Reddit mentions of Yongnuo YN-565EX ETTL Speedlite Flash for Nikon (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

As an example:
http://www.amazon.com/Yongnuo-YN-565EX-Speedlite-Flash-Nikon/dp/B006R6TUJI

Yongnuo makes some pretty nice flashes at very low prices. They replicate Canon/Nikon speedlites.

The best system for you is probably Nikon DSLRs. They have the best low light performance for your money in the DSLR world, and being a camera manufacturer pretty much exclusively, they have looooots of lenses.

My recommendation:

Refurb D7000 - $519. 1/320 flash sync speed, plenty good in low light, pro ergonomics, works with nikon's newer and older lenses.

Lens: 50mm f1.8G. You said portraits only, so here is your best bang for your buck lens for that. $215.

Lighting: Check out the strobist 101 lighting kit. $100ish.

Flash: YN 565 + radio triggers. $150ish.

With a memory card and whatnot, that comes to around $1000 and you have a great portrait setup. But, you're limited to one focal length (albeit a very useful one). Here are some tips if you wanna push it into the $1000-2000 range:


Nikon 80-200 f2.8D - crazy bang for your buck.

Sigma 18-35 f1.8 - the best wide/normal zoom lens for aps-c cameras. The quality out of it is nothing short of astounding.

85mm f1.8G. You want shallow depth of field? You've got it.

The Yongnuo YN-468 II for $87 has E-TTL support, and as a Nikon shooter is definitely on par with the Nikon flashes, and about 1/4 the price (looks to be 1/5 the price of the 580EX II.

If you're not aware, TTL = Through The Lens, and means that it is able to automatically meter the light and adjust the power of the flash in tandem with the camera to get a decent exposure.

If you've not done any flash photography before, then I'd definitely recommend a TTL Flash.

Otherwise, you can spend even less, and get the Yonguo YN-560 II for $71, which is a manual flash (I bought two to accompany my older YN-467 TTL flash to use as off-camera flashes). I believe the YN-560 II has a longer range (more powerful flash), but I don't think it will impact you in your situation.

You might also try looking at the Yongnuo 568EX or the Yonguo 565 EX which are intended to be direct competitors to the 580 EX2 recommended by /u/arachnophilia but I have no experience with either.

Note there a bunch of Amazon pages for all of these flashes, so hunt around a little and read lots of reviews. I love my Yongnuo flashes :)

I wouldn't recommend that cheap flash. Looks to be only (or mainly) manual flash, which would require that you know how to use it. The cheapest one that I recommend these days is this http://www.amazon.com/Yongnuo-YN-565EX-Speedlite-Flash-Nikon/dp/B006R6TUJI/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Or else maybe rent a Nikon SB700 or SB900 etc.

Even though they have 'an uncle' doing the photos, I'd still recommend treating him with all the respect that you would give a pro. At least until he proves unworthy.

Let him know who you are and what you're doing, maybe the two of you could work together to give the B&G the best photos.

I generally take food photographs and I want to up my game. I was thinking a flash to setup as back lighting so I could get more consistent results. Right now I rely mostly on natural window light which varies a lot.

Option 1: Alien Bee B800 - I would use this with a softbox as the main back lighting source. Reviews look pretty good, although I don't know if this is overkill or too little for what I want to do.

Option 2: Nikon SB700 - I'm sure this isn't as powerful a flash as the Alien Bee but this has the benefit of being useful outside of taking standard food shots in a static environment

Option 3: Yongnuo YN565EX - Off Brand flash, much cheaper than the Nikon, are there any negatives for the casual photographer?

Thoughts?