I have a new d50 and of course want to buy everything for it,,, my wallet has other issues.

Any way I am looking at doing pet photography which will eventually include their people with them too. I am wondering do I want a speed light or stand lights or both?

What purpose do they serve individually and together?

Assuming that you'll be doing portraits both indoors and outside, you'll need the speedlight for sure. I use my Canon 580EX as a fill flash for shots taken outdoors (also puts a "catchlight" in the subject's eyes) and for indoor formals, I always use my Alien Bees mono studio lights with silver umbrellas.

The studio setup lets you determine before-hand how much shadow you want to create and where and then lets you concentrate on getting expression, ears, head position, etc. I've used the Bees for 4 years now and they appear to be bullet-proof (looking for wood to knock on). Also, they let you shoot at F8 or F11 which is the sweet spot for most lenses.

If cash is short (ain't it always) then go with the speedlight first and learn how to use it for fill and/or primary lighting then get your studio strobes later.

Jim

Here's a link to a really good set of articles on how to use your speedlight more effectively. There are some great tips here.

www.planetneil.com/faq/flash-techniques.html

Good luck,

Jim

Hi Ahlea,

I am with Jim on this. Getting at least one speedlight for your camera is a must. Having used the Nikon wireless system for ages, I can also say that if is way ahead of Canon's (and I like Canon's, don't get me wrong) and can probably be very happily be used as a 'stand alone' without the trouble of getting monolights. A lot of wedding photographers, including myself, are not doing monolights anymore for obvious reasons - they are not as fast to put together and the wireless systems are e-ttl (or whatever anacronym they are using now adays) providing excellent results.

On the other hand, as many will point out, you cannot replace the type of light and control produced from a monolight system. Specifically, you cannot get get the same diffusion of light that you would with a monolight set-up...and pop-flashes are not always as consistent.

James

I totally agree with James. If you use I-ttl flashs, SB-800, and SB-600 (nikon) you can get great resultes. However, if you use them a lot, you will find that they are inconsistant. Not that big of a deal so long as you pay close attention. I notice that when I'm shooting with the 800 as a master and two 600's wireless I almost always get a couple of shots that dont trigger the flash and in some cases you can see slight differences between shots, when they do fire. It's not enought to outweigh the beifits of use the SB's. Just keep it mind and you'll do find. I'm sure Canon has it's own issues though I dont know for sure as I dont shoot canon. . .

Ok one more bit of help if you please.

I have been looking on ebay and seeing speedlights SB 24
How does that compare to the speedlight sb 600 or 800?

Hi Ahleha,

The Sb600 and 800 are newer flashes that will work with Nikon's most recent incarnation of e-ttl (I always forget the acronym). You probably don't wnt the SB 24 or 28 (though they are decent flashes). The SB 800, which I have used many times, is a much better designed flash than the SB 28 was.

-JM

Would someone be so kind to explain what the terms with these flashes stand for?

Like TTL
e-ttl
i-ttl?

and Tony can you offer some insight as to what kind of situations you use two 600's as remotes with the 800 as master?


Thanks in advance.

Hi Ahleha,

I am adding a few links that may be helpful for you. They explain about TTL and the various Nikon/Canon versions of them.

Cheers
JM


http://www.moosepeterson.com/techtips/flash.html

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/