Recommnd a flash unit for a beginner.

[ducky88]

Most important is to check your fortune, whether you have good luck or not

jokes aside, most of it is common sense I suppose.
- check for any damage that indicates it may have been dropped
- check for functionality (encompasses many aspects and depends on what features the flash has)

Noted. Thank you.

I am also rather new to external flash units, but I recently acquired the SB600 on the Classifieds. I am loving it so far!

If you are looking for flashes on the Classifieds, the SB600 seems to pop out quite often every now and then.

How much u brought. Been hunting one there too. All sold out.

 

[spgohjc]

Flash got no beginner or advanced. Buy the best you can afford.

 

[ziploc]

what to check when buying 2nd hand flash?

First do some homework, download the manual so that you know what accessories are included. Then on meet up just make sure the items are there.

Here are some areas you can check:
1. Check the battery compartment for corrosion.
2. If it has a tilting/rotating head, make sure it is not too loose and can latch on to each position.
3. If it has a built in diffuser/bounce card, pull them out and push them back in to ensure they are working properly.
4. Check the buttons and dials.
5. Mount the flash. If it has a zoom head, set the flash to auto zoom, zoom your lens and ensure the flash is following.
6. Set camera to aperture priority mode. Change the aperture settings and make sure the flash is following.
7. If you're at a dark enough place, test the AF assist on the flash.
8. Make a couple of test fire.
9. If you're getting the original Nikon flash, you can also test the remote flash (e.g. CLS etc) if both your camera body and the flash support it.

That's about it.

 

[spgohjc]

Don't forget this especially if it is pre owned.

Load it with brand new batteries.
Point the flash at yourself and hit the "Test"
Button. just kidding.
Time how long it takes to recycle and compare against its specs.
Any major deviation would mean a possible charge capacitor leakage.

 

[Valkarian]

Flash got no beginner or advanced. Buy the best you can afford.

yup. impt when buying second hand is also the recharge timing.

 

[tecnica]

i came from the opposite side of this thread.

got a YongNuo YN-460II as my first external flash as i couldn't afford first party TTL flashes.

was thinking since i'm interested in flash photography, might as well learn it the right way, through full manual mode.

as there was no TTL assist, i had to read up a lot on flash photography and started to understand how light falls off, the inverse square law, what affects flash exposure etc.

the YN-460II really did bulk up quite a bit of my knowledge on using flash in my photos. i have had used it for portrait shots, birthday parties and family events.

then i tried a bit of creative lighting with radio frequency triggers + receivers and boy, it was fun!

it was after a year when i felt the need to upgrade to a TTL flash unit, as i couldn't keep up with the fast happenings around me.

got the 580EXII and started to get lazy and rely on E-TTL most of the time.

it's been quite a while since i touched the manual mode already, hmm need to get back the feel asap.