SB400 flash? or something better.

[BullcreekBob]

G'day

My wife has a D40X which she's had for a couple of months now and loves it. I was thinking of buying her a speedlight for Christmas.

I see the main options as

1) buy her the SB-400
2) buy myself a SB-800 and give her my SB-600
3) buy her the SB-800 and occaisionaly ask nicely if I can borrow it.
4) ??

Any thoughts? She is very happy with the D40X and is unlikely to either want or get a camera upgrade for at least a couple of years.

[team piggy]

I would go option: 2 or 3.

4 would be nice if it includes a D3 / D300 to accompany the flash and sell the 40x

[PiroStitch]

#2 or #3 because then you'll have 2 flashes to play with when you develop the lust for creative lighting

[BullcreekBob]

#2 or #3 because then you'll have 2 flashes to play with when you develop the lust for creative lighting

Gordon Bennett !!!

How many more lusts can I have? The current set is ...

18-200mm - on order
D300 - hopefully Feb/Mar
70-200mm VR - late 2008?
85mm F1.4 - *sigh*

The problem with option 2) Buy me a SB-800 and give Gillian my SB-600, is that I'm trying to hide the reality that Gillian's kit bag is only there to carry my hand-me-downs.

[who]

#5 - Buy 2 SB800's...... 1 each, and you have the SB600 as a spare
then
#2.

[PiroStitch]

Bob - Pretty sure your wife would have worked that out by now Us males are pretty crap at hiding stuff from women

[broadbean]

Unless she needed an SB-600 or SB-800 (or you wanted to "borrow" it), the SB-400 is a nice cheap present and will feel much less of a "hand me down". It also wouldn't be top heavy on a Nikon D40x.

I picked one up from d-d-photographics for $159 + $16 shipping:
http://d-d-photographics.com.au/nikonslracc.htm#sb400

Great little bounce flash, but nothing more. Light, bright and cheap.

PS Why is this not in the Nikon thread?

[Critter]

can you use it off camera with a D80?