without having to spend a bundle what things should one look for when purchasing an external flash?
Pyrowolf
03-21-2004, 4:26 PM
Honestly, if your camera has a standard hot-foot clip, you could spend as little as $40 and have yourself a nice external flash.
If you have a flash already, that is hot-foot capable, and are a bit DIY savvy, all you need is a trigger line to set the flash off. If not, you can pick up any $20 el-cheapo flash and build your own flash trigger for pennies.
Or, you can go the more expensive route and buy yourself a moderately priced flash with built-in diffusers (since it will be attached to the top of your camera). Or, you can buy what's called a 'Remote' flash to use for fill shots where it actually detects the built-in flash, or sometimes comes with an IR remote that you clamp over your existing flash and/or on your existing hotfoot.
Some of these remote flashes don't even require a hotfoot. They might come with a flash adaptor that goes over your existing flash, and just triggers using that.
Picking appropriate flashes, are almost as bad as picking a camera!