Recommend a flashgun

[thekirbyfake]

I'm still a relative novice when it comes to the DLSR world but one thing's for sure, the flash on my 400D seems rather poor. I find the lighting it provides is harsh, especially when taking baby pics.

I'm looking for something which will light up the subject for a portrait but the choice out there is a bewildering minefield. I'll be getting missus to buy one for me for Xmas (generous husband that I am) and have a rough budget of ~£100.

Is something like a Jessops 300AFD for £70 or 360AFD going to be any good? Or are they cheap for a reason?

My kit is fairly basic so far (400D + kit lens + nifty fifty) so I'd rather not spend too much yet.

[Famous Graham]

Sigma version's not bad either, although the recharge rate is a little slower, I believe.

[4hero]

I just sold a hardly used 300AFF today for £30, it wasn't very good to be honest. It's a step up from the on board flash, but more of an in between compared to the Canon 430ex. There are hardly any controls on the jessops flash, wasn't impressed really.

Save up another £70 and get the 430ex!

[Stigmundfreud]

430ex is your best option, 580 way too ott for you (as mentioned ) but even the 430 will have you scratching your head

a lot

unless you use it a lot, then you'll be fine. Unfortunately I hardly use it so the one time I want the fking thing to accept my +2 flash comp it wouldnt

I take it home and found i hadnt taken it off slave mode

its a good flash, if only the st-e2 would enable 2nd curtain

[Stigmundfreud]

bargain! unless they come down in price

I am looking at one to replace the ste2 as a trigger as it will give a usefull 3rd flash, also I want to try the strobe feature out!

eta I still have and occasionally use an old cobra I paid 10 quid for. Fully manual but with a useful slider it works great, if I was starting out again I'd still look at the flash I have as a cheap and very versitile option. Advantage that the speedlight 430 onwards have is how flexible they are, talk fully to camera BUT they can take over too much if you dont pay attention.

Funnily enough I was testing it all out tonight as its been a while since I used them and have a shoot coming up where I will need them

Edited by Stigmundfreud on Saturday 15th November 00:46

[thekirbyfake]

So is the consensus that a £70 Jessop flashgun is a false economy and that it doesn't offer much over the standard flash?

[MartinP]

Until recently I had a Jessops 320AF flash gun. It was a lot more powerful than the on camera flash but never really worked properly with the camera for metering in spite of claims that it should. I then bought a Canon 430EX II speedlite. What a step up, it 'talks' to the camera properly (flash exposure compensation etc) and can burst a high number of successive flashes with no recycle time. I'd definately recommend getting a pukka Canon flashgun.