D600 Strobe or Lens or whatever else you can recommend?

mute

I have a D600 and was wondering what to do with $500. I've got the standard 24-85mm and a 50mm 1.8G. I was debating on waiting to get the 80-200mm 2.8D ED or to go for a strobe(Alien Bees B1600). The strobe would fit into that $500 dollar range. I do know that the D600 has that 1/200 sync issue problem, but I don't understand / haven't used one to see what the huge deal is.

Would it be in my best interests to go with that strobe or save up for a new lens? Thanks Guys/Gals!

Elvishefer

You're asking one of those questions that depends greatly on what you want to shoot.

But, that said, unless you're under a screaming need for a longer lens, I'd suggest going for the B1600.

You can learn a TON of stuff with one good light, the only 'problem' being you'll want a couple more before too long.

Your portraiture will improve significantly using the gear you have and mastering one light, likely more so from a versatility perspective than new glass will offer.

After a while you can always turn your sights back to a faster, longer lens and spend more $$, and when you commit you'll know for sure whether portraiture is your thing.

*As for the sync issue, the higher your sync speed, the more ambient light you can cancel out. So the higher sync speed, the better, as ultimately you want to control the light around you. I think people also raised a stink about the 1/200 sync speed because it seemed like an unnecessary hobbling of the camera... but who knows.

mute

Thanks Elvishefer for your insight. Typically I shoot my daughter & wife but recently more people have asked me to shoot their weddings. I figured the strobe would come in great help with some aid of my SB700.

But on another hand I was thinking about distance and that's when I began to factor the new lens upgrade... I typically just rent the 70-200mm f2.8 lens when needed for the weddings and just tack it on the price.

So I guess the strobe would be more useful than the reach of another glass...

Photobug

Keep renting the 70-200 2.8 and buy the flash. When you start shooting more landscape it's so easy to justify this fine lens. That is my two cents.