Question
I have a Nikon SB-900 and I love it. I am looking to expand my off camera capabilities and would love to buy another flash.
The one important factor I'm looking for is the compatibility between my SB-900 and the new flash to work wirelessly. Wireless i-TTL isn't mandatory, but definitely a plus. I'm fine with setting the new flash in Manual mode.
Simply put, I want to keep the SB-900 on my Nikon D3100 and the new flash on a light stand. When I take a shot, I want both to go off, and the new flash should be triggered wirelessly. I don't want to have to buy a wireless commander since the SB-900 can do that already.
Thanks!
Answer
If you want to use i-TTL, the safest options it to go with Nikon. The cheapest Nikon flash available new would be the Nikon SB-700, or the Nikon SB-600 if you can find it used.
However, if you don't need i-TTL, you can get away with any cheap flash. For example I have a pair of YN-460 speedlights, dirt cheap compared to the Nikon flashes but can still be used as optical slaves. Combining optical slaves with using i-TTL on the SB-900 may not work however, as the slaves can be fooled by the pre-flashes used for measurements. Some flashes have a mode that is supposed to ignore these preflashes and only trigger on the "real" flash, but I can't vouche for the accuracy of these systems, YMMV.
Also note that, as an alternative to using optical slaves, you can use radio triggers. These will have to be purchased separately, and you need one unit per flash, plus one for the camera, but it will give you increased reliability and range. It will also get around the problem of the on camera flash affecting the lighting in the picture even when set to "off", as a pulse from that flash is required in order to trigger any other, i-TTL or not.
Something worth considering is that you could get 2 or even 3 flashes + radio triggers for less than what that SB-900 cost you ...
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