Need help with purchasing a flash. I hope I am in the right forum. Baby is comming, and the wife said I dont take enough "family" photos. I need a flash for the Nikon F100. I would prefer a Nikon to use the dedicated features. I have looked at the website, and am even more confused. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Curly

It's hard to have too much power with a camera mounted flash, so I'd buy one of the bigger ones. You could get an SB800 which is the current version, but it has features you can't use with film cameras. A used SB28 or SB26 would be another good option - these two are very similar except the older SB26 has a built in optical slave and is slightly larger. Used SB28's on ebay are less than half the price of a new SB800.

I think a better option is the SB-80dx. It's newer than the other flashes Steve mentioned.
It's what I have for my F100, and can be used on the D1 models too.
Brian

Just to add to Steve's post, just because the 800 has features you might not use, that does not make it any less capable than the other flashes. I would go with the 800 to future-proof my investment.

Just to add to Steve's post, just because the 800 has features you might not use, that does not make it any less capable than the other flashes. I would go with the 800 to future-proof my investment.
Never heard "future-proof" and "Nikon flashes" used together before! :rolleyes: Any of them will be fine but it depends on your future plans. A year or two ago if you bought a "DX" flash to use with the DSLR you'd get some day, you would have been disappointed. Now they use iTTL which the DX flashes don't use (SB600 or 800 only). If you plan to add a D70 or whatever replacement comes out for the D100, then an SB800 makes a lot of sense. If you don't plan to add a DSLR in the near future you could get two used SB28's, an SC17 and SC19 cable for the same price.

I use a(n) SB-28 with my F100. No complaints, although I dream of a Quantum X2. My only comment is that,whatever you decide, be sure to get yourself the (overpriced) Nikon SC-17 Flash Cord ($55 or so at B&H) and a flash bracket (the Stroboframe QuickFlip should do at $50 or so). Those extra few inches of separation between the flash and the lens make all the difference.

Need help with purchasing a flash. I hope I am in the right forum. Baby is comming, and the wife said I dont take enough "family" photos. I need a flash for the Nikon F100. I would prefer a Nikon to use the dedicated features. I have looked at the website, and am even more confused. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Curly

I just bought a SB800 to go with my D70. I already have a SB28 which I use with the F100 etc. Immediate advantages of the SB800 that I've noticed (which others haven't mentioned) :

- you have an optional 5th battery which clips on the side and considerably reduces the recycle time
- there is a diffuser Stofen-thing which comes with it
- there are also a couple of gelatine light-correction things that come with it
- power-save-go-to-sleep time can be adjusted (though this is not so important with the F100 which will wake the flash up as soon as you touch the shutter release)

If you're thinking of going to digital one day then the SB28 is really not a good investment. Have you considered the SB600? Most of the same features as the SB800 but much cheaper, and only slightly less powerful than the SB28.

Charles

I had a similar dilemma. I had th sunpak auto 4000 and 5000 and was luck enough to add the D70 to my 90S. I was out of luck with the flashes for the D70 so I made the jump to the 800. I now use the other two as slaves. I ended up purchasing the SC28 and AS15, which leaves me with a spare SC17. First $25 takes it, shipping to the lower 48 states included. As far as a suggestion, if you have the green, get the 800. It's a great unit.