Which flash.

Yongnuo 560. got it for less than $60 on amazon. Thing takes a beating. Hit it with skateboards, soccer balls, skis and its fallen off more than one light stand. still works like the first day i bought it. highly recommended!

Yeah I've definitely heard a lot of love for the YN560...

Anyone have any experience using the Non-TTL Auto mode on the Nikon SB-2x flashes? How is it? I kinda love the idea of it. Any other flashes out there with that function?

Simple, rugged, and amazing SB (whatever the top of the line one is lol) clone is the Neewer vk705 II i-TTL. Pick it up on amazon for 50 or if you want a little more flexibility get the mk900 which is just fancier and $25 more. There are so many cheap and shitty speedlights and honestly the vk750 shits on all of them, it lasts, is powerful, flexible, and doesn't make noise. Has a wide zoom range, GN of 58. No HS sync but you only lose 1 stop of a faster shutter speed. I have 2 and LOVE them, I laugh at people who throw hundreds into flashes because you don't need to. Has two slave modes one of which is optically triggered and the other i think is rear sync or something (honestly the 2nd one is useless). Has strobe and the M mode is super straightforward.

Honestly what I liked about it the most is that its flexible, it didn't limit me to how I could use it with only a few modes or with power or anything, but it's also so simple and easy. Instead of fiddling with equipment I could focus more on pictures and everything else.

http://www.amazon.com/Neewer-VK750-Speedlite-Display-Cameras/dp/B00GE4MNQA

That's actually a pretty ridiculous deal for an iTTL flash...

even the ones from Yongnuo are 75 or 90.

I might just pick up one of these and a couple SB-26's and call it a day.

I have an SB-28 and I like it a lot. It's been my only flash though so I don't have much to base my opinion on.

Profahoben_212I have an SB-28 and I like it a lot. It's been my only flash though so I don't have much to base my opinion on.

Do you use it in manual or do you ever use it in Non-TTL Auto mode? I'm curious to know how well that mode works on that flash.

DingoSeanDo you use it in manual or do you ever use it in Non-TTL Auto mode? I'm curious to know how well that mode works on that flash.

Manual only. I have never really tried any other way.

DingoSeanThat's actually a pretty ridiculous deal for an iTTL flash...

It is, especially if you think about flashes this way. They are a really really bright light bulb that can move back and forth, you can adjust how bright it is by simply changing the amount of power you put into the capacitor, and it doesn't do any metering. The programming it uses is probably super simple, and for TTL all it has to do is listen to a camera. When compared to your camera body, it contains a small fraction of the amount of processing power and all that stuff, not to mention build tolerance and materials, therefore it should only cost a small fraction of what a body costs. Bought my d7100 for 700, and my flashes cost less than 10% of that. Its only light..

The Yongnuo's are pretty good. Generally they're built well, except in places (battery cover I'm looking at you) their cheap chinese manufacturing shines through. Be careful and no ill shall befall thou.

If you plan on doing any action photography with them, here's a link to the measured duration: http://www.gock.net/2012/01/flash-durations-small-strobes/

Notice how the Yongnuo outperforms the SB-28 at all power levels.

Quick and dirty example:
Imagine you're photographing a skateboarder using flashes at 1/4 power, duration = 1/2809 s:
Average skater travels at 15mph (googled, it's a rough number), or 6.7 m/s.
6.7*1/2809=2.3mm motion during the flash. Take into account that the flash intensity is not constant during that period, so even less motion is noticeable.

Basically, these cheap little things are fucking rad.

Is that even a question?

omnidataIs that even a question?

Trust me, I'd buy one if I could fuqing find one...

They even have a god damn metal foot!!

Sorry to thread-jack but what batteries do you guys use? I use a yongnuo 560 and always bring 8 kodak (cheap) AA batteries with me just to be careful but im guessing there is something better out there.

JamartiniSorry to thread-jack but what batteries do you guys use? I use a yongnuo 560 and always bring 8 kodak (cheap) AA batteries with me just to be careful but im guessing there is something better out there.

MMXV, still not using superior Eneloops, get with the times...

SB 28's are the skate fanboy photog's favorite nikon speedlight.

I use YN560 II's with eneloops. They work pretty well and I installed 1/8" sync ports on mine