trying that if it has it before splashing out. If not the Nikon flash units will give you the ability to better blend flash and ambient light. Whilst I'm happy with (decent) third party lenses, I'm glad I went with a nikon flash as there's so much integration between the flash and camera.

I have an SB600 that works well on the D80/D300, think it was about £120 delivered off fleabay.

[james_tigerwoods]

I've tried playing with the slow and rear options that you can set on the D40, but when photographing my 7 month old daughter, the results are pretty poor as she's not one to sit still for more than about half a second...

[CivicMan]

I use the SB600 (£125) with my D40 and use a Stofen diffuser (£15) - results are spot on.

[stevejh]

I've been having the same issue with my D40. Nearly every shot was completely over-exposed.

I tried playing with the flash compensation but it seemed to make no difference so I tried to reduce the flash power which worked but obviously isn't an ideal solution.

Whilst playing I noticed that unless you 'ok' your flash selection in the menu it stays as 'manual'. I switched to 'TTL' and clicked on 'ok' and now the flash works perfectly.

It might be the same issue for you.

[james_tigerwoods]

stevejh said:

I've been having the same issue with my D40. Nearly every shot was completely over-exposed.

I tried playing with the flash compensation but it seemed to make no difference so I tried to reduce the flash power which worked but obviously isn't an ideal solution.

Whilst playing I noticed that unless you 'ok' your flash selection in the menu it stays as 'manual'. I switched to 'TTL' and clicked on 'ok' and now the flash works perfectly.

It might be the same issue for you.

I didn't know you could change that setting (RTFM I suppose)

[james_tigerwoods]

Bit of a ressurection, but I now have my Speedlight 600 - and I love it