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I'm going to a boat cruise tonight in London. With the following kit to choose from:

  • Nikon D7000
  • Nikkor 35mm f/1.8
  • Nikkor 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6
  • Nikon SB-400
  • Yongnuo YN-465

I need to make a choice between the two flash units, as my bag doesn't have room for both. The SB-400 is small and compact, but has less maneuverability, and can only offer direct flash when shooting when there isn't a roof. The YN-465 on the other hand is a lot more powerful and 'rotate-able', and has a built-in bounce card to offer softer bounced light even when there is no roof, but its AF-assist lamp is quite weak and it can become impossible to focus when the lighting is really bad...

Anyone have tips/past experiences to offer please?

Also, I would appreciate any tips on best settings to use for flash as well, both for photos of people indoors, and portraits against dark cityscape background outside on the boat.

This was originally part of another question on photo-SE.

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3 Answers 3

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I'd suggest to take the YongNuo, you might still be able to bounce from boat walls or sails. Since I doubt you'll have much time to set up and meter your shots, go with the TTL mode. Hopefully the fast maximum aperture of your prime can compensate for the weak AF assist light.

There might be some lights on the boat providing a little ambient light, so take a CTS or CTO gel with you, if you have it. It helps you avoid photos where different light sources are of different colour.

And of course, turn off the flash for landscape shots.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Not in posession of gel unfortunately. I have set off with the Yongnuo though - hope it won't let me down! :) \$\endgroup\$
    – Fan Yang
    Sep 2, 2011 at 17:01
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Assuming you're not really valuing size & weight, go with the bigger, more powerful, and more flexible flash (your YN-465). Flexibility and flash power are two very useful things to have.

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I agree with Imre and Craig. In this case, undoubtedly more is better, so I am quite sure it won't let you down.

The only exception is if the Nikon flash offers you remote controlled (I-TTL) off camera flashing, and you intend to use that. I am not familiar with either units, though.

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